Attack as defence: Pogacar dreams of victory at Milan-San Remo
DPA
· 16.03.2023
Pogacar trains on the Milan-San Remo route
Tadej Pogacar treated himself to a short training lap on his racing bike with girlfriend Urska Zigart along the Mediterranean coast. A little rest before the gruelling Milan-San Remo spring classic.
But the two-time Tour de France winner from UAE Team Emirates This year, he is taking it easy anyway, as he would like to suggest. For example, he has done without an altitude training camp. "I feel fresher in my head, but less strong in my legs." Words that must also feel like a threat to the competition.
Pogacar gives Vingegaard a lesson
Because what the exceptional Slovenian rider has already demonstrated on his two wheels in this still young season already had cannibalistic traits à la Eddy Merckx. He has already notched up nine victories this season, in the difficult Paris-Nice tour Pogacar recently gave his great rival and current Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) a bitter lesson. Now he wants to continue his seemingly limitless hunger for victories in the big classics, starting in San Remo on Saturday. "I really like this race, even though it's probably the hardest to win," says the 24-year-old ahead of the 294-kilometre ride.
Motivation from defeat at the Tour de France
The finish in San Remo is only a short distance from his home in Monaco, where he lives with cyclist Zigart. And after Pogacar accelerated too early on the Poggio last year and only finished fifth in the end, he has incorporated the final climb of the Classicissima into one or two training laps. Pogacar rarely makes a mistake twice. He also learnt a lot from his second place at the Tour in the summer, when he was dethroned by Vingegaard: "I draw my motivation from that."
What does this mean for the competition? The Frenchman Romain Bardet (Team DSM), himself twice on the Tour podium, can easily visualise it. "When he accelerates, I'm one step below him. I hope I still have room for improvement, otherwise I won't be cycling for much longer. When you have to take such blows...", Bardet told the newspaper "L'Equipe" after Pogacar's demonstration of power at Paris-Nice. The lightweight from Komenda had won the three hardest stages there, collecting bonus seconds along the way. "They say that attack is the best defence," joked Pogacar.
Versatility as a trump card
There is less laughter about this in the peloton, with a certain resignation spreading in the face of Pogacar's superiority, who has a resting heart rate of 38 beats per minute and has even managed a climb with 500 watts. "I've always been ambitious and enjoy racing, which is where the desire to always want to win comes from. But I think that's the case for most riders," said the insatiable rider. But since Merckx, there has hardly been a rider who has won on every terrain.
Pogacar also wants to win the World Championship title
At the time of those later convicted of doping Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong, the great cyclists were hardly seen in the spring, and after the highlight in the summer, they let the season slowly come to an end. That's different now. In the coming weeks, Pogacar will also be competing in other monuments such as the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he already won in 2021. And the cobblestone ordeal at Paris-Roubaix? "I want to try that one day, but not in 2023," emphasises the UAE team captain. After all.
He has no shortage of big goals and is determined to win the World Championships within the next five years, perhaps as early as this August in Scotland. "Last year I was already tired in August, so I preferred to take it easy this year," explained Pogacar - which now sounds more like a threat.
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