Pogačar with ambitious 2022 plans

The winner of the last two Tours de France, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), will return to the Tour to defend his title, in the middle of an ambitious schedule for 2022.

Tour de France 2020 UAE Emirates Tadej Pogacar Stage 15

The Tour de France Stage 15 was taken out Tadej Pogačar of UAE Emirates. Source: Getty

SBS is the place to watch the major road cycling events in 2022, with all three Grand Tours, three monuments and host of other important events over the course of the year with catch-up on SBS On Demand.

Pogačar’s season will start at his team’s home race, the UAE Tour, and continue all the way through to Il Lombardia in the fall. Milan Sanremo, Flanders, a Tour title defense, and a return to the Vuelta will be the highlights of his season.

The 23-year-old won two monuments last year, scooping Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia, but will this year add the Tour of Flanders and Milan Sanremo. His ambitions are limited for the moment however, with gaining experience for the future valuable for the still young rider.

“This year I will do four monuments, that doesn’t mean I’m focusing to win all of them,” said Pogačar. “But in the future, I would like to try all five, also Paris-Roubaix. But not in the near future … but one day.”

“For sure, if I can find myself with a good opportunity I can grab it, but I don’t expect anything from myself. I just want to do my best for the team and to get experience.”
The Slovenian star will take on the infamous Tour of Flanders, one of the hardest races on the professional road calendar, with already excitement building for the Grand Tour star’s debut.

“I probably won’t be the leader, it’s my first Tour of Flanders ever,” Pogačar said. “We have riders for the classics, like [Matteo] Trentin and others. So I’m just there to observe, to get some experience and try my best and be good for the team.”

“Flanders – it’s one of the biggest races. It’s a new challenge for me, and for sure it will help for the Tour de France cobbles stage to get an idea of the roads, of the cobbles. Then I can do recon for the Tour stage after Flanders. A lot of it [riding cobbles] comes with experience.”
Pogačar’s schedule will also include two Grand Tours for the first time in his career, after the Tour he will head to the Vuelta a Espana to try and improve on his third overall in 2019. In recent years, he has kept his schedule to one Grand Tour, to keep the workload on his young body down. However, 2022 sees the prodigious talent in good spirits and form, ready to take on the world.

“For me, I’m feeling pretty good right now,” Pogačar said. “The shape is where I want it to be for January if I want to be good in UAE Tour, so I’m pretty happy.”

Ominously for his rivals, Pogačar said that he continues to improve and strive for more, despite having achieved so much already.

“Every year, there’s less progress, but that doesn’t mean there’s less motivation,” Pogačar said. “I still want to improve every year, but I know it’s impossible to improve every year. For now, I am still improving every year and that’s my motivation for the next years.”


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By SBS Cycling Central
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