Tadej Pogacar not thinking about the records that "could be" broken: "The odds are pretty good to win five times the Tour de France, but that's not my goal now"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar will soon turn 26. Old - by nowadays standards. Yet there's no doubt the Slovenian who has just won his first Giro d'Italia and third Tour de France this year still has a lot in the tank. And we can only wonder the heights his career can reach.
The UAE Team Emirates rider prefers to set out for smaller goals, there are still some races left to win this year... "I don’t like to talk about what can be in the future, what records can be broken," says Pogacar at CNN Sport. Many see him as the main candidate to reach, and maybe even break, the mythical five Tours barrier, but the Slovenian doesn't want to go fortune-telling. "But three now, three Tours de France and maybe 10 more years of my career if I’m well. So the odds are pretty good still to have five Tours de France, but that’s not the goal I want."
The (only) man who can stop him is perhaps the Dane Jonas Vingegaard, winner of 2022 & 2023 editions. This time he arrived in far from ideal form due to a heavy crash in spring, but he still gave Pogacar a good run for his money.
"Jonas came on top two times in the Tour de France, and this made me even hungrier for the Tour and gave me bigger motivation," says Pogacar, who already looks forward to their future clashes. "I think all of us on the top teams and the top riders, we push each other to the limit. I think we all have good relationships between each other, but when it comes to competing, we always want to beat each other and just go another level."
Pogacar, who is capable of winning on any kind of profile, is often compared to 'the Cannibal' Eddy Merckx - winner of 11 Grand Tours, 19 Monuments and three World Championships. Yet the Slovenian doesn't really like the comparison:
"I cannot compare myself to Eddy Merckx because that was not in my time," says Pogacar. "It’s kind of flattering, but also at the same time, it can be annoying because you just want to be you; you want to do your own thing, do your own racing and go for your own history, not somebody else's."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- 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
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling for
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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