"I think he can still improve" - Is UAE actually capable of developing Tadej Pogacar even further?

For a couple of years now, Tadej Pogacar has become an almost unbeatable figure in pro cycling. The Slovenian is by far the most successful rider in the current peloton. As a result, in 2025 he surpassed a 2024 season that was already said to have been the best individual season in history. The most remarkable thing is that he is only 27 years old. Matxín has spoken about his ceiling.

Joxean Fernández Matxín recently spoke to AS about the 2025 year completed by Tadej Pogacar. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG superstar has been the main source of victories for the UAE team to break the record for a team in a single year. Where is his limit?

"Every year he becomes more and more of a cyclist. He is convinced, calm and that makes him improve. It is the natural note of the human being and that simply every year he is growing as an athlete and a person. And I think he can still improve. I don't know if it will be 2% or 0.5%, but he still has that little bit of improvement," Matxín began, a clear warning to Pogacar's rivals, especially Jonas Vingegaard.

Pogacar won his fourth Tour de France title in 2025. In 2026 he will be looking to tie Eddy Merckx, Miguel Induráin, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault for the all-time record of five overall victories. Aside from that, Pogacar has been setting records in the sport - for example becoming the first rider to finish on the podium of all Grand Tours in one season - and is simply unbeatable on almost every race that features uphill terrain. Thinking of an improved Pogacar is hard, but his improvement from 2023 to 2024 was significant and shows that even riders at the very top can still take another step.

Thanks to this, at the age of 27 he is already just crossing off goals that he has not yet achieved in his palmarès, and they are few. "Physiologically he has had a natural evolution. I have spent many years gathering the knowledge and experience he has given us to know the things that work well for him and the things that don't work well for him. Tadej has learned a lot about himself and the team from him, in performance, in the work we've done together," Matxín added.

Years of work together have led Pogacar to understand better his body, and for coaches, nutritionists and UAE's entire staff to help him prepare better for top performance.

"We have drawn conclusions about what is best, in a process of recognition of physics, physiology, of everything that has been perceived. Defining in detail the training, the rest, the preparation, the programs, the calendars... we see that the sum of it all we have improved in all aspects," concluded the UAE boss, thinking about a very exciting 2026.