Tadej Pogacar admits to being fuelled by "a desire and a dream to have the rainbow stripes"
Cycling
There isn't much that Tadej Pogacar hasn't been able to achieve once he's set his mind to it during his career so far. Heading into the men's elite road race at the Glasgow World Championships, the Slovenian is hoping to add a Rainbow Jersey to his palmares.
"Every year is the same, it's the biggest one-day race. This time is a little bit different time of the year just after the Tour. Let's hope for good legs," the UAE Team Emirates rider says, in comments sent to Cycling News. "The parcours is really tricky and really hard. The race itself will be super selective. Let's see - it's going to be a super interesting race and I'm super happy to be here with the national team on the start."
The Glasgow course is an incredibly technical one with almost 50 corners and requires top-quality bike handling skills for anyone with hopes of taking the world title. Cyclocross riders such as Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are expected to be the favourites for the victory but as Pogacar has proven earlier this year at the Spring Classics he can more than compete with them.
"I always have a desire and a dream to have the rainbow stripes. but it's really tricky to win the World Championships - it's super hard - you need to be the best in the world on that day," he analyses. "We'll see. I will keep coming every year and try to make dreams come true."
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- The same thing was said when Tadej announced that he would ride the Giro: "he goes to Il Giro because he knows he can't win the Tour". Always negative speculations. Maybe Primoz, near to the final of his career, simply wants to try this experience.
maria2024202419-12-2024 - If Valentino Rossi could never win during his period of dominance, and massive personality, then Pogacar not winning isn't a massive surprise. Cycling isn't a Premier League global sport......only one event reaches the mainstream every year - and that's not good enough.wipperman9519-12-2024
- I don't think it's only a British thing; the biggest talents aren't usually drawn to CX. Where are all the top Italian, French, Spanish, Slovenian CX riders? Apart from Belgium, and Netherlands, it's not really a target for up and coming cyclists - as there's no career unless you move to Belgium. Other countries can't support a proper professional series, like an international sport should be able to do. Lets not forget, since 2016, British riders have won plenty of World championships; with Pidcock, Richards, Tulett & Backstedt all winning more than one..... And, there was a time when Belgium didn't rule the roost in CX; that was Switzerland, but since the advent of XC MTB, their top off-road talents race there instead of CX - and the 2nd raters not good enough for XC MTB, race CX.wipperman9519-12-2024
- "25-34 are only 13% of USA Cyclings membership" Wow. I own a bike shop, and that number comports both with what I see in the business as well as on the road and trails, but it's somehow hugely demoralizing to see it quantified. Thirteen percent?verve82519-12-2024
- What super dutch talent are we talking about?awp18-12-2024
- Yes, 25-34 are only 13% of USA Cyclings membership.awp18-12-2024
- I will take the old days when you could track your teams across 8 years. Can't imagine a new fan finding it easy.Sweep18-12-2024
- Pick better parents and/or better doping agents.
ChoppyWarburton18-12-2024 - The bike industry situation is the same as the future Dutch talent pool discussion , it’s a fakely perceived problem due to an exceptional period that’s come to an end.Mistermaumau18-12-2024
- It's all a part of the fun. Sometimes it takes a few races before you can tell who's who and what's going on.
santiagobenites18-12-2024