Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) dropped a relative bombshell in October when he revealed how a knee issue at the Tour de France made him "have doubts about continuing", but teammate Tim Wellens has confirmed just how serious things were for the World Champion in the Tour's final week.
"The day after the stage with the finish on Mont Ventoux, I had problems with my knee and I started to have doubts about whether I would be able to continue at all, whether I would be able to endure the queen stage," Pogačar told Siol.sl back in October.
Speaking in an extensive interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, Wellens detailed how Pogačar informed his teammate of the developing injury and the visible changes to his body as he neared a fourth yellow jersey.
"I think he mentioned it, so we can say it now. On the Valence stage [17], he told me, 'Tim, we have a problem, my knee is killing me'. So much so that he went all the way to the doctor's car to get checked out," Wellens told L'Equipe.
"He went to the hospital after the race for tests, they found inflammation or something like that, and nobody knew! I was convinced it would leak out. He was in a lot of pain, we had doubts about his ability to finish.
"We even considered him abandoning the race. On the team bus, we could see his body wasn't well, he was all fluid, he'd gained weight."
Pogačar received criticism at the time due to his defensive tactics and lack of attacking against key rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), but the severity of his knee injury meant it was a relief for Wellens and the rest of the team to see him make it to Paris.
"Absolutely, and it was a relief that he didn't give up in the mountains," said the Belgian champion.
"Everyone was wondering why he wasn't attacking, which was understandable. Afterwards, we were worried about him physically, but mentally, I was surprised to read that he was eager to get home. Because, between us, we were really having a great time."
Despite his lack of wins in the Tour's final eight stages, Pogačar did dominate the Tour once again, taking four stage victories and beating Vingegaard to yellow by 4:24, which drew continued criticism to his all-consuming talents and lack of jeopardy in the GC race.
Wellens could only admit how he might feel the same had he not been a UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, but insisted it isn't from a point of arrogance but confidence that cycling's top-ranked team operate.
"I experience it from the inside. It's true that there's confidence," said Wellens, after UAE broke the record of wins in a season with 95 in 2025. "I hope the competitors don't see this as arrogance. But I would understand if there were annoyance, because it must be demotivating.
"If I weren't on his team, I might be fed up too... But I'm around him and I see all the work he does.
"More than the people who criticize him, I mainly see his fans: he's really become a big star. If he needs to take a bathroom break during a ride, he hides because as soon as he stops, people come up to take pictures. We don't realize it, but he feels it 24/7…"
With Pogačar's earlier comments and Wellens backing up his knee problems, it's no surprise to see why the Slovenian was so drained towards the end of the Tour, and perhaps explains why he appeared to grow sick of the race during the latter stages.
He's already spoken of considering retirement after the LA 2028 Olympics and looks unlikely to continue on past his current contract, which expires in 2030. In 2026, he will look to equal the record number of Tour de France GC victories with a fifth, which would draw him level with Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
