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"
Cycling
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.”
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.
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."
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 3visitors 3
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- 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
Loading
"You make history today!" 🔥 Tadej Pogačar's historic Tour of Flanders win reduced UAE Team Emirates DS Fabio Baldato to tears in the team car 🥹 @TamauPogi @TeamEmiratesUAE
1 Comments