Could Pogacar ride the Giro-Tour double in 2023? "It is not an impossible thing to do" Matxin says
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar is one of the most versatile riders in the peloton, and 2023 could be the first year he riders two Grand Tours in a season - something which he heavily teased throughout 2022, as he could ride the Giro d'Italia before the Tour de France.
"It was a good year, but not perfect. To be such, we should have won the Tour de France 2022," Matxin told Slovenian newspaper Siol. "But we are happy that Tadej Pogačar is the number 1 cyclist in the world, first in the ranking. We have won 46 races with 16 different athletes. The grade cannot be 10, because that represents perfection: if I have to give a numerical judgment, I would say it can be 8 or 8.5."
Pogacar's season included wins at Il Lombardia, Strade Bianche, UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour of Slovenia, Tre Valli Varesine and GP de Montréal, alongside top results at the Tour de France - alongside three stage wins and several days in yellow - and Top5 results at Milano-Sanremo and the Tour des Flandres, two races where he was yet to prove himself.
“Him? From 1 to 10, he is at 12. Second place in the Tour is part of his growth process. It is clear that no race is easy and winning is complicated," he continued. "This year in France he has not been at his best in just one day, while Jonas Vingegaard has always been on the same level. The Dane didn't make a single mistake. But if we look at the three stage victories, at the white jersey, in second place in the standings, at the battle he fought in each stage… for me he is the best cyclist in the world."
"He won at the beginning of the season and he won at the end. All this indicates that Tadej is well prepared and that he has the right mentality," Matxin pointed out, with the UAE Team Emirates rider having an absolutely dominant start to the year, overwhelming the competition in most races.
At 24 years of age, Pogacar has without a doubt consolidated himself at the very highest level of the sport, having already two Tour de France titles, three monuments and a whole 46 - most at World Tour level - wins as a pro rider. Many have wonder if he has already peaked in his physical condition, or if Pogacar is capable of taking his road racing to an ever higher level.
Matxin responded: “He continues to progress, every year. He studies the program he has, the races, the opponents, the adjustments that are made during the preparation. From all these experiences, he learns and gets better. Tadej learns something every day."
"Then, he is a sprinter, a climber, a one-day and three-week racing specialist. He is the most versatile runner I have ever seen. And besides, he also has an excellent character," he continued. The success is set to continue into the 2023 season, with no indications of slowing down.
This year Pogacar was initially set to ride the Tour-Vuelta double, but changed plans last minute. Could the Giro-Tour double be executed however? “The great goal remains the Tour de France. The Giro d'italia? Next year ends just three weeks before the start of the Tour. To compete in two such races with so little time between one and the other would be big stuff," he answered.
"My opinion is that, at the age of Tadej, two Grand Tours in a year are not appropriate. If the distance between Giro and Tour was 5-6 weeks, then there is a possibility. It is not an impossible thing to do, but it would have consequences in the future," he concluded. The presentation of the Giro and Tour routes will be on the 17th and 27th of October respectively.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
- I also wanne beat Pogacar in the tour but it aint gonne happen. Jonas unfortunately getting dropped by del toro and seixas several times this TDF and jonas team is very weak and joinas on way down, it aint happening thats clear. its also clear it only happened cause Pogacar was hurt and had a broken wrist that time everytime both full strenght its not close we just have to be honest about it :/miguel07-11-2026
- They do this but literally let cars on courses to run over riders.mij07-11-2026
- Looking at that photo she appears to be several feet from her. I’m not sure how that impeded brands sprint.mij07-11-2026
- Lucky to not get disqualified
leedorney07-11-2026
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