Tadej Pogačar returns to action for first time since Olympics at Bretagne Classic

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) will return to action for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics when he lines up at the Bretagne Classic on Sunday. The Slovenian has also confirmed that he will ride the European Championships, World Championships and Il Lombardia before bringing an end to his 2021 season.

“After some downtime since the Olympics I’m coming back for Bretagne Classic. It’s a new challenge for me. I’ve never done this race before and I’m excited for it,” Pogačar said in a statement released by his UAE Team Emirates squad on Friday.

Pogačar took bronze in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics, which took place just five days after he had secured a second successive overall victory at the Tour de France. The 22-year-old was a dominant winner in France, wearing the yellow jersey for two weeks and claiming three stage wins.

“Since Tokyo I managed to go back to Slovenia, to my hometown Komenda and greet all my friends and family which was really nice after what has been an unforgettable summer so far,” said Pogačar, who also won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tirreno-Adriatico, the UAE Tour and the Tour of Slovenia during a remarkable 2021 campaign.

Pogačar is set to compete in both the time trial and road race at the European Championships in Trento (September 9 and 12), and he will also participate in the World Championships in Belgium (September 26) and Il Lombardia (October 9).

“Now I’m back in training preparing for the last goals of the season which include the Europeans, Worlds and Il Lombardia,” he said.

Pogačar will lead the UAE Team Emirates squad at the Bretagne Classic in Plouay this weekend, where he will be flanked by Juan Ayuso, Valerio Conti, Sebastian Molano, Yousif Mirza, Aleksandr Riabushenko and Diego Ulissi.