"If I finished my career today, I'd be pretty happy" - However, Tadej Pogacar has two races he is fired up to win
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar has signed one of the best seasons in the history of cycling after winning the Tour de France, Strade Bianche, three monuments (Flanders, Liège and Lombardia), the World and European Championships and more. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader seems to have no rival and there are only three big races that for different reasons he still 'must' conquer: Milano - Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix and the Vuelta a España.
In an interview in Abu Dhabi with Marca, the Slovenian admitted that he was not perfect in 2025. "I would give it a 9, but there is always room for improvement in every aspect of your life. I think I can get better at certain things, on and off the bike. It can be better." It's hard to imagine the Slovenian has aspects where he can still improve, but in a sport as complex as cycling, that is always possible.
"There were many beautiful moments. There were a lot of victories with different teammates, in different teams, with the national team, in World or European Championships, in the Tour de France, in all the Monuments I participated in... Every race has a different story and different emotions, so I can't choose a favorite. I have too many nice memories."
Effectively, Pogacar had an almost spotless season, with illnesses and injuries being absent once again and allowing for more development, with UAE growing in terms of support for him, and Pogacar simply delivering on all terrains.
He attempted to win Milano-Sanremo and made his debut at Paris-Roubaix, finishing third and second respectively but having the winning tactics understood and dialed down. In 2026 those should be his main goals in the spring, and victories that would have him go even deeper into cycling's history books.
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Calendar, challenges and objectives
"I like a challenge and every year I try to change the program a little bit. But now I think I've become quite limited in what I can race. And every year there's the Tour de France, which is the big goal of the team and myself. But yes, I like to try new things and, in the next few years, I don't want to finish my career without having tried everything else," he says. "I want to try a lot of new things."
Cyclocross could be on his potential adventure list for the future certainly, having experience in the past, friends who race in the discipline and even the potential for it to be an Olympic Sport by 2030. Pogacar was also keen on racing the Gravel World Championships this year - which were to take place the day after he ended his season at Il Lombardia - before the location was changed from Nice (close to his home in Monaco) to South Limburg in the Netherlands.
For 2026 there is no major thinking, the outline of his calendar his simple, and he has two big clear dates scheduled for the spring: "I think going to the Tour again. It's pretty obvious: it's the biggest race of all. But I also want to express myself in the classics, show if I can improve in the one-day races compared to this year or last year. San Remo and Roubaix are two races that I'm very motivated to try again and fight for the victory."
La Vuelta was mentioned too, the one Grand Tour that is missing from his palmarès and an obvious goal to have at some point in the future. But he does not feel pressure to take that win in Spain. "If I finished my career today, I'd be pretty happy even if I didn't win La Vuelta."
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin is wuite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
- dude, Lemond never even was in the same race as Armstrong. He throws all these aspersions on other American riders who might usurp his throne as the greatest ever American racer. He doesn't say a single thing about (foreign) dopers who he actually raced against. Biggest douchebag move ever. I used to revere that guy, now I despise him. His actions are so weird.fatsupermodel02-11-2026
- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
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