"Even his muscles are in a class of his own" - Tadej Pogacar an unique cyclist even according to UAE Team Emirates masseur

Tadej Pogacar is an unique cyclist, and within UAE Team Emirates they say they can even tell it through his muscles. In a recent interview, one of the team's soigneurs shared some interesting facts about the Slovenian.

“He’s changed a bit since he came on the team, but only in the way every 20-year-old changes as the years go by. People grow up,” Joseba Elguezabal, soigneur and masseur opened up with Cyclingnews. “Essentially, he’s the same guy he ever was – the same person who likes his jokes, who likes his food and loves riding his bikes, who is really friendly and who has a smile for everybody. He’s number one on the bike and off it, too."

Backing up the words of Joxean Matxin, Elguezabal agrees that within the team there is a lot of focus on providing the same support and guidance for all riders and not just a few, which in overall helps the team's overall performance grow and be consistent throughout the year and different races.

“Equally, I don’t see any difference between the way he gets treated and the way the rest of the riders do. In the training camp, for example, when we’re all in the same hotel, nobody gets a better or worse deal. The thing is, we’re all rowing in the same direction, and from rider number 1 to rider number 30 at UAE Team Emirates, they’re all treated well.” However the masseur tells that even massaging Pogacar, he understands the difference against other regular pro riders.

“The muscle groups of a climber, a sprinter, a Classics rider or a stage racer all differ from each other in subtle ways. But Tadej is so exceptional that when it comes to a massage even his muscles are in a class of his own," he jokes. “It’s not just me that says that. All the soigneurs on the UAE team give massages to all the different riders when we’re at training camp, and they’ve all noticed the same thing about Tadej."

“I was giving him a massage after Vallter in the Volta a Catalunya, a stage where he’d attacked in the rain and gone solo to win, and in barely a minute he was back to normal. It was just staggering," he shares.