UAE teammates confess: Pogacar literally shattered the radio connection with his huge lead

Tadej Pogacar is no ordinary rider, but at UAE-Team Emirates they still have a hard time getting used to that. Following his 80-kilometer solo ride in Strade Bianche, IDLProCycling.com caught up with teammates Tim Wellens and Marc Hirschi. They were torn: on one hand, this is normal; on the other, it's not at all.

Tim Wellens finished thirteenth and was the first from UAE to cross the line after Pogacar. The Belgian finished a whopping six (!) minutes behind his teammate, which literally led to technical issues. "The funniest part was that our team car was so far ahead with Pogacar that we in the group behind lost radio contact. Only when a second car came to explain the situation did we hear that he had a two-minute lead." Hirschi can confirm this, being in a group even further back. "We had a lot of problems with the radio because it doesn't work over such a long distance. I didn't know exactly what was happening at the front; actually, I didn't know for a long time.

Both gentlemen are at a loss for words to describe Pogacar. "Tadej is always good, even if he is sick or having a bad day. He will still be among the best. He was eager to race; I don't think it was easy for him to watch all those other races on TV," says Wellens. Hirschi adds: "We know he's strong, we've seen that in training. This is another level; he almost never has a bad day. It's great to ride for him because, in 99 percent of the cases, he also delivers."

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Pogacar did not rule out an early attack at the UAE hotel

The manner in which it unfolded at Strade Bianche on Saturday was nonetheless the most imaginative. "What I find most impressive is that he immediately got a two-minute lead. At the beginning, there was still serious chasing from behind. Then they started looking at each other, but until we heard it was two minutes, the pace in the group was not slow," Wellens explains. "I was worried when he went because it was still so far. But once he had two minutes, I knew he was going to win."

What makes it all the more enjoyable is that Pogacar’s attack (as he also said himself) came about by accident. "The plan was to wait a bit longer, but to thin out the field on Monte Sante Marie. We wanted to make the decisive move on the local circuit," Hirschi says. Wellens adds, "This was one of the scenarios. The first scenario was that we would ride at a high pace on Monte Sante Marie, with a tailwind. After Sante Marie, we wanted to assess the situation, although we knew there was also a scenario where Tadej could attack. I wasn't surprised because Tadej had said before the start that there was a chance he would go. We knew he was super strong. I sometimes train with him, and it's a different level. That he would win so easily, I had not predicted beforehand. We knew he was confident, but one thing is to attack there. Another is to then ride away that far. It's magnificent to ride with such a team leader; it elevates everyone to a higher level."