Tadej Pogacar: "Winning all three Grand Tours in one year is doable but I respect my teammates"

Tadej Pogacar has consolidated himself as the strongest and most successful rider in the current peloton without a shadow of a doubt, and his 2024 season is being argued quite realistically as the best year ever by any pro cyclist. Whilst he likely did the right decision to win the World Championships, Il Lombardia, GP de Montréal and Giro dell'Emilia; the Slovenian admits that winning La Vuelta alongside the other two Grand Tours is possible.

"Winning all three Grand Tours in one year is doable. But I respect my teammates. We know that UAE Team Emirates has the potential to win a Grand Tour, even if I'm not there. There's no need to be greedy within my team," Pogacar said in words to the Nedelo newspaper. "I don't want to make enemies where I feel at home".

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This is something he had argued before, however understandably the Slovenian was fatigued after racing and winning both Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. He decided to not race the Olympic Games in fact, aided by the unexpected non-selection of his fiancée Urska Zigart. He instead decided to slowly build up towards his late-season goals. Next year, he is unlikely to race the Giro, a Tour return is virtually certain, and it is likely that he will race the Vuelta after to try and complete his set of Grand Tours.

The World Championships win however was something new in his palmarès and something very important. "The pink and yellow jerseys are nice, but you can only wear them for three weeks a year. You wear the rainbow jersey all season long during all races. You always stand out in it and everyone looks up to you as world champion," he argues. "It was an eventful night after the victory in Zurich. It wasn't about one beer". Next year with another mountainous course in Rwanda, it's not impossible that he will renew the title.

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Talking to the Slovenian news outlet, obviously there was discussion of what this success meant for the country: "I hope that everyone will slowly realise what we have achieved together in Slovenia. It started with Primoz Roglic. Later I joined, but also Matej Mohoric, Jan Tratnik, Domen Novak and others. What we have now is incredible. I doubt that this exceptional era of Slovenian cycling will last very long".

Largely it is understood that Primoz Roglic is more popular in their home country, and after the battle of the 2020 Tour de France a small portion even went as far as creating a dislike for Pogacar for removing Roglic off the yellow jersey in the final competitive day. "A year or two ago I had the feeling that the Slovenians did not see me as one of them. I don't necessarily think that I lack fans among my compatriots, but those who spread negativity are usually the most visible. I still see negative comments on online forums, but less and less now".

Pogacar is one of a kind and now carries the rainbow jersey for Slovenia. But his compatriot, who has won the Vuelta a España earlier this summer, is someone who he enjoys watching racing. "I never had a problem with Roglic. I always looked forward to his victories and thought 'this guy is crazy'. Then I got to know him a bit better and saw that he is indeed crazy, but in a good way," he concluded.

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