'New Contador' Pablo Torres on Grand Tour goals and soon-to-be teammate Tadej Pogacar - "The way he rides, his aggressiveness... it's impressive"

Pablo Torres signed a few days ago with UAE Team Emirates until 2030, the current longest contract in pro cycling (if you exclude the 'lifetime' contract of Wout van Aert, which doesn't have a specific limit). The Spaniard, who turned 18 yesterday, is the great jewel of Spanish cycling and is already being compared to Alberto Contador and Miguel Induráin. This year he was second in the Giro d'Italia Next Gen and a Tour de l'Avenir in which he achieved two stage wins and came close to the final victory with an incredible raid on the Colle delle Finèstre.

Near his home he gave a more than interesting interview to Daniel Miranda, of the newspaper AS, in which he talks about past and future with hopes and does not hide that his ambitions are very high (he does not hide the words Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España). He also obviously talks about Tadej Pogacar who will be his teammate from next season and whom he obviously admires and describes as "impressive".

"My strong point as a rider is the long climbs, but I think I can defend myself more or less on all terrains. I'm trying to improve in time trials, and I've made good progress. Rain and cold are conditions I like to ride in."

"To be a reference cyclist, to win the three grand tours... for proximity, I'd love to win La Vuelta and the Tour, but the Giro too, obviously." Naturally, it is not the best of environments to be so young and have fans put such high expectations on a certain rider, but as we've seen with Remco Evenepoel we can see that some riders learn to handle and thrive even in the most extreme pressure.

Torres will be one of many young talents within UAE, fruit of the team's scouting and massive financial capacity. At only 18 Torres will make his World Tour debut, already as a climber that many will keep an eye on for results. He will be joining the likes of Isaac Del Toro, Juan Ayuso and Tadej Pogacar who have had similar start in pro cycling.

"He's a cyclist I admire a lot," he says of the World Champion. "In addition, his explosion just coincided with the time when I started riding my bike, when he competed in his first Vuelta (2019, ed.). I started to really get interested in cycling and I used to watch on TV a 20-year-old kid who went to a race with the mentality of winning it. I haven't had time to see many riders before Tadej either, but the way he rides, his aggressiveness... it's impressive."