Tadej Pogacar: "I think it is a good year to try to give 100 percent in Giro and in the Tour"

Tadej Pogacar was the star of a press conference yesterday at the UAE Team Emirates training camp, surrounded by dozens of journalists as he explained his thoughts behind his Giro d'Italia debut, Tour de France and Flanders participations.

Asked if he was to skip the Tour, the Slovenian responded "I never actually thought about, because I know how important the Tour is for the team and me. I think if you just do the Giro, you have basically the end of the season and it’s hard to prepare for the races at the end of the season without any racing in the summer. So I think there was never really thought about this," Pogacar said in the press conference, with words collected by GCN. "I am now not so young anymore and I think I can do two Grand Tours. I could probably do it before but now is a nice time to do a new challenge in my career."

Pogacar was revealed the day before to race the Giro, and this Monday talked about his choices. Whilst the team will take all it's cards to the Tour de France, the 25-year old will also seek success at the Giro d'Italia where the competition should be more modest, but above all it becomes a great opportunity to conquer a Grand Tour again and reach success in what is likely the most prestigious race he hasn't set foot in yet. “I could feel the team would also want me to try something else, not to repeat every year the same… and to try new challenges."

"Because if you do every year the same story then I think for my body it would not be good, I think also in the team they saw this and when I proposed this to them, they immediately said ‘Yes, let’s prepare for this," he shares. "I always wanted to do the Giro... So far my shape was always better in the spring. I perform better in the colder weather." He had explained that in the past there was never full commitment from himself and the team for this goal, but the time has now arrived. Alongside it, a provisional lineup has already been built, with the likes of Jay Vine and Rafal Majka also in the picture. 

After the Giro he will rest and go on a training camp before returning to the Tour de France. He wants expectations to be controlled around him however: "Let's not think about the double, let's just go to enjoy racing. I would not say only the yellow jersey in Nice, but to fight again for the top spot, to be there and to give a good fight. I think I know myself pretty much now that if nothing goes wrong in my head, I can do even all three Grand Tours if I want," he launches. "But to race 100 percent mentally focused is a little bit different, and you don’t know until you try."

An exciting year lays ahead with new challenges for Pogacar, who will look to further boost his palmarès. With the Olympic Games and a fitting route at the World Championships, he may very well also find a lot of success in the one-day races despite skipping the Tour of Flanders. "I think it is a good year to try to give 100 percent in Giro and in the Tour. I think after the Giro is still solid time to recover and with not so busy schedule before the Giro. It is a bit different preparation than classic preparation for the Tour, but I think it can be solid. The Tour is still far away and a lot of things can happen, but one thing is for sure: we have a strong team either way we put it."