Is this what Tadej Pogacar improved the most in 2024: "When I am fatigued, I don’t lose so much of my explosiveness anymore"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar is a rider that already before 2024 had an incredible amount of success, but there was a true transformation this year where he managed to eliminate his existing flaws. He discusses his changes in training, Giro-Tour combination and more.
"We did a lot of VO2 max this year and also a lot of Zone 2 where you work on your fatigue resistance," Pogacar said in words to CyclingWeekly. "This is where I think I improved the most: when I am fatigued, I don’t lose so much of my explosiveness anymore so it’s really an upgrade for me". This endurance is where in 2022 and 2023 he struggled against Jonas Vingegaard, and eventually lost the Tour de France.
He switched coaches, from Inigo San Milan to Javier Sola. "He speaks with me every day, so I can’t slack at any point, not that I ever slacked, but it feels good to always have someone on hand whom you can trust and communicate super well with. I’m also training a little differently – a bit more specific stuff, more targeted towards the races that are coming up. I bring something to him; he brings something to me, some new methods and some new ways of training, and so far it’s working well".
As someone who fights for Grand Tours, monuments, time-trials and even the cobbled classics, there's certainly a lot in which he has to focus on throughout the year, several changes of focus. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG is a rider who is very passionate about the sport and feels very happy with the position he is in, very relaxed and friendly with teammates and rivals alike.
He is someone who lives and breathes cycling and he shared a funny remark regarding a particular sleeping technique of his: "I don’t talk to myself in the mirror, but sometimes if I cannot sleep, or before a race, I imagine the race situation, thinking about what could happen. So many things can happen in cycling so you need to be mentally prepared".
This year he raced the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, a combination where no-one had succeeded fully this century, and with prime form in both. He looks back at that decision fondly, having worked perfecetly. "If you go to the Giro and make some mistakes, it would be a big problem for the Tour. But for me, I rested well after the Giro, and the Tour went super good for me. I think I was more or less at the same level at the Tour as I was at the Giro, and I knew I could maintain good shape after the Tour too".
He also points out changes in nutrition as another aspect of his improval this year, taking into consideration how serious the top athletes have to be at most times. "I’m a bit more serious about it. Urska [Zigart] and I have always known what to eat, but now I’ve started to follow the nutrition plan from Gorka, our nutritionist, when it’s really necessary. If I don’t need to eat, I don’t eat – it’s about eating only what you need".
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 7visitors 7
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
Loading
1 Comments