Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) is one of the few riders who combined Milan-San Remo with the Tour of Catalonia that started only two days later. However, on Monday, he demonstrated that he is still in top form, finishing second in the opening stage of the WorldTour race. Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech) managed to stay just ahead of him after a late breakaway.
Pogacar shared his thoughts through his team UAE Team Emirates' channels after the race. "It was a beautiful day, I really enjoyed it on these good roads with nice weather in a strong peloton. The team worked very hard for me, everyone contributed their part. In the finale... Well, I must admit I kind of screwed things up."
He gives more context: "I should have closed the gap to Schultz immediately instead of assuming someone else would do it," he said, acknowledging his mistake. "Unfortunately, I kept thinking that for too long and couldn’t catch Nick anymore. However, he certainly earned this victory, as his attack in the final kilometer was quite impressive after strong teamwork from his team Israel-Premier Tech."
"My sprint was still good and I felt strong, but actually, I wanted to win after all the hard work by my team. That didn’t happen," concluded Pogacar, who will immediately get another chance at victory in the challenging mountain stage to Vallter 2000 on Tuesday. "It's going to be a tough day, but it looks very promising on paper. I already spoke with Attila Valter (of Visma | Lease a Bike, ed.) and he told me he would win, because the climb is named after him," jokes Pogacar. "So, I guess I'll have to follow his wheel, or not? We’ll see, I’m certainly looking forward to it," concludes the cheerful Slovenian.