Come on, let’s be honest: Tadej Pogačar can’t really get any better. Like, seriously, how can he possibly be a better cyclist? Attack at the start of races as opposed to 100km or 80km to go? Win Grand Tours by 30 minutes instead of 10, and Monuments by 15 minutes as opposed to three?
The Slovenian is on the road to completing cycling, three Tours de France, one Giro d’Italia, and seven Monuments already stored away in the back pockets of his rainbow jersey. And somehow, in a declaration that surely has the entire peloton mouthing expletives, the 26-year-old still believes he can get better.
“I mean, I can make improvements for sure and my experience is still growing,” the UAE Team Emirates rider said at his team’s annual media day in Benidorm, Spain, held at the Terra Mitica theme park (Pogačar did not ride any of the rollercoasters, sadly).
“I still don’t consider myself as an old guy or older rider, I’m still pretty young, so maybe there’s some room for development. We’ll wait and see in the winter if I can improve some more. For now it looks good, but we will see in the first races if I can be better. Even if it’s a little bit worse than this year it can still be OK.”
Athletes are insatiable: while everyone else lauds their achievements and gets into pointless and unwinnable debates with their friends over which win or rider was better, they plan the future. They’re always looking ahead, rarely back.
“People, us humans, we are improving ourselves until the very end, and I think in sport it’s the same,” the world champion said. “We try to improve until the end of our careers, and when you cannot improve so much more it’s time to finish your career.
“All the details on the bike, off the bike, training, nutrition, sleeping, you can always make it better, make it 100% good. I try to strive for perfection, every year [I want to] make one step more. It’s having a ritual every day. You can focus on what you want to do without any disturbances. That’s the best thing to improve.”
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His 2024, he gleefully acknowledges, was “exceptional”, a “perfect season”, a “great year”. It’s nice to hear that he “had a great time.” You should hope so as well, 25 wins in 57 race days being his final count.
How can 2025 be different? Quick answer: the cobbles are back. He won the Tour of Flanders in 2023, but didn’t defend his title due to his participation at the Giro d’Italia in May. But next spring he’ll be there, crushing the pavé, riding past the Belgians with their frites and their beer and their big rampant lion flags.
“This year was a bit different but I want to go back to the cobbles at least a few more times in my career. It doesn’t matter if I have the world championship stripes or not, I just like to be there,” he said, also confirming that he’ll race E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem.
The Giro, too, might also be back on his calendar, but that depends on the Vuelta a España’s parcours; the Spanish Grand Tour releases its parcours on December 19. “I did the Giro-Tour, and it’d be nice to do the Tour-Vuelta, or the Giro-Vuelta,” he said.
For now he still doesn’t know, the speculation will continue, but he will definitely do two three-week races, either the Giro or Vuelta joining the Tour on his calendar. “The Tour is the most important one, the biggest race. We found out this year two Grand Tours are really nice if you have good shape,” he said.
Just a few weeks ago, he signed a new contract reportedly worth €8m a year – roughly €22,000 a day. It ties him down at UAE until the end of the 2030 season, by which time he’ll probably have won every WorldTour race there is to win and maybe even have eclipsed Eddy Merckx as the greatest rider of all time.
“When you sign a longer contract, you’re more calm in this way,” he said. “You focus on cycling, on being good, you don’t worry about when the time is coming to sign a new contract. For sure this is an advantage,” he explained.
“Also, I feel very at home in this team. I know everybody very well, I have some great friendships here, and for me it’s really good to be here for a long time.”
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Big goals still remain: a much-talked about Paris-Roubaix debut, of course, although it’s unlikely for a few years; and Milan-Sanremo, the Monument he has joked will send him to his grave. “It’s almost the most unpredictable race on the calendar, one of the races I want to improve myself in again and again,” he said of the Italian classic. “I’m getting closer to first place, but slowly.”
What about riding all three Grand Tours in one year, a prospect that opened itself up after he claimed the Giro-Tour double in the summer? “I would love to try it, but it’s not a priority,” he said, hinting at a possible attempt in future years.
Wherever Pogačar goes these days, he’s asked for selfies, autographs, and bidons. He’s a superstar that is transcending the sport – perhaps he’s even bigger than the sport, such is his stranglehold on it – but for the time being he’s not yet the GOAT. But Merckx has said he’s closing in. “It’s flattering,” he said of the Belgian’s comments. “I feel proud he says those words.”
Keep on improving, as he’s so confident he will, and there will no longer even be a debate.
