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"It’s perhaps a little too crazy" - Tadej Pogacar officially rules out doing the Vuelta a Espana in 2024
CyclingWednesday, 29 May 2024 at 09:26
With the Giro d'Italia in the bag and the Tour de France on the horizon, there was some suggestion Tadej Pogacar could aim to complete a historic Grand Tour hat-trick in 2024 at the Vuelta a Espana. The UAE Team Emirates leader himself though, has now officially quashed those rumours.
“I can assure you that the Giro-Tour-Vuelta triplet is not on the programme this year,” the dominant and comprehensive Maglia Rosa winner explains in an interview with Eurosport as the dust begins to settle on his emphatic Giro d'Italia triumph. “Winning every Grand Tour is a major goal for me but to do it in the same year… It’s perhaps a little too crazy. I prefer not to chase records, but to new challenges, and I am especially very attracted by races that I have not yet done.”
Whilst no rider has ever managed to complete the holy grail of cycling and win all three Grand Tours in the same season, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome have all held the Maglia Rosa of the Giro, Maillot Jaune of the Tour and the Red Jersey of the Vuelta simultaneously. “I like new challenges to keep a certain freshness so I am not closed to anything,” Pogacar says. “But I'm also realistic, I know it's not just about showing up at the start and winning. Cycling is a sport with many specialities. Different terrain and different races favour different athletes and different preparations. Ask any rider, winning a pro race is a huge thing, and it takes extraordinary form, whatever the race.”
Although the Vuelta may be a step too far, Pogacar will target the World Championships later this summer and his manages to win the Tour de France, the Slovenian could become the first man since Stephen Roche to complete a Giro/Tour/World Championship treble. "The Tour and the Worlds are obviously major objectives for me, not only this year, but every year. I don't feel too much pressure. I’m still quite young, but I feel a very strong desire to win them one day," he admits. “Cycling is going through a very good era and I have experienced some very good battles with excellent. Let’s hope that the show will be superb again this year on the Tour.”
Also this summer are the Olympic Games in Paris, offering Pogacar another chance to write cycling history. “Any sport performed at the highest level always offers an impressive spectacle,” the Slovenian concludes with excitement. “I hope to be at the Games and maybe I can see some athletics or other events… That would be nice, if I have time.”
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- yeah, that’s a more fair assessment. “reaching mathieu’s level” doesn’t mean you’re planning to replicate his whole career. the former IS doable, potentially. it’s just the latter that likely is not.OCexile25-12-2024
- That’s not entirely true. Every person follows their own development path and peaks differently. Remco and Primoz had hardly started cycling before elite level. Jonas was pretty much under the radzr until he unexpectedly had to take over responsibility at JV. Some guys only get real good in their thirties others have peaked mid-twenties. You can’t tell in advance how and upto what level they will progress, obviously his career might not have MVDPs length but nothing says he could not end up doing a few seasons at his level.Mistermaumau25-12-2024
- well, del grosso is 21 right now. when mathieu was a year younger than that, he was already winning elite level world championships, not U23. i think del grosso will be a very good pro for years, but if he was really going to be the next van der poel someday, he’d already have to be at that level right NOW. van der poel was showing signs of true greatness when he was 15-16. THAT’S what generational talent looks like.OCexile25-12-2024
- Yeah.... gear 😅.mikolajjj24-12-2024
- It shouldn’t be about expectations in the first place should it? Besides, if you look at everyone’s calculations as a whole they don’t add up in the first place. There’ll be 2-3 riders with a 50% chance, a dozen with 10 or 20% and dozens more with a 5% so we’re expecting at least 2 if not 3 winners. Remind me again who won before her? Says it all about using data to decide on participation.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- Ok, happy I’m not too interested in this team coz’ the account of what happened is really hard to follow.Mistermaumau24-12-2024
- The UCI is worse than USA CyclingVeganpotter24-12-2024
- It's not like they wanted her to not win😅 She had an outstanding Olympics. But there's a reason why she wasn't expected to win the road race and that's ok. Things like this happen and it's great...better than seeing expected winners win.Veganpotter24-12-2024
- Bruyneel ? The man with a lifetime ban from cycling...why do you keep giving him and his doper mate, Armstrong, a platform?DJ24-12-2024
- yeah, agree. on the subject of being a “complete rider,” i do think that’s getting more interesting. mathieu seems to have decided he wants to get much better at climbing the the high mountain passes. he appears to be looking for new challenges, which should be interesting to watch. in most cases you’d dismiss a goal like that at age 30, but it’s mvdp. he’s never going to climb with the real climbers, but if he can improve enough it could open up stage wins when the parcours isnt just purely toothy and punchy.OCexile24-12-2024