"I think we’re seeing the best-ever Tadej Pogacar" - Joxean Matxin lauds praise onto UAE Team Emirates leader
Cycling
In ten race days so far this year, it's six wins, a second-place and a third-place finish already for Tadej Pogacar, firmly asserting himself as the number one rider in the peloton today. Never more so was this on show than with the Slovenian's dominant victory at Liege-Bastogne-Liege last Sunday.
The worrying thing for the rest of the riders though, is the fact that with two Grand Tours still to come, Pogacar might not even be at his best level just yet. “When you are the number one ranked rider in the world, it’s not easy to improve on that but I think we’re seeing the best-ever Tadej Pogacar in every possible way,” UAE Team Emirates' sports manager Joxean Matxin says in conversation with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
With the Classics Spring over, Pogacar's attention now turns to the goal of becoming the first man since Marco Pantani to claim a Giro d'Italia/Tour de France double, a goal that seemed ambitious not so long ago but now is arguably odds on to happen.
The 2024 Giro d'Italia gets underway on May 2nd and with a major mountain finish at the Oropa Sanctuary coming as early as stage 2, there is possibility, Pogacar could wear the Maglia Rosa for almost the entirety of the race.
“You can’t hold back that day, a stage like that designs the GC standings and so the overall contenders can’t hide,” UAE Team Emirates team manager Mauro Gianetti previews of the stage to La Gazzetta dello Sport and giving an insight into the team's potential tactics. “The Maglia Rosa is the Maglia Rosa, if you let it go, you then have to get it back.”
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- He would still be faster on the course riding his cyclocross bike than in his Lambo!Pogboom28-12-2024
- i love the spirit of any of these younger guys who will say out loud I WANT TO TRY TO FOLLOW MATHIEU. they know plenty well what that means. vanthourenhout, eli, lars and company have kinda been beaten into submission by years trying and failing to keep up with mvdp. i feel for them, seriously. but it’s great to see younger riders show up and take their turn, full of hope.OCexile28-12-2024
- The nice thing about World Tour cycling is it never goes the way you think it ill, haha. Tadej breaking away so far out in the Worlds? Remco doubling up in Paris?
ScottG27-12-2024 - Pretty classy comments by Jonas. Makes me like him even more.ScottG27-12-2024
- MVDP is simply a cross "machine" - amazing to watch.ScottG27-12-2024
- yes, Jonas said that he had lost a little muscle mass. In the other hand, also Tadej changed his physique: thin, more lighter than ever, legs and glutes well defined (finally, no more junior legs). Both were more lighter than ever but Pogi could put more muscle in legs and glutes.
maria2024202427-12-2024 - He can keep contending for Vuelta podium spots. A lot would need to go wrong for others and everything right for him to get on the Giro podium. He'll only be on the TdF podium if he's becomes a podium presenter.Veganpotter27-12-2024
- I like that, mind if I use it from now on? Better than using his name which always gets me worried about Google hits and giving him the excuse he was bound to behave the way he did from the derived verb.Mistermaumau27-12-2024
- This website needs clicks so just vacuums up what is available and loves anything that creates discussion.Mistermaumau27-12-2024
- Their battles are only interesting or special when both are in good shape and unfortunately it’s been a few years since that was last the case, road cycling tends to put an end to most side careers, MVDP still being a rare exception.Mistermaumau27-12-2024