Defeats against Vingegaard key for Tadej Pogacar's evolution: "It makes you see that you need to work harder"

Alex Carera, Tadej Pogacar's agent, talked about his pupil's renewal at UAE Team Emirates, what the future holds for him after his incredible 2024 and the importance Jonas Vingegaard is having in his evolution as a cyclist.

The international peloton's star representative spoke to Marca without denying or affirming that his pupil has gone on to earn 8 million euros a year: "The data is confidential. He did not confirm anything 100%, but if you are the best cyclist in the world, you have to have the best contract in the world. In any case, I have no doubt that there will be riders who will receive a similar amount in the coming seasons".

What he confirms, however, is that his termination clause has increased considerably to a level that is almost prohibitive even for soccer: "Before it was 100 and now it's 200... there's not a big difference. In any case there is no possibility of changing teams. It's like if you write 500 million... if you decide to leave the team it's because you are not happy or if the other party is not happy either. It is very important to understand this point. Because people only think about the amount, but the most important thing is the relationship of trust."

He makes it clear that he has not renewed for money, as he argues that he could have got the same figure outside UAE: "Cycling has changed a lot after the pandemic. First of all, the contracts are very long. Secondly, there are big sponsors now. If you're not happy, for the best rider in the world, it's easy for the agent to look for another team and give him more or less the same money. We come back to the same thing: money is no longer the first priority."

He ends by saying that the defeats he suffered against Jonas Vingegaard in two Tour de France were very important for the Slovenian's evolution: "They were very, very, very important. Because you need the rivals, you need to compete. Jonas beat Tadej twice and that helped him to improve, it makes you see that you need to work harder. We need Pogacar to compete against Remco, against Jonas, against Van der Poel? We are very lucky, because in this era there are a lot of champions with a great mentality."