"I think we’re seeing the best-ever Tadej Pogacar" - Joxean Matxin lauds praise onto UAE Team Emirates leader

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.”