Matxín, on Tadej Pogacar: "People may think he is a tyrant, a cannibal, but we are paid to win"

Joxeán Fernández Matxín, manager of the UAE Team Emirates, was on the microphones of Partidazo de Cope yesterday to talk about Tadej Pogacar and what he is achieving in the Giro d'Italia in particular and in his incredible career as a cyclist in general.

"I've been doing this for 30 years and he's the most impressive in every way I've ever known and will ever know. Tadej moves masses and what I'm going to say may seem abnormal, but he's a normal person," Matxín made clear about his transcendence.

On the type of person he is within the team, always only positive: "He asks you for things please and always thanks you. He is not a champion, he is a leader. He's always looking out for his teammates. When someone wants to do something nice for him, he asks them to do the same for the rest of the team."

The detail with Pellizzari of giving him the glasses and the jersey did not go unnoticed. The UAE manager commented to Juanma Castaño that his voracity does not make him a bad guy.

"People may think he is a tyrant, a cannibal, who wants to win everything, but we are paid to win and giving away is something I don't understand, I don't think anyone in soccer gives away games, he has changed the concept from the fact of winning one more stage to the fact that Pellizzari asked him for the glasses as a detail and gave him the jersey, something he never does."

On whether he is thinking about the Tour de France, a curious reflection. Matxín makes it clear that in the Giro he is only thinking about the Giro, but that he could be making bigger efforts and that they have everything calculated so that (if everything continues as planned so far) he can spend what he has planned in the corsa rosa and arrive with guarantees at the Grande Boucle.

"He's slowing down. If you analyze a little bit, in Strade Bianche he started with 81km to go. He's waiting because the teammates are doing a great job, yesterday Majka and he were alone until the end. We started with a plan and we're sticking to it: start winning and then have the team control the race so that he spends as little as possible. We started with one eye on the Tour, but once the Giro started we didn't. But we don't want to spend everything. Of course, we don't want to spend everything, we want to arrive at the Tour with legs. In any case, there's still a lot of racing left and we have to be respectful of our rivals."

But for now, he doesn't want to hear about a triplet: "Option of the Vuelta a Espana? That's out of the question at the moment."

One aspect we may not have known about Tadej Pogacar is that he is aware of all the data and records he can break.

"In Liege we knew he had to finish at least seventh to remain the world number one in the rankings, he knows that he could tie with Roglic in number of grand tour victories, he is aware of all that, he has a great ability on and off the road."

He ends by explaining the plan they have between the Giro and the Tour: "He will be at home until the 1st, then on the 2nd in Isola 2000 in high altitude concentration until the 28th, where he will prepare for the Tour de France."

Article written by Juan Larra.