“I’ve been in this business for many years... I’ve never seen anything like it” – Belgian coach astonished by exceptional Tadej Pogacar

The way Tadej Pogacar has ridden through the final weeks of the 2025 season has left the cycling world in awe. His emphatic solo victories at the World Championships, European Championships and Il Lombardia may have lacked suspense, but they were nothing short of breathtaking in their dominance.

Among those left shaking their heads in admiration is Belgian trainer Paul Van den Bosch — a veteran coach who has worked with riders such as Tim Wellens. “I’ve been in this business for many years,” he told Sporza. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Pogacar’s autumn run has been defined by relentless control and sheer physical superiority. At the Worlds in Kigali, he dismantled the field with a long-range solo reminiscent of cycling’s golden eras. A week later, he did the same again at the European Championships — and then at Lombardia, sealing one of the most dominant late-season campaigns in recent memory.

Where most top riders begin to show cracks after a long year, Pogacar appears to rise to an even higher level. Van den Bosch believes that’s precisely what sets him apart.

“Today, a rider’s performance level is determined by their physical capacity,” he explained. “Everyone trains hard these days. But the real question is: who can push the hardest? Pogacar is an exception.”

That “exception” isn’t just visible on race day. Behind the scenes, Pogacar’s training numbers are extraordinary. His endurance rides are reported to sit between 320 and 340 watts in Zone 2 — figures that most professionals could only sustain in a race.

“That’s around five watts per kilo for him,” Van den Bosch noted. “For most riders, that would already be a maximal training session. But he can keep it up for six hours. He’s capable of completing almost every ride at high intensity, while others need to build their training around easier blocks. Even his easy rides are at a higher power than the rest.”

It’s that ability to train at race pace that explains why Pogacar often looks so untroubled in the peloton. At Strade Bianche earlier this year, he famously rode away from the bunch at what he later called “training speed” — a pace that was already dropping world-class opposition.

“When he’s still in Zone 2 in a race, he’s burning fat while the others are deep into their glycogen stores,” Van den Bosch said. “That means when the finale comes, he can still go full gas for two more hours. That’s the difference.”

Pogacar’s 2025 season has been one for the history books. After reclaiming the yellow jersey at Tour de France, he went on to win the rainbow jersey in Kigali, backed it up with the European title, and closed with a record-breaking fourth straight Lombardia triumph. The Slovenian has long been a generational talent — but this autumn, he has operated on a level even his rivals can barely comprehend.

Van den Bosch summed it up simply: “I’ve seen many great champions in my time. But what Pogacar is doing right now… we’ve never seen anything quite like it.”