INTERVIEW Luka Mezgec | "A lot of times it's closer to 80 than to 70" - Slovenian on dangers of modern sprinting, Pogacar and the art of the leadout

Team Jayco AlUla hosted the media this Friday afternoon in Lille where the team's main figures shared their thoughts ahead of the 2025 Tour de France. CyclingUpToDate has talked to Luka Mezgec, the leadout man of Dylan Groenewegen who is set to leave the team, on the art of being a leadout man and how sprints have changed over the past years.

The veteran has in the past sprinted a lot for his own chances, but in recent years has become one of the single best leadout men in the peloton, supporting the likes of Groenewegen but also Caleb Ewan. Mezgec has opened up about how much has changed in a few years; discussed his different preparation for another Tour and also shared his opinion on the Tadej Pogacar-Jonas Vingegaard battle.

Answer: Well, actually not, maybe a little bit more, how to say, with less stress, let's say. At least yesterday the presentation and everything was pretty simple, so, yeah, nothing specifically different.

Answer: Yeah, maybe this is the first time I start in France. I always forget... Italy, Basque Country, Denmark... so yeah it's been a while since we started here and I think it's the first time for my Tour de France that we just do 100% French roads.

Answer: It was a bit different than a couple of years, what I'm used to it. Like, last five times I was always doing this one-month training camp on altitude and then one, two races and to the Tour. This year we were just racing basically all the time, so there was no time for specific preparation for the Tour. So, I'm first time without altitude and I'm actually curious what this will mean for the next three weeks.

Answer: I don't know, I was pretty good coming off altitude always, so I'm a bit skeptical that I will be better than I was before. But definitely first ten days is not much this endurance climbing, as you say. So, it's better to be really punchy, really snappy and for this without altitude is better.

Answer: It starts with this that you have to be quite fast. You can't be really diesel to do the lead-out, but then how you train is just about the experiences every time, the preparation, how you do the plan, how you read the roads, how you read the peloton in the end. And each race you do, you collect the information and then it's on you how you analyze and how you use it the next time you do the lead-out. With my years in the World Tour, I think I've done so many lead-outs, so many sprints, it's kind of natural. I go there and actually I don't need so much preparation. And then also in the last couple of years the sprints changed a lot. If we were used to just build this long train and drag race between each other with the teams, these days it's actually just fight for the positions. And as you can see, there's five or six guys in two meters in the end.

So a lot depends on the luck, a lot depends on the strength of the sprinter and to not get blocked in the end. A lot of times actually the guy who has the perfect lead-out doesn't win anymore, because the speeds are so high and this second position is too tiring to open the sprint after. So yeah, if you come from behind, if you have the luck to get all the drag, all the slipstream from the guys in the front, you get higher speed and then you win. But yeah, that means that the lead-out role is a lot of times finishing with 500 to go or even like 600, 700 meters to go, when in the past was like 200 meters to go. So yeah, also depends sprint to sprint, you know, how's the corners. But yeah, if it's wide roads, then a lot of times you just need to create space to your sprinter and then hopefully he gets the good run.

Answer: Well, the speed is higher, so definitely it's more dangerous because of that. But yeah, I think with this, everybody's starting now with 56 chainring or 55 and that means the speeds are much higher in the end. Like I said, the aero stuff we have now is when I was sprinting 10 years ago, maybe like 65 (Km/h, ed.), 63 was the top speed and now below 70 we don't go anymore. A lot of times it's closer to 80 than to 70 and that's a huge difference on how to approach to the sprint.

Answer: No, definitely not, especially if you have a bond like me and Dylan have, which we created over the years... I mean, we were joking that maybe next year if we don't have a sprinter, I'm going to have Dylan in the races. But no, I mean, that definitely doesn't affect us even more. I want to do even more good for him because I know the days are counted. We need to do this one final best lead out.

Answer: Yeah, it's the first time for us, for Dylan in this team, that we have the chance for him to wear the yellow jersey. The Tours we did, we opened, the first stage was always too hard. So yeah, it's the first time and he's extra motivated for this. And yeah, we just hope that everything will go our way.

Answer: I mean, what we saw this year and last year, I think if Pogi doesn't crash or have any illnesses or such things, I think he's pretty much unbeatable. I think Jonas can win a stage, but honestly, against Pogi, I see Pogi as the main favorite by far.

Answer: Yeah, to win the one with Dylan and have a yellow jersey. That actually would be the best that I can imagine my experience in the Tour.