INTERVIEW | Tadej Pogacar's domestique Sivakov: "It's always hard when you do everything but it's my job"

UAE Team Emirates - XRG have a stacked lineup at the start of the Tour de France and one of Tadej Pogacar's most important domestiques will be Pavel Sivakov. To CyclingUpToDate, the Frenchman has talked about his current form, motivation and how he has improved since the Criterium du Dauphiné.

UAE arrived to Lille with the same '8' that they had designated in the winter, a small miracle - and something which Team Visma | Lease a Bike cannot say, giving UAE perhaps a tiny advantage over the Dutch team.

"Definitely I'm in good shape now and I'm super happy to be here. You never know when you get the green light to come here some stuff can happen. But everyone's here and we're a super group," the Frenchman said this Thursday afternoon to our microphone.

Over his time at UAE Sivakov is a rider that has both raced for his own individual results and spent time working as a domestique. At this Tour his role is purely that of support, however not only in the mountains. "I think I can count a lot also on the flat. Doing a little bit everywhere. It's always hard when you do everything but it's my job".

With many flat and hilly stages in the first half which could be very tense, Sivakov will likely have an early support role for Tadej Pogacar, before the real powerhouses then spend time in the final kilometers to keep it's leader out of trouble.

The winner of the Vuelta a Andalucia recently showed modest form at the Criterium du Dauphiné, but he feels like in recent weeks he has taken a step in the right direction. "I do feel so, I think I am better than I was in the Dauphiné if I look at my data. Just keen to start".

Lastly, asked if Pogacar was ready to battle on with Jonas Vingegaard over the next three weeks, Sivakov did not hesitate one moment: "For sure. That's why he's here, that's why we are here".