UAE Team Emirates are over the moon with their leader. Joxean Matxin who has been part of the team's management for several years and an integral part of Tadej Pogacar's upbringing is very satisfied following the win at the Tour of Flanders and argues that the Slovenian could fight for any race in the calendar.
“He went perfectly as planned. If you had called me after Milano-Sanremo I would not say the same. When he wins and it goes well, it's normal to say yes," Joxean Matxin told AS. "The technical and tactical planning was very important to have one or two riders ahead. There was Trentin, with the peace of mind of being able to stop him at any time. We were missing Tim Wellens, who broke his clavicle when the Bahrain rider fell."
Despite losing Wellens early on in the race, Pogacar was able to throw tactics out of the window and take the victory based on his superiority in the day's climbs. He created the initial split in the peloton where the main favourites stood out, and then launched the decisive solo attack at the Oude Kwaremont en route to what is one of the biggest and most presitigious wins of his career.
“Is this Flanders Tadej's greatest feat? We have to think about what we have left, the present. With this rider, any expectation we have is logical because he is a candidate to win absolutely everything," Matxin believes. "We are optimistic and realistic in the sense that we currently have the best cyclist in the world”
A Grand Tour winner, specialist in one-day races over the mountains and hills, great with descents and rough weather, packing a strong sprint and now being a pristine top candidate for the Flanders classics, Pogacar has virtually filled all the gaps within road cycling. Paris-Roubaix is perhaps the only one where he hasn't proven himself - as he hasn't raced it, naturally - but at the Tour de France last year he gave a taste, attacking and taking time on his rivals in the cobbles of northern France.
His victory and pursuit of all five monuments is present in UAE Team Emirates. "It's an idea. We have to be prudent and go day by day. We can't plan what will happen next year, but we've talked about it, participating in the five monuments. Why not?" he added. "We are missing the main objective of the year, which is the Tour de France. There are also the Ardennes, we have to think about that and not about hypotheses. The planning for this year is perfect and, based on what happens, we will think."
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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