“Just enjoy doing nothing” - Tadej Pogacar considers swapping the spotlight for a coffee shop after cycling

Tadej Pogacar has no particular town in mind for the coffee shop he might open when he stops racing. The appeal, for a rider who has won the Tour de France five times, is the chance to go somewhere he can blend in. “Maybe some coffee shop somewhere in a nice location, and have a life outside of all the attention as well,” he says in Colnago Cultura’s documentary POG1 – The Making of a Legend.

Pogacar signed a contract extension with UAE Team Emirates – XRG through 2032 in September. Whenever he does finish, there may be a gap between his last race and whatever comes next. “I guess when I finish my career, I take maybe one year off or something, just enjoy doing nothing,” he says.

Pogacar did get to play the tourist on Mont Ventoux this August. With his fifth Tour title secured and the Vuelta a Espana still ahead of him, he stood among the spectators at the Tour de France Femmes to cheer on Urska Zigart. The AG Insurance - Soudal rider, who had finished eighth overall at the Giro d’Italia Women in June, picked him out as she rode past. She later called him her “favourite tourist”.

Zigart gets to see what happens once the race plans are put away. “He plans more about his races than he plans about daily life,” she says in the film. “He's often saying, ‘Don't worry. Everything will fall into place.’ But sometimes I have to make sure that things fall into place.”

There are weeks when their calendars send them to different races and they barely see each other. Finding a day to stand on Ventoux was one way to make the most of the time between their own events. “It's really important to find the time for yourself or the family, and not to be completely obsessed with the career,” Pogacar says. “Because you need to do something else after that. Life goes on, and there needs to be balance, always.”

In August 2023, after floods reached the area where he grew up, Pogacar held a signing in Ljubljana and put €10 towards relief efforts for every autograph. He set up the Tadej Pogacar Foundation shortly afterwards. It now supports people affected by natural disasters and children with serious illnesses. “Once I stop with cycling, maybe I can be involved even more in the foundation and help more,” he says.

There’s also work to do at KD Rog, the Ljubljana club where Pogacar rode from the boys’ ranks through to under-23 level. The club lent him the equipment he needed to get started. “Luckily, I had the team to give me the bike and jersey, shoes, helmets,” he says. “Otherwise, I would not be sitting here right now.”

Pogacar now backs the club’s Pogi Team cycling school, where children can try a club bike suited to their height, learn to ride in a group and practise changing an inner tube. Those who catch the racing bug can go on to compete for KD Rog, just as he did.