Pogacar had extra motivation in the final time trial of the Tour: "That little voice was in my head the whole time"

Crowning his work, that's what Tadej Pogačar did on Sunday in Nice. The UAE-Team Emirates leader completed the final time trial of the Tour de France significantly faster than his competitors, securing his sixth stage win in this year's Tour.

"I’m happy. I can’t even describe how happy I am, after two tough years in the Tour de France. There were always some mistakes, but now everything went perfectly. I don't have words for it; this is unbelievable," Pogačar said in his flash interview.

He then made a small confession. "This is the first grand tour where I had confidence every day. Even in the Giro, I had a bad day, but I won’t say which one. This Tour was just amazing; I enjoyed it immensely from the first to the last day. I had perfect support, so I couldn’t disappoint those people."

From his home, he executed another masterpiece on Sunday. "I started well in Monaco, on the Formula 1 circuit. The most beautiful circuit in the world. I kept an eye on the times of Remco Evenepoel, but in the end, I felt really good on that first climb. In my head, I had Urska (Zigart, his fiancée) with her voice, complaining that we did that climb so often in training. That’s why I wanted to go all out now; otherwise, I’d be betraying all that work," said the proud winner in his initial reaction.

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Pogačar looks ahead to World Cup after winning the Tour de France

And so, after Marco Pantani in 1998, he is the next to win both the Giro and the Tour in the same year. "I could never have imagined this. Some thought the Giro was a safe choice. Of course, that was already amazing, but to now win the Tour as well... that's on a whole other level. I’m very proud of that."

What's next? The Vuelta doesn’t seem to be on the agenda, but... "Mathieu van der Poel looks great in his rainbow jersey, so I'd like to wear that at some point. I still have time for that." The World Road Championships in Zurich are scheduled for the end of September.

Finally, Pogačar had some kind words for his competitors. "In recent years, we’ve heard that this is the best era in cycling, and I think I agree. With Remco, Jonas, Primož (Evenepoel, Vingegaard, and Roglič) and all the other rising stars, it’s just fantastic, so we should all enjoy it," he concluded. Amen.