Tadej is already diligently preparing for the 2025 season. On December 9th his team UAE Team Emirates gathered in Benidorm, where they will stay until December 20th. Meanwhile, Tadej’s schedule is well-filled; besides training in the gym and on the bike, he must also make time for socializing with sponsors and journalists, as well as for award ceremonies.
The latest award, for Slovenian Athlete of the Year, was presented to him in Spain by RTV Slovenia journalist David Črmelj. »Every year I become more aware of what it means to be Athlete of the Year in Slovenia, where there are so many top athletes that it’s hard to win this award. I am proud and happy to have received it once again. I wanted to attend the ceremony, but I have commitments, and unfortunately it didn’t work out this year either. Every year I push the team more to be able to come, and I hope we will coordinate in the future,« Tadej said after receiving the statuette for the best athlete in Slovenia for the third time. He also received this prestigious award in 2021 and last year.

»This was my best season so far and probably the best cycling season in the last decade, but I’m not the right person to judge such things. For me the year was exceptional, I had a great time and every night I go to bed with nice thoughts. I’m grateful and happy that everything went smoothly, that I was in top form from the first to the last race. Small pieces come together, training, nutrition, environment, overall well-being, all of this must come together for a perfect season,« Tadej assessed the year, in which he celebrated 25 victories, including the triple crown of cycling with the pink jersey at the Giro, the yellow at the Tour, and the rainbow at the World Championship.
The media were most interested in his competitive calendar for the coming year, which is not yet fully determined. Tadej will start the season at the UAE Tour on February 17th and continue with Italian (Strade Bianche, Milan–San Remo), Belgian (E3 Saxo Bank, Gent–Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders), and Ardennes (Amstel Gold Race, Walloon Arrow, Liège–Bastogne–Liège) classics. He will certainly compete in the Tour, where he will be chasing his fourth victory, with the Criterium Dauphiné as a dress rehearsal. The World Championship in Rwanda is also in his plans, but the question remains which will be his second three-week race of the season, the Giro, where he would defend this year’s victory, or the Vuelta, where he would fight for his first red jersey. The decision will be made next week after the organizers of the Tour of Spain reveal the route.
»I’m somewhat more drawn to the Vuelta, where I first competed in 2019 and finished on the podium alongside Primož Roglič. I have very fond memories of that, but I haven’t returned since, so it would be nice to be at the start again and fight for the red jersey,« Tadej says about the last dilemma for the 2025 season, which he will tackle in the style he is famous for. Everywhere he starts, he will be chasing victory.
»I look forward to the next season like any other, regardless of where I will be racing. The program is not yet one hundred percent complete, I’m starting with the UAE Tour, the home race of our team, where I’m returning after two years. One of the early goals is Milan–Sanremo, my not-so-hidden desire. The most important will be the Tour, but also the World Championship, I want to keep both titles,« added Tadej.