Joxean Matxin does not grade Pogacar & UAE's 2024 an A despite vast success: "That would be if you had achieved excellence and perfection. And we haven't achieved that yet"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar had arguably the greatest individual season of any rider in the history of the sport in 2024. UAE Team Emirates boss Joxean Matxin is seemingly a hard man to please though, with the Spaniard refusing to grade 2024 as an A, insisting the Slovenian and his teammates have room to improve.
"I would give our season a B+," Matxin remarkably tells Eurosport, slightly harsh with his grading system. "You can't give this season an A. That would be if you had achieved excellence and perfection. And we haven't achieved that yet," he adds in explanation.
In total, UAE Team Emirates took 81 victories across the 2024 season, with not only Pogacar, but the likes of Marc Hirschi, Joao Almeida, Adam Yates, Tim Wellens and Juan Ayuso among others all taking notable victories. Using Jumbo-Visma in 2023 as a reference point though, Matxin isn't fully content with his side's vast successes over the last twelve months.
"Win the Giro, Tour and Vuelta," Matxin says when asked how things could be improved further in 2025. "We have great riders, so why shouldn't we be able to fight for the Vuelta? We brought great riders to us, but we still didn't make it. If we win 81 races, we want 82. If we are the best team in the world, we want to be that again. If we win with 20 different drivers, we want to win with 21 different drivers. We always want to improve."
One thing unlikely to change though, is the fact that Pogacar is set to continue leading the UAE Team Emirates charge. "I think Tadej is a gift for everyone who loves cycling. All of us who are living in this moment will look back in a few years and say: 'I experienced it and saw Tadej Pogacar win,'" concludes the 53-year-old Spaniard.
Read also
🌈 What happened in 2024 was incredible. Not content with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, @TamauPogi claimed the rainbow jersey for the first time.
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) December 12, 2024
For 2025, Tadej will hit the roads with a new white hybrid skinsuit, handmade in PISSEI’s Custom Lab. #WeAreUAE 🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/jfLRlMTwya
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- sadly true. mathieu is the bedrock AD was built on, and he’s always shouldered that role and always seen the bigger picture: took MUCH less money than he could have gotten while the team was growing, and has written them new book on what it means to be a completely selfless superstar, witness every ferocious leadout for jasper and what he did at MSR last year. yup, so far that’s not thomas.OCexile16-12-2024
- ...you could also add diminuer,etiquette,basic PR skills and respect all of which Pidcock lacks in abundance.Senna196016-12-2024
- Just like Remco should have ;-)Mistermaumau16-12-2024
- And you base that on which vast amount of knowledge you have on him please?Mistermaumau16-12-2024
- Not only that but what MVDP did at AD had a lot to do with a personality that TP will never have.Mistermaumau16-12-2024
- i mean, duh, the ONLY reason for pidcock to be at Q36.5 is freedom and autonomy. vande velde has kind of an art for the obvious. but as far as the “you should do what van der poel did” advice goes, well, I’LL state the obvious: doing what mathieu did KINDA depends on being ABLE to do what mathieu did. if it didn’t then yeah, that would really be some terrific advice.OCexile16-12-2024
- Jan is super inteligent and classy rider and probably “smoothest pedaler” in pelaton. Quickstep screwed his career with getting his kilos too much down…vanja16-12-2024
- And your comment is stupid! It's a free market to go where they want. They share a home country so why not ride together.frieders315-12-2024
- btw, i read your posts regularly and appreciate that you’ve always got something interesting to say and you stimulate lots of discussion here. happy holidays, brother.OCexile15-12-2024
- that’s the long and short of it, right? i remember reading a story last year on Velonews about eli, right after mathieu came back then. iserbyt said “every year i’ve truly believed that THIS would be the year my efforts finally allow me to challenge van der poel, but the time comes when you have to admit that fairy tales are just fairy tales…” SOUL CRUSHING, right? all these guys who just happened to be in their prime right when the strongest, most dominant cx racer of all time is in his. way it goes. that’s the nature of individual sports. every once in a while fortune serves up ONE person who is not only vastly more gifted, but also singularly driven to win. watching this champions is thrilling most of the time, but i can also feel for the men and women who have dedicated their lives to their sport only to do battle with someone they really can’t hope to defeat.OCexile15-12-2024