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"I don't really know physiologically if he can continue to evolve" - Joxean Matxin considers Tadej Pogacar's 2024 level near perfect
CyclingTuesday, 23 July 2024 at 13:31
Back when Joxean Matxin sent the 20-year-old Tadej Pogacar on a Vuelta debut, few would've predicted that just five years later, the Slovenian would become the first rider to complete the Giro-Tour double since the times of Marco Pantani.
"Everything went well," Joxean Matxin confides to AS. We had every day planned with every rider and every opportunity. There were days to try to win and others to not lose the Tour. There were stages that we had to control in order to win, but there were also about ten stages between breakaways and sprints that made it, let's say, a little easier for us. In the rest, except for the two time trials, we had to take responsibility."
Pogacar seems to be nearly perfect in everything he does, can he even possibly further improve? "I don't really know physiologically if he can continue to evolve, but I can tell you that in terms of work and sacrifice, unless there are new measurements or values of watts, lactate... he is touching perfection in all the areas that concern him personally. We are at a point very satisfied with the level we thought he could have."
"I think we have to enjoy what we are seeing, he is making history. He is someone who, apart from being a good cyclist and professional, is pleasant, friendly, has answers for everything. Whenever he speaks he is perfect. I can only have words of admiration and respect, because he also does it. He also respects you, he also thanks you. So, I think we are facing a champion who is going to make history and I think we have to enjoy it."
To one day race two grand tours a year seems to have been the plan of Matxin all along. "When I talk to the young people I try to hire, I am very honest and I don't hide anything. I plan for their sporting career, not for their career in the team. Why? Because that is what I would like them to tell me. That was the case with Tadej."
"Although he has been premature in his victories, at 25 years old we knew that it was a good time for two Grand Tours in the same year. Doing so takes its toll, and he will not go to La Vuelta because if he comes to the Tour next year, will he do four Grand Tours in just over a year? We think further ahead. Tadej cannot make history this year and then disappear. He must have a post, consistency and sufficient stability to make decisions. Not in the heat of the moment, not because there is a Twitter or Facebook group asking him to go to La Vuelta. We do not intend to be so short-sighted, with a rider who, to make history, we have to look even at the future of his history."
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