"How ridiculously hard he rides in training" - Teammate on Tadej Pogacar's training and mentality with UAE

Tadej Pogacar is the greatest of this generation and there is the overall interest by many to know how he is off the bike in his personal life, and also how he trains to reach such a high level. In a small way, both were answered by his teammate Florian Vermeersch, who has spent quite a bit of time with the World Champion in his first year at UAE Team Emirates - XRG.

"On the bike, Tadej is a killer, a cannibal. But he's also a super chill guy and an incredible team player," Vermeersch said in words to Bahamontes. "That's how I got to know him right away when we went out with the riders for a few evenings on our own during the first team days in Abu Dhabi last year. He loves to foster a sense of community."

A key to Pogacar's performances is to have a loyal group of riders who are willing to sacrifice their chances for him, despite their great quality. And in the words of the Belgian classics specialist, Pogacar does a great job at achieving this, sharing for example a story from this year's Strade Bianche.

"The day before Strade Bianche, at Tadej's urging, we went to play football with the whole team in the hotel garden. It was fantastic for team spirit. And the next day, Tadej won, Tim Wellens finished third, and I rode one of the best races of my life. The best proof that having fun is important."

But on the bike, there is not as much fun, specially when training with the best in the world. He knows this by experience. "During the first training camp, I was with the squad for the classics. Tadej was with the Tour team. The Pogacar group was riding two kilometers per hour faster than ours every day, and I thought we were already going more than fast enough."

Then he learnt just how fast they go with his own eyes. "During [the preparation for] the Tour de France, I trained with Tadej every day for two weeks in the Sierra Nevada mountains and saw how ridiculously hard he rides in training". Vermeersch was a reserve for the Tour lineup and didn't end up making it into the '8', but was present training with the men that would go on to win the Tour de France. 

"There was one day when Nils Politt and I were on his wheel the whole time, even though it wasn't even uphill. After twenty minutes, we had to drop out, completely exhausted, while Tadej was still joking. His base wattage is so high..."