"He kept doing that until he dropped me" - Antonio Tiberi compares Remco Evenepoel's attacking style to that of Tadej Pogacar

Antonio Tiberi rode to fourth place last week at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, a strong start to the season where he was able to show good form. Having raced directly against Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel, he has described how the two tend to attack with some interesting insight.

“I have great memories and great sensations. have never had a better feeling at the start of a season. I am really happy with how I feel," Tiberi admitted in an interview with bici.pro. The Italian was third at the Classica Camp de Morvedre, the European season opener, and now rode to fourth on the queen stage and GC in Valencia. He has not always shown such legs, and will take this form into the UAE Tour soon where he will be a podium contender.

"My preparation changed a bit because I changed coach. I was also more precise with nutrition. I added some bodyweight work in the gym. On the bike the work is more or less the same, but maybe I was more consistent.”

At the Valenciana, he was surprises with how strongly he rode in the queen stage to Teulada. “I had a good battle with Remco, who was extremely strong. Compared to last year I was able to stay with him a little longer. Out of everyone, I was the one who held his wheel the longest.”

Evenepoel initially attacked with Tiberi in his wheel, but then maintained and even increased the pressure towards the top of the climb.“After we were alone, every 50 or 100 metres he would look back to see if I was still there, and then he would make a five or six second acceleration,” Tiberi said. “He kept doing that until he dropped me.”

Before, he has had to watch Tadej Pogacar do similar. This was the case at the 2024 Giro d'Italia, which the Slovenian dominated and raced as he felt like. “The first thing you notice behind Tadej is that the pace which for the rest of us is sustainable for a few minutes, he can hold for a long time-He has an incredible ease of pedaling and resistance," he describes.

"On Prati di Tivo it was even more obvious because it was the finale and the speed was so high.” On that summit finish, at the time stage 8, Pogacar did not attack but instead waited for the race to unfold into a sprint where he took the victory.

The pace was not as extreme, but Tiberi acknowledges the difficulty of riding with Pogacar, and dismisses criticism he has faced at the time. “No, at least not me. I remember looking down often and I was criticized because people said I was staring at my computer. In reality I was looking at his wheel. I was just trying to push, not think about anything else, to gather myself on the bike.”