Joxean Matxín reviews Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France: "The calendar was not a mistake and the wrist did not bother him"

Joxean Fernández Matxín, UAE Team Emirates manager, has given an interview to the High Cycling teammates in which he reviews Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France in detail and makes clear that Juan Ayuso will be the leader of the UAE team in the next Vuelta a España;

Here are Matxín's key points in his complete summary of what happened in the Tour after the young Slovenian rider lost for the second consecutive year to Jonas Vingegaard.

Summary of the interview with UAE Team Emirates manager, Joxean Fernández Matxín, conducted by HighCycling:

• Joxean Fernández Matxín says there was a lot of desire for the Tour to happen, especially to finish on the podium in Paris, although they were aiming for the overall victory with Tadej Pogačar.
• He feels that the team worked well, with proper planning and everyone on the same line from the start. Despite having had a stronger rider in Vingegaard, he is satisfied with second and third place on the podium.
• The balance is positive with three stage wins, the white and yellow jersey on some days, and two riders on the podium.
• On the strategy during the Tour, he says that when your goal is to win, you don't focus on the team classification, although he believes they could have won it if they had thought about it from the beginning.
• Tadej Pogačar had stomach problems in Courchevel, which affected the team's strategy and made them switch to a more defensive approach.
• The manager praises Marc Soler for his adaptation to the team and his fundamental role in the Tour.
• Despite the defeat, he says that Pogačar's wrist did not affect him in the Tour and considers him a positive and committed leader of the team.
• Joxean defends the choice of calendar for Pogačar and does not believe it was a mistake, although he rules out participation in the Vuelta a España.
• Regarding the future calendar, he does not advance details, but mentions that they have the plan for next year in advance.
• He confirmed that Juan Ayuso will be the leader of UAE Team Emirates in the Vuelta a España, sharing responsibility with Almeida.
• Regarding his new role as team manager, he is satisfied with the step forward and assumes more responsibility in the team.
• The team's goal remains to be the best in the world, and while they recognize the difficulty in the face of competition from Jumbo Visma, they look to continue to add points and achievements in the races to come.