24/11/2023

Tadej Pogacar wants strong teammates at Tour de France: "With two leaders there are a little bit different tactics, but with one leader all the pressure is on that guy"

UAE Team Emirates specifically chases UCI points and the victory in that ranking. Often that has been a barrier towards teamwork, however at the Tour de France it worked perfectly fine with Tadej Pogacar and Adam Yates. The Slovenian hopes for the same in the 2024 race.

“I answered this question five or six times and the answer is the same: I still don’t know the programme. It’s up to the team to decide what I race, so until they release the program I cannot say too much," the Slovenian said in words to GCN. “I think we can expect a similar season next year, with some modifications obviously. It's also the Olympic year so it’s gonna be an interesting season in any way.”

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Whilst there's been a few rumours of a possible Giro d'Italia participation, they are only speculative and he has shared a lot of excitement over the Tour de France route. “I don't know. I honestly don’t know what the future holds for me. I like to try different things, different scenarios, maybe one year I will need to calm down and just do preparation races and focus on the Tour”.

2024 will most likely be a combination of targeting the spring classics, Tour de France, Olympic Games, World Championships and Il Lombardia. With the Olympics and Worlds both having routes suited to his abilities he should focus on both, and so it will very likely be a year where he won't change a winning formula.

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Regarding the Tour de France however he will have new support. He's raced very little with Juan Ayuso and João Almeida over the past two years but both are set to make their debut in the Grand Boucle. Adam Yates, who finished third this year and wore yellow in the opening days, is a wildcard as it stands currently. Ayuso specifically has shown intentions of having his freedom.

“It doesn’t matter if one among Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso or João Almeida will be the co-captain of the team. I don’t mind, with two leaders there are a little bit different tactics, but with one leader all the pressure is on that guy," Pogacar argues, although this may be taking into considerations the aspirations of his teammates as well. "It’s different but both can work really well."