"I want to tick them all off" - Tadej Pogacar targeting Thanosesque collection of week-long stage races after likely Volta a Catalunya victory

Tadej Pogacar's Volta a Catalunya triumph seems inevitable. Barring miracle or accident, the UAE Team Emirates will add the race to his glowing palmares this weekend.

With the Volta a Catalunya one of cycling's seven historic, week-long stage races on the calendar, Pogacar already has Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico under his belt from this list. All that is left for the Slovenian on this infinity gauntlet of stage races is now victory in the Tour of Romandie, Tour de Suisse, Itzulia Basque Country and Criterium du Dauphiné.

Don't be mistaken either, this is something Pogacar is well aware and a goal he is keenly targeting. “For sure, I want to tick them all off, but it’s going to be a long way because with the calendar, it’s quite difficult,” Pogacar told Cycling News recently. “Let’s go step by step, first this one and then we can see next year which we can try to go for.”

Despite having a 2:27 lead in the general classification though, Pogacar is counting victory at the Volta a Catalunya as guaranteed. "You never know what can happen the next day - you can always have bad luck, so it’s better to have some time. I’m quite comfortable with two minutes-something, and better this than being stressful with just a ten-second lead or something,” he concludes.