Tadej Pogacar: "The duo-leadership with Yates is good, I'm not quite sure of my condition yet"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar is in Bilbao and ready for his fourth Tour de France. No matter what happens he will be in the spotlight throughout the upcoming three weeks, and he talks about his injury, co-leadership with Adam Yates and the tough first week.
"The wrist feels good on the bike, I think the mobility is sixty to seventy percent. It didn't bother me during training and the CT scan I did on Monday showed that two of the three bones are completely healed," Pogacar said in an interview with In de Leiderstrui. "The approach was of course a bit different, but the team is in good shape and the atmosphere is also great."
Not only has he shown good results with the win in both national championship events, but over recent weeks he's also removed his wrist cast on the bike, and has raced comfortably out of the saddle, as well as seen doing tricks on the bike. Most evidence points towards a healthy Pogacar, but his top form is not something guaranteed currently.
"The first week is very tough, everything is actually already there. When I saw the course for the first time, I was very excited. After my injury that has become less, but I hope I will be there. If an opportunity arises, we will certainly try to seize it," he says. In ideal conditions he would be a prime contender for the first yellow jersey of the race, the possibility remains true.
This Wednesday team DS Mauro Gianetti talked about how Adam Yates, who finished second in the Criterium du Dauphiné, would be co-leading the team alongside Pogacar. What that means exactly race-wise for the team remains to be seen and will depend on the form of both riders, as well as those around them, however it has certainly came as a surprise for fans.
"For me, the duo-leadership with Yates is good, I'm not quite sure of my condition yet. So that way it's better to have a back-up plan and go for the GC with two guys instead of one," Pogacar assured however. "Jonas Vingegaard is the big man for this Tour, he has already shown that in the Dauphiné. And then he said that he was not yet at his best there."
"Adam also came directly from that race, and he was not far from Vingegaard there either. Furthermore, we are not really concerned with Jumbo-Visma, we focus on our own performance and therefore think that we are very strong together," Pogacar continues.
"Ready to rumble, you would say. Saturday and Sunday, for starters, in the Basque Country. The first stage is always tricky, but we've watched the final and I think it will be an explosive ride. I only see ten to fifteen riders surviving. Men like Mathieu van der Poel can also be there, but it will also be a difficult job for them. In that last kilometer he is the best anyway, he concluded.
Read also
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
Pre-#TDF2023 training ride.😎 @LeTour #UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE
Write a comment