"He wasn't working as hard as others..." - The reason why Tadej Pogacar evolved massively after 2022 and how a Tour de France climb was the trigger

In 2024 Tadej Pogacar took a leap that saw him become an almost unmatched figure in pro cycling. As we learn through insight from several of his teammates, that was due to lacking some details in his preparation during the early years of his career. According to George Bennett, former teammate at UAE Team Emirates - XRG, the implosion on the 2022 Col du Granon at the Tour de France was a key moment in his 'awakening'.

Bennett was under contract with the Emirati team in 2022, fresh off being signed from rival team Visma. Whilst he did not finish that Tour de France, he was with the team on the day where, on stage 11, Tadej Pogacar came under raid from the Dutch team, and had a major fall-out on the brutal Col du Granon.

That stage saw him lose minutes to Jonas Vingegaard who would then go on to win his first Tour, avoiding time losses over the following mountain stages. In that year the New Zealander recognized that Pogacar was still having gaps in his armour.

"I met him when we lost the Tour de France on the Col du Granon. I think that moment was pivotal in his career. Back then, he already had enormous talent, but he wasn't working as hard as others," Bennett said in an interview with Marca.

He believes that was what was missing at the time which, when fixed, led to his further development as a rider. "Now he's completely focused: he trains incredibly hard, he's changed his diet… He has the greatest talent in the world and a very strong mentality. He's unstoppable [...] Yes, exactly. Granon awakened the beast".

In a recent interview, Pogacar's teammate and compatriot Domen Novak said that Pogacar won his first Tour (in 2020) "while eating pizza, drinking beer, and playing PlayStation". Whilst such statement is ambiguous and doesn't refer to the specific timing, Bennett does not deny that Pogacar was so genetically gifted that he could afford to take it easier and achieve better results than the average rider. But ultimately that lack of focus may have led him to lose a Tour de France, or more.

"Yes, although it's not that he didn't know what he was doing. He's simply so talented that he didn't need to take as much care of himself as others," the Kiwi argues. "Everything he's achieved is the result of his hard work, and he's understood the importance of the small details. After losing that Tour, that's when he really changed. When you combine talent and hard work, the result is unstoppable".

Pogacar now has four Tour de France titles in his palmarès, matching Chris Froome who achieved the same the previous decade. However Bennett, who has seen both riders climb at their prime, sees them as very different riders on the climbs.

"Pogacar enjoys being on the bike immensely. Froome does too, but he comes from a different school, that of INEOS or Sky, where the whole team worked more around him," Bennett explained.