After an exceptional victory at the 112th Tour, Tadej has already rested and returned to his bike. He had an unforgettable weekend, celebrating his success in France with his closest ones and thousands of fans in his hometown Komenda. He also celebrated a new victory, he was the best at the 7th Tadej Pogačar Cup, organized by his home club, KD Rog.
»I wanted to win, especially in front of such a crowd of fans. Truly incredible, there weren’t this many spectators when the Tour of Slovenia took place here. The fans gave me extra motivation, and I’m really happy I succeeded. Of course, tactics were also necessary. You had to watch out for who was dangerous, calculate who had how many points. Pavel Sivakov helped me a lot, I’m grateful he stopped by after his vacation in Greece,« Tadej thanked his teammate from the UAE Team Emirates – XRG, after winning the race that bears his name for the first time.
It was a criterium, where he collected 18 points, Luka Mezgec (Jayco Alula) was second with 15 points, and Matteo Trentin (Tudor) was third with 13 points. Slovenian members of the Bahrain Victorious team, Matej Mohorič and Matevž Govekar, also participated in the race.
Before the race, Tadej also took time to meet the press. »I’m happy to be home again, to see friends, neighbors, family. The truth is that sometimes I wish I were a little less known, sometimes taking photos and signing autographs is tiring, other times a little less, but I try to please everyone,« he said at a press conference where he reflected on the events at the Tour, which he won after four stage wins , and with a lead of 4:24 over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike).
»Everyone can have a bad day. You can’t expect me to be glowing with happiness for all 21 stages. The Tour was very tough, one of the toughest I’ve ridden, and everyone who fought for the overall classification can confirm that. But now I’ve rested, ‘reset,’ and I’m ready for new battles,« Tadej continued.
At 26, he has already celebrated 104 victories among professionals and will likely have a few more, although he sometimes thinks about the end of his career. »The fact is, I’m already counting the years until retirement. I started winning early, and there can also be worse results, I’m prepared for everything. I’ll probably ride a few more Tours, although you can never say for sure that you’ll compete there. The Tour is the biggest race, and I doubt the team will leave me at home for quite a few more years,« Tadej said about the Tour de France.
He has celebrated four victories there, just like Chris Froome, and ahead of him on the all-time list are only five-time winners Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain. Their record will be a challenge for future seasons, but this year Tadej will only compete in one-day races. First in Canada, where he will face the Quebec and Montreal Grand Prix races on September 12 and 14. He has already won the latter twice.
»We know that Montreal suits me better, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to win in Quebec as well. This year the course has been slightly changed, it’s now easier, but the finish is more challenging, so we will try to win there too. It doesn’t have to be me, we have a few riders who might find this goal suitable, especially Jhonathan Narvaez,« Tadej said about his next goals.
Among them is also defending the rainbow jersey he won last year at the World Championship in Zürich. It seems that he will not only compete in the World Championship in Rwanda in the Slovenian national team jersey but also in the European Championship in France.
»According to the information we have, this year’s European Championship will be for climbers, so I will probably be there. The route is similar to one of the spring races that Juan Ayuso won this year. But this European Championship probably means that I won’t be able to attend any other Italian classics except Il Lombardia,” Tadej added.
This year he will spend more time with his fans, as after the race in Lombardy on October 12, the Pogi Challenge will take place. It’s a challenge for 1189 cyclists who will ride together with Tadej from Klanec pri Komendi to Krvavec.