"Tadej is certainly not in top form yet" - UAE responds to Johan Bruyneel's statements on Pogacar

Is Tadej Pogacar at his best and playing with competition? UAE Team Emirates doesn't believe so, the team defends that the former Tour de France winner is still far from his best level and stand by the Slovenian's overhwhelming performances in his start to the season.

Recently Johan Bruyneel argued that “in the long run, killing everyone like this is not the best tactic. You want to keep some teams and riders on friendly terms, and that is also better physically. Now his teammates are riding themselves to pieces, so that Pogacar can win this race. Some of them now have to recover from that for two weeks.”

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However, the Slovenian's team don't believe there is much to this argument, clearing out what the process was behind his flurry of spectacles at the Clasica Jaen Paraiso Interior and Vuelta a Andalucia, where he took four wins plus the GC in the latter. However “Tadej is certainly not in top form yet," team DS Mauro Gianetti tells Het Laatste Nieuws.

"We notice that in his data. Nowadays you can see all possible physical parameters of a rider and in the case of Pogacar they tell us that he is still far from his very best level. If you can win a race at 70%: why not? Remco Evenepoel also says that he is currently only at 85-90%. And look at how he's heading. Is he in shape too early in view of the Giro? Or is he just an exceptional rider? I go for the second option," he argues.

As for Joxean Matxin, manager at UAE, he backs Gianetti's statements: “Everyone has their own opinion of course, but… We must not forget that Tadej, unlike in recent years, has not yet been on an altitude training camp. And that his program was adapted with room for new challenges, for other races with other competitors. In this phase of the season, the focus is on relaxing and enjoying. And he does.”

In a desire to switch things up, Pogacar will skip his presence at Strade Bianche where he is the defending champion, so that he takes on Paris-Nice with his full focus in search of the overall win - and possible vengeance on Jonas Vingegaard.