"Everybody knows Tadej is the best rider in the world" - UAE teammate turned Rainbow rival Tim Wellens full of praise for Pogacar

Next Sunday at the 2024 World Championships in Zürich, the men's elite road race takes place. The pre-race favourite for the Rainbow Jersey, is Slovenia's Tour de France and Giro d'Italia champion, Tadej Pogacar. 

One man that knows just how much of a threat Pogacar is going to be next weekend, is the Slovenian's UAE Team Emirates teammate, Tim Wellens. The duo worked closely together at the Tour de France earlier this summer and although they will now switch from teammates to race rivals, the Belgian Wellens is full of praise for Pogacar. 

"The team is always different when Tadej is there, you feel it, not only in the riders but also the staff. Everybody knows Tadej is the best rider in the world, and when he's there at the race, you feel that everybody goes 120% instead of 100%," the 33-year-old says in conversation with Cycling News. "For me, it's super nice but also for all of his teammates because when Tadej is there, everything is clear. It's not that other races are not clear, but you might have two or three leaders and then you see what happens. But when Tadej is there, everybody knows he's the leader. Everybody knows what their job is. It's also nice that most of the time Tadej finishes it off."

"He's exactly like you think he is like. He doesn't take cycling, like, 200% seriously, and he really enjoys doing it." continues Wellens, divulging some details about the person behind the superstar rider and the training rides the pair share together. "I mean, he's not afraid to only stop for a coffee to eat chocolate cake or things like that."

Pogacar isn't likely to have it all his own way in Switzerland however, as Wellens' compatriot, Remco Evenepoel, who has already completed an Olympic double this year and retained his time trial World Championship title last weekend.