Tadej Pogacar will begin his latest quest for a third Maillot Jaune later today as the 2024 Tour de France departs from Florence. Although UAE Team Emirates teammate Domen Novak hasn't been selected for the team's lineup for the Grand Tour, the Slovenian will be watching with a keen eye.
Speaking to Wielerrevue, Novak gave an insight into the person behind the rider of Tadej Pogacar. "He can be angry sometimes, but then he is mainly angry with himself and not with his teammates," the 28-year-old explains. "That is normal, but in general he is calm on the bus. In fact, I think he can sometimes even get a little angrier. That he can say what is good and what is bad and what we as a team need to improve."
As mentioned, Novak won't be present alongside Pogacar at the 2024 Tour de France. The two Slovenians were however, working in tandem at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year and to great success as well. "I said we had to wake up, because in the first stages he was alone with ten kilometres to go," Novak recalls. "I said: 'We have the best rider in the world and we can't drop him three kilometres from the end.' It worked, because after a week we were always there with the team to be able to drop him properly."
Whilst you might think that two Slovenians on the same team would train together often, Novak reveals this isn't the case. Simply because, Novak can't handle the intense training level of his team leader. "When you see him, you don't think: that's the great Tadej Pogacar. He never shows that. He keeps his feet on the ground," he explains. "Sometimes I like to train with him, but not too often. He's so strong that he can seriously burn up my engine. He trains hard and it's hard to follow him. I know my limits. If you know , then you know you can't train with him every day. He can destroy me."
For the first time ever, the BIG 6 (Pogačar, Vingegaard, Roglič, Evenepoel, Van der Poel, Van Aert) will be at the startline of the same race (Tour de France). 😍 Not all riders had ideal preparation for this race, but feel lucky to witness these times. ❤️
