Van der Poel and Vingegaard rivalries key for Tadej Pogacar - "It makes cycling more exciting for him"

Tadej Pogacar is the great headlining figure of the sport at the moment, but without close rivals, the World Champion would never have the motivation he continues to have to evolve. Hence, UAE Team Emirates - XRG stress that it is key for the Slovenian to have high-level rivals such as Mathieu van der Poel, Jonas Vingegaard and others that force him to always seek to be at his best level. s

The Slovenian is racing a very reduced spring calendar, only consisting of the top one-day races, and later on also the Tour of Romandie where he will make his debut. The team was very careful in selecting his calendar, in a way to keep him motivated, but also prevent overall fatigue - which in his words, mostly come from the media and sponsor obligations that come with being a rider that is at the very top of the sport.

Although this is known, there has still been speculation that Pogacar may want to race the Giro d'Italia. In clear words, that has been dismissed. "Tadej is probably the only rider who can handle all the classics. If he wants to ride the Giro d'Italia again for a year, he can't have such a classic spring season. Choices have to be made," team manager Mauro Gianetti shared in words to Wielerflits. "We have to be careful that he has a maximum of about 60 racing days per year. Especially when you consider his aggressive racing style, that takes a huge amount of energy."

The Vuelta a España, starting from his home in Monaco - and as a race still missing from his palmarès, which would also see him complete the Grand Tour list - could also be in his schedule for later in the year. The team has full interest in starting with few races.

"If you look at his spring season now (early 2025, ed.) before he started preparing for the Tour, he had 14 racing days. That's extremely well-considered. We want a program where he can truly focus on the big races. Every race he rides or skips has been carefully considered."

At Strade Bianche he faces Tom Pidcock and Wout van Aert; Milano-Sanremo Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna; in the cobbles the likes of Mads Pedersen joining van der Poel and van Aert; in the Ardennes Remco Evenepoel... And in the Grand Tours, Jonas Vingegaard. These are riders that have kept him on his toes throughout the past few years, who Pogacar is continuously working to improve so he can keep winning.

"He loves that competition. Firstly, because he has a lot of respect for his opponents. Mathieu is a friend of his, but they compete to see who's best in their classics. They respect each other. The same with Vingegaard and Roglic in the Tour," Gianetti assures.

"There's respect, but he also needs that competition to get the best out of himself. It makes cycling more exciting for him. He wants to win against the best, not because there's no competition. This is why we're currently seeing perhaps the best cycling ever.