Tadej Pogacar confirms European Championships goal and shares thoughts on La Vuelta: "It’s hard to say if João Almeida or Ayuso can beat Jonas Vingegaard"

Tadej Pogacar is a rider capable of winning in almost every terrain and he has built up a palmarès that would be enviable to even the most successful of his rivals. However there are a few gaps that he is looking to fill and one of them is the European Championships, which he confirms he will be trying to win later this fall.

At his home criterium in Komenda, Slovenia, the UCI rankings leader has shared his thoughts with RTVslo on his return to racing that is set to the 12th of September “Montreal suits me more, but I’ll try to win in Quebec too. The course is now easier, but the finish is harder, so we’ll give it a go. If not me, we have riders like Jhonatan Narváez who could target it.”

He won't be going through a lot of pressure until he reaches Rwanda, if nothing goes wrong as the man to beat for the World Championships that will take place at altitude and with a very difficult course that will include cobbled climbs - but is too difficult for the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert who were his closest rivals at the Tour of Flanders.

Afterwards, he will be racing the European Championships in Drôme-Ardeche, France, where he looks to add a new jersey to his palmarès - even if there is a chance he may not wear it throughout the upcoming 12 months.

“From what we know, it’s a climbers’ course, so I’ll probably be there. It’s similar to a spring race Juan Ayuso won this year. But it probably means I won’t be able to ride any Italian classics except Lombardia.” This would go against the confirmation that Tre Valli Varesine announced a few days ago of his presence.

Pogacar is skipping the Vuelta a España where he had been planned to race since early in the year, but he will be keeping an eye on it, his teammates and his main rival who should be the man to beat there. “It’s hard to say if João Almeida or Ayuso can beat Jonas Vingegaard. Without his crash at the Tour de France, Almeida certainly could have".