"Some people even chase him in their cars" - Tadej Pogacar's agent agrees with Jonas Vingegaard when it comes to risks during training

Cycling has more exposure than ever currently, and the big stars of the peloton face a new danger that comes with the large number of fans who chase the riders during their training sessions. The amount of riders asking for pictures, chasing riders down, recording videos and even chasing them in cars creates a danger that Tadej Pogacar's agent Alex Carera understands and describes well.

"It's true that it's getting harder every year for the biggest stars in cycling to train alone on the road," Carera said in words to Wielerflits. “A few months ago, in consultation with the management of UAE Team Emirates XRG, we decided that Tadej would occasionally train wearing a different colour jersey. It will have the sponsor names on it, but the colour will be different from the team's rainbow jersey or white jersey".

"This way, it takes ten seconds longer for them to recognize Tadej, because he's dressed differently than they know him from the races on television.”

This was the famous 'Do not disturb' equipment, whilst Pogacar has also often trained in the European Champion's jersey whilst at home in Monaco. Recently, whilst training in Spain, the World Champion was also seen being followed by a motorbike so as to provide more protection. Above all, to ensure that amateur riders in the area would maintain a distance and not create a danger by riding behind.

As Jonas Vingegaard recently described, whilst ordinarily it wouldn't pose an issue, the following can at times lead to incidents - as happened in early February for the Dane. “Even if I think I shouldn’t have to, I still need to take that person behind me into account," he said in a recent interview. "If I brake suddenly, he might crash into me. If I need to blow my nose, I can’t just do it because I might hit him. I constantly have to think about someone else being there.”

Carera reports the same happening with Pogacar, something the Slovenian has already been bothered by before. “Otherwise, there are always cyclists trying to stay on his wheel or take a picture of him. Some people even chase him in their cars," he says. "With all the associated risks of something happening during training.”

Hence, it has become important to provide protection for the Slovenian, as cycling's top riders are evolving into figures that can more commonly be seen on the streets training, which comes with its associated risks. "It's impossible to have someone (on a motorbike, ed.) on hand all year round to monitor Tadej's training. However, we've noticed that wearing different clothing also helps and makes his individual bike rides much safer."