"I sometimes wonder how he can rest and concentrate" - Tadej Pogacar doing too much during the winter according to former World Champion

The demands of a top-level pro cyclist are incredibly high and during the winter, although the weather is not the best, it is crucial for athletes to be able to recover both physically and mentally. That way they can return to work in December and continue to evolve without risk of burn out. Philippe Gilbert is a rider who knows all about it, and he believes Tadej Pogacar was doing too much this winter.

“Maybe it is precisely this aspect that exhausts him. I was surprised to see him this autumn in so many different places. I sometimes wonder how he can rest and concentrate on his training," Gilbert said in words to Le Soir.

The Slovenian ended his season on the 11th of October and was back to training camp by mid December, right after doing an equipment testing day in the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. However, as the sport's leading figure, he was present during a lot of public events throughout the winter.

“He was present at a lot of events. He is always very generous, gives a lot of himself, donates equipment for auctions, and so on. But from mid October to early December, a professional cyclist needs rest and silence," the Belgian argues. Gilbert was also a top-of-the-world rider for several years, and in modern cycling, so he knows the demands a rider of Pogacar's calliber face.

However, it can also be argued that Pogacar will only start his season in March, hence still having quite a lot of time away from competition, and he will have only 11 race days throughout the entire spring, which makes it perhaps the lightest racing schedule out of all the riders close to the top.

Gilbert talked extensively about what he believes to be the psychological of the World Champion, including the Tour de France. It must be said that on stage 16 to Mont Ventoux he banged his knee on the handlebars and suffered a minor injury, but the final week of Pogacar was unusually conservative, and he admitted feelings of fatigue and wanting to finish the race, seemingly far from enjoying the demands and intensity of the Tour.

“His team told him ‘stop attacking, just follow, just follow, we are not asking you to win stages anymore’. By imposing that on Tadej, you force him to race against his natural instincts. He is the type you should tell ‘go for it, enjoy it.’ We are not talking about Miguel Indurain. Pogacar is the opposite. He needs the queen stages, the time trials, maybe all the jerseys to make history.”

However on the final stage, with the GC guaranteed (unlike what Gilbert argues), he went on the attack once again, trying to win in yellow in Paris. He didn't achieve this, but it would've been a memorable triumph if it had worked out.

"Eddy [Merckx] never stopped, and Tadej does not stop either. The cobbles were wet and slippery, all the ingredients were there for a crash and to put the overall win at risk, but he went for it. He loves it," he concluded.