Pogacar reflects on all his wins, missing the Vuelta, and winning the World Championship: "I was so scared"

Pogacar sometimes seems unstoppable: he doesn’t tire and often wins his races with apparent ease. If anyone could win all three grandtours in a single season, it would be him. "It definitely crossed my mind to do all three," Pogacar admitted. But combining that with the Olympics and the World Championship made it practically impossible. "Going to the Vuelta meant skipping the Olympics, and it was almost impossible to maintain my form for that long. The goal was the World Championship jersey, and I achieved it. Every decision I made this year was the right one, allowing me to reach all my goals: the Giro, the Tour and the Worlds."

Pogacar’s ambition to win both the Giro and the Tour emerged as early as December 2023 and was by no means an easy feat. Good preparation was essential. "In December, when we decided to go for both the Giro and the Tour, we already had it in mind to win both. But we took it easy, with precautions like not racing too much before the Giro and focusing on good training camps."

The Giro itself seemed almost effortless for the superstar, something Pogacar himself admitted: "There were some tough moments during the Giro, but it went pretty smoothly. I may have felt a bit off one day and didn’t show much, but on the other days, I felt very strong." During his training camp for the Tour in Isola, he felt better each day, and after the first week of the Tour, Pogacar knew enough: he could win the Tour as well. So he did. The stage to Plateau de Beille in the Tour de France was perhaps his best stage ever, according to the man himself.

While his Giro and Tour victories were impressive, the world title might have been his toughest battle. "During the World Championship, I really pushed my body and mind to the limit," Pogacar admitted. The fear of being caught was constantly on his mind. "In the last lap, I counted every meter to the top of the climb. I was scared the whole time that they would catch me." Afterward, he called his move "stupid".

You sometimes wonder what Pogacar thinks at these kinds of moments, but it’s actually very simple when you hear him speak. "I absolutely look at the course, think about how the race could unfold, and what possible tactics might be. But I never say: this is the tactic, and this is how we have to do it. There are always multiple ways, and there needs to be room to follow race instincts. In cycling, there are many ways to win a race, so you always need to be open to unexpected events and adapt to them." Open-minded as they call it these days, that’s how Pogacar will ride through the peloton again next year.