Tadej Pogacar makes history but "I don’t think I can do this every spring"

Tadej Pogacar is without a doubt the star of this spring, winning the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, UAE Tour; and being the main attraction at both Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix. His results are literally historic (yesterday for example he became the first rider in history to finish on the podium of six consecutive monuments), but he can't repeat this every year.

He finished on the podium of all four monuments, and ironically he was the only rider to compete in all four as well. It has taken a toll on him - although physically he's looked as strong as ever at La Doyenne. “The classics campaign was tough. I’m not going to lie about that. There were some ups and downs, but luckily Belgium gave us good weather," he said in words to Wielerflits. "That made it easier to stay here for a long time. Every race I rode and got closer to Liège, it got better for me. I’m very happy and as a team we can be proud of what we showed this spring.”

He's won his ninth monument with Liège, matching Sean Kelly who only won his first at age 27, whilst Pogacar is only 26. He is often putting himself higher and higher in the history books. “I get that question a lot, but I am not here to write any book. I just enjoy racing and am in all modesty happy that I am so good at it. I just try to enjoy myself and not think about other things.” Only Eddy Merckx (19) and Roger de Vlaeminck (11) have more monuments than the Slovenian.

Although he didn't win Milano-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders, the two that are missing from his palmarès and those he seeks the most, he did finish on the podium of both and managed to show his very best level in pretty much every race. “I never expected that I would be able to do that. But I have been able to experience a lot of special things this spring. It was the perfect Classics period. I am super happy.”

But doing so in other years depends on many variables. Good health, luck, but obviously the routes of the Grand Tours. “It depends on which Grand Tours you ride. If you do the Giro, it’s harder to complete a spring program like that. If I were to go to the Giro now, I might go home after one week".

"You always look at your program in December: where you can rest, where you can go on vacation, so you don’t burn yourself out. For me, it’s going to be hard to do what I did this spring. I don’t think I can do this every spring. I’m going to reset myself, after which I’ll prepare for the summer," he concluded.