"It's hard to tell Tadej Pogacar to be conservative" admits UAE Team Emirates sports director

Continuing to ignite the 2024 Giro d'Italia, even on what was expected to be a relatively routine sprint-friendly stage 3, Tadej Pogacar went on the attack. With such a long time remaining in the Giro and a Tour de France to follow this summer, is the Slovenian spending his energy unwisely?

When Pogacar himself was quizzed about this topic in his post-stage 3 interview, the UAE Team Emirates leader responded with a quip. "So far I haven’t spent any Euros," Pogacar said with a wry smile. "I’m on a paid holiday since six days."

Nevertheless, the urge for Pogacar to ride with more conservatism, especially given the fact he already holds a 46-second advantage over Geraint Thomas in the race for the Maglia Rosa, isn't just coming from outside voices. Speaking to Cycling News, UAE Team Emirates' sports director Fabio Baldato admitted he'd prefer his leader to save himself for the moments that matter.

"To be conservative, but it's hard to tell him," Baldato laughed when asked what advice he can give to someone like Pogacar. "I don't want him to minimise his effort, but I want him to keep the effort for the moments when he's really alone and when he doesn't have teammates to use."

"We've had a plan from the start and it's quite clear," adds UAE Team Emirates sports manager, Joxean Matxin to Cycling News. "We've defined the stages where we can attack and where we can give the responsibility to the sprinters' teams and so on. And when you make a plan, you make that plan with the riders too, which is as it should be."

"Since the start of the Giro, we've been talking only about the Giro and not thinking about what comes afterwards," he concludes. "Even so, this isn't a one-day race like Strade Bianche, where you can attack from 80km because you know you're not racing the next day. This is the Giro, and we know it's three weeks long."