The incredible anecdote of a scrawny Tadej Pogacar who, at the age of 11, was already destroying his rivals
Cycling
Andrej Hauptman is the man who found Tadej Pogacar and telling his story he talked about a race in which the young Slovenian was only 11 years old and was one of the shortest and thinnest of the event. It was 2010 and it was a children's race.
Some fans on the road were asking the organization to help Pogacar, as he was trailing the main peloton in what looked like a big effort not to fall behind the best. However, nothing could be further from the truth, young Pogacar was doubling them: "What should we help him? If he's going to double them."
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This is how Hauptman told the anecdote in statements collected by Diario de Triatlón: "There was a very thin and very short kid who was 100 meters away from the peloton pulling like crazy to give chase, that kid was Pogacar but he was not trying to give chase, what he was doing was looking to double the peloton because he was a lap ahead of everyone even if they were physically stronger than him. That was Pogacar's competitive spirit since he was 11 years old".
Hauptman himself, who from that race followed Pogacar and was instrumental in him eventually signing for UAE Team Emirates in 2019, also asked for help for young Tadej, but his coach at the time made it clear to him that he was the strongest in the race: "Andrej, he's not off the pace. He's attacked from the start and he's going to double everyone."
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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.
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