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".