"These are things you have to keep overcoming” – Miguel Indurain weighs in on Pogacar’s retirement talk and Tour de France record

Miguel Indurain, the Spanish legend with five consecutive Tour de France titles, has weighed in on whether Tadej Pogacar will join him among the race’s most decorated champions. Pogacar claimed his fourth Tour victory last month, now just one win shy of matching Indurain’s tally and equaling the all-time record shared by Indurain, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, and Eddy Merckx. Speaking to EFE, Indurain expressed confidence that the Slovenian will soon earn his place in the sport’s “Olympus,” but he warned that psychological wear could be a bigger obstacle than physical limits.

"Finishing the race sooner or later depends on how much you want to finish. But if he's fit and eager, he'll be the one who pushes himself to the limit," said the Olympic time trial champion, pointing out that in elite sport, "you start very young." Indurain explained that cycling demands relentless discipline: "In our sport, you have to make a great effort, train hard, and take care of yourself, which is a high-level sport. But many suffer mental problems due to that tension, stress, and responsibility, as they play tricks on them."

When asked if he could relate to Pogacar’s growing signs of fatigue, as he has mentioned retirement on several occasions, Indurain was candid. "The travel, the stress of competition, and the constant risk of falls" weigh heavily on riders, he said.

"These are things you have to keep overcoming, until you tire. Some endure more and others less." He stressed that success at the highest level requires complete personal commitment: a cyclist "must be convinced of what he's doing with enthusiasm and desire," adding, "He will determine what his sporting career will be like."

Indurain also reflected on the current racing landscape, noting that every rider tailors their own path. "Now we're looking at who's going to finish and how they're going to finish. The Tour of Poland is underway, the Tour of Norway, the Vuelta a Burgos.

“Everyone is doing their own kind of preparation." He observed that riders often use late-season races strategically: "We already know that with the Vuelta coming at the end of the season, the ones who haven't been to the Giro, the ones who had a bad Tour, tend to come... It's a matter of who comes and how they come, and if they'll take the start in Italy at full speed."

Discussing the sport’s evolution, Indurain acknowledged the increasing pace and intensity. "Sports are changing, becoming faster, more intense, lighter... Everything is improving, from the speed to the roads, the wheels, and the equipment. It's about trying to push everything to the limit, but it doesn't just happen in cycling, it happens in all sports."

Drawing on his own racing era, he recalled, "we switched to automatic pedals, time trial bottles, and helmets." Today, he said, "we have aerodynamics and electronics... It's a continuous improvement, each one in its own sport."