"Of course I blew the legs" - Tadej Pogacar builds on UAE Tour GC with strong time-trial
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar was one of the favourites for the UAE's stage 2 time-trial, but he came home third behind Joshua Tarling and Stefan Bissegger. Like on the opening day, it's a glimpse of the Slovenian's 'human' side, but he is happy with his performance and already begins to carve out of a lead to his GC rivals.
"First real effort of the year, bit longer effort, first proper all-out... I'm happy, it was a pretty fast time-trial and I'm happy with the speed and the legs. Of course I blew the legs, that's the whole point of an all-out effort," he said in a post-race interview.
Due to the weather conditions and the atypical starting order rules in the Emirati race, Pogacar was one of the early started on the day, and for a few minutes was on the hot seat. However it didn't last long, as the two riders that would improve on his time would come out right after.
"It was a good day, let's see what will be the end result but it's always going to be tough to compete against Tarling and Bissegger because they're really good in this kind of course". In the pan-flat time-trial Pogacar was not in his element, and ended third on the day, 18 seconds down on Joshua Tarling who is also the new race leader. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider has however gained 21 seconds on Pello Bilbao, potentially the first of the major podium contenders on this race.
It is a solid day then, and the Slovenian will enter the first mountain stage of the race already ahead of his rivals - however the non-steep ascent of the Jebel Jais may prove to be excellent ground for Joshua Tarling to hold on until close to the finish.
"Tomorrow is a very nice stage for me in Jebel Jais, good memories, one time I won there and as I say always it's a day for sprint of the climbers," he continues. "Always there's a sprint between climbers and it's funny to see, a good experience. There can be surprises, I'm really looking forward to it because it suits me very well".
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With the final rider across the line in the #UAETour ITT, @TamauPogi placed third on stage 2 🥉
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) February 18, 2025
Tadej finished the 12.2km-long course with an average speed of 55.4kph, whilst @JayVine3 rounded out a positive day for the team in fourth 👏🏻
Tomorrow, it’s Jebel Jais 📈 #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/IWKGLrj0E4
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- What very expensive legal affair?Caralladas03-04-2025
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James2631802-04-2025