Joxean Fernández, Matxín, sporting director of the UAE, had his eyes twinkling when he saw the young Tadej Pogacar (Klanec, Slovenia; 25 years old) on the bicycle, a goal he would not pass up. His evolution and results with the Slovenian Rog-Ljubljana in the Continental category made him take the step, so in 2019 he signed him for the UAE. A few months later, Matxín met with the rider and they drew up an ambitious long-term sports plan that, however, Pogacar has devoured, a double winner of the Tour (2020 and 2021), one Flanders, two Lombardies, one Liege… This year it was time loop the loop.
“A long time ago we told ourselves that when I reached the age of 25 it would be time to face a double grand tour for the first time. The goal is the Tour, but it also has the ambition of the Giro,” explains Matxín by phone. A news that a few months ago, in a luxury hotel in Benidorm, the runner clarified: “The Giro is one of my favorite races because it is close to Slovenia. And when we were children, we loved going up to see the stages. I have one of the best memories of the Giro when Luka Metgec wins a stage in Trieste. And I was there, it was an unforgettable moment.” It will be the challenge that only seven cyclists have overcome in history -Coppi (1949 and 1952); Anquetil (1964); Merckx (1970, 1972 and 1974); Hinault (1982 and 1985); Roche (1987); Indurain (1992 and 1993); and Pantani (1998) -, the idea that the new generations do not have to go to the newspaper library or YouTube to see such a feat, also the objective in the eye of Pogacar who, as a film – well understood because he does not know how to go running but to win – has a stopover in the Volta, the only stage race that will take place this year except for its dates with Italy and France. “We chose the Volta because of the dates and because he has never run it, which gives him extra ambition to be competitive and try to win it,” Matxín resolves.
After 147 days of competitive leave, Pogacar put on a number once more on March 2 in the Strade Bianche, a day in which he announced at the start, gallantly, that he would attack at 80 kilometers and then keep his word and take the scepter. “We have done different planning because it is a different calendar,” agrees Matxín. A preseason without too many days away from home – he has done a lot of gravel cycling in Monaco – so that it did not become monotonous and thus he might be with his family, in addition to the concentrations in Spain (in December in La Nucía and in January in Jávea , where he trained with the group of runners who started their course late, such as Ayuso, Majka, Almeida or Sivakov). “Although he always wants to, he has also had a great degree of maturity to understand the reasons and continue with the plan,” says Matxín; “because we didn’t want to force him to arrive with only 10 days of competition at the Giro and with 31 at the Tour. It is the planning that we consider ideal.”
Reviewing the data, watts, lactate, consumption, fatigue… and having knowledge of what the person is like and the ability he has to be competitive and aggressive, as well as to recover following efforts, UAE limited the appearances of Pogacar, looking to do a few altitudes and, above all, find two fitness peaks. “The first following the Volta and the second following the Giro,” notes Matxín. More than anything because the challenge is huge. “But the Giro and the Tour are distant from each other and they can. “Many people have done it,” emphasizes the UAE sports director. That’s what the platoon thinks. “Dude, you should honestly take things slower. You are Young yet. One more year can make a world of difference. Pogacar, do the Giro-Tour double in 2025″, Geraint Thomas (Ineos) suggested with humor and on social networks following announcing that he would also face the double undertaking. “If anyone can do it, it’s Pogacar,” said his teammate Tim Wellens. “He can win both,” said Majka, with whom he also shares a mallot. “You’re scaring me,” Van del Poel (Alpecin), a runner he met this weekend in Milan-San Remo, decided to write to him.
Pogacar may be the best-paid cyclist on the planet – six million, compared to Roglic’s 4.5 and Vingegaard’s 4; list that closes in the top-ten Carlos Rodríguez with 2.5- and that thinking regarding winning two majors in one year, with the current explosion of cycling, is something as Homeric as it is illusory. But Pogacar, accustomed to putting on old-school style exhibitions, with solo attacks and many kilometers to go, capable of making the dictatorship of Jumbo Visma (now Visma-Lease) tremble, still does not know his limits. An extraterrestrial among superheroes like Evenepoel, Roglic and especially Vingegaard. A cyclist, furthermore, who hopes to light up the Volta in front of other greats such as Sepp Kuss (Visma), Thomas and Egan Bernal (Ineos), also Enric Mas and Nairo Quintana (Movistar). It’s a carat scale, one stop before the curves.
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