"He won his first Tour while eating pizza, drinking beer, and playing PlayStation" - Tadej Pogacar through the eyes of right-hand man Domen Novak

At UAE Team Emirates - XRG, few riders know Tadej Pogacar as well as his compatriot Domen Novak. The Slovenian has followed Pogacar into the team back in 2023 and has been a key domestique ever since. He shares insight on the comparisons with Paul Seixas and what differentiates the two.

Seixas is now developing into a top rider in 2026 whilst Pogacar did so seven years ago, back in 2019 when he jumped to the World Tour with the Emirati team. Many compare the two taking into consideration Seixas' recent performances at such a young age, as well as their battle at Strade Bianche and the fact that they both had their first pro win at the Volta ao Algarve's Alto da Fóia.

"That guy is really incredibly good. Everyone compares him to Tadej... I think at his age, he's even better than Tadej was back then," Novak said in words to RMC. The French news outlet was particularly interested in Novak's opinion on the matter, having special insight into Pogacar's career, training methods and mentality.

He notes a key difference from the cycling of today in comparison to that of only seven years ago. Longevity being a key word for the 30-year old: "These days, they've all done a month of altitude training before the start of the season and haven't been home for a long time".

"On the one hand, that's fantastic, but on the other, I also wonder how long they can mentally handle it," he argues.

Whilst Pogacar's talent shines through since a very young age, in 2024 he still had a major evolution on the bike - whilst it can be argued that in recent seasons, he has continued to evolve slightly, in the backdrop of an ever-evolving peloton.

This is because the current World Champion didn't take part in such extreme endeavours at such a young age. "The young riders of today are all already very well-trained and honed, while Tadej is truly a natural. As far as I know, Tadej didn't go on altitude training at that young age," he states.

Novak goes as far as joking that at 21 years of age Pogacar was still far from his best, and still having quite a few aspects of his preparation that were far from what is now ideal. "I can say he won his first Tour while eating pizza, drinking beer, and playing PlayStation."