Tadej is ready for the Canadian challenge

For Tadej the racing break he took after his exceptional victory at the Tour is over. He will compete at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday, 54 days after winning the yellow jersey for the third time in his career in Nice.

After an extremely successful first part of the season, in which he also won the pink jersey at the Giro and celebrated a total of 21 victories, he took some time off, then focused on preparations for the rest of the season, as well as charitable activities. These days in Slovenia, in collaboration with Hitradio Center and Carthago, a winning tour for a good cause is taking place with ten stages, including an auction of a motorhome that Tadej has been using for the past two years. Part of the proceeds from the sale will go to the Tadej Pogačar Foundation for the fight against cancer, and part will go towards building cycling paths.

In addition, Tadej also participated in the PlumeStrong campaign and, together with his fiancée Urška Žigart, cycled part of a five-day cycling challenge from Zürich to Venice, covering a distance of 824 km. They raised over 1.3 million euros for the development of schools in rural areas of Sierra Leone. Tadej and Urška also visited the road race course for the World Championships in Zürich, which will start on September 21st.

“The course is challenging, but not overly so, but it’s always the cyclists who make the race difficult. Last year, a sprint finish was predicted at the World Championships in Glasgow, but it was far from that. This year’s course is slightly more suited to climbers than last year’s, especially for explosive riders. There are also some technically demanding sections, as there should be at the World Championships,” Tadej assessed the highlight of the second part of the season, which awaits him on September 29th, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

However, before the Swiss challenge, the Canadian one is up next. Tadej will compete in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec on Friday and then on Sunday in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, where he already won in 2022. “I’ve had a good break from racing and am eager to get back to it now starting in Canada. It’s a beautiful part of the world to ride a bike in and I have great memories here from two years ago. The level will be high there as always and we will need to be at our best. Whatever happens for the rest of the season I can be happy with what I’ve achieved this year. Anything else will be a bonus.My condition is good and I’m focused on enjoying and doing well in this last part of the season,” Tadej set off in good spirits to the other side of the Atlantic, where he will be supported by a strong team from UAE Team Emirates with Tim Wellens, Domen Novak, Rafal Majka, Finn Fisher Black, Juan Ayuso, and Igor Arrieta.