‘I understand if he wants to stop’ – Pogacar’s mum opens up about her son’s exhaustion

Tadej Pogačar’s 2025 campaign was one of total control, yet behind the success, there was a level of fatigue only a mother could sense. Speaking to Le Parisien, Marjeta Pogačar admitted she had seen the strain building. “This year, I saw that he was really, really tired. Exhausted, perhaps,” she said. “And I said to myself, now I can understand if he stops cycling.”

She added that she would not be surprised if he decided to take a break. “Completely, yes. Or at least for a year.” For a rider who turned 27 in September and has already won more than 100 professional races, the idea of slowing down no longer feels so unlikely.

Marjeta explained that it was not only the physical effort that wore him down but also the constant attention that surrounds him. “There were too many things before and after races that were really difficult to bear,” she said. 

“You might think it feels good to have so many people by the side of the road, but sometimes it’s not always nice. You can see people hitting him, pinning things on him, sometimes yelling at him. Because he wins too much, because he doesn’t sign autographs. Sometimes, it’s very difficult.”

Even with those pressures, Pogačar still managed to win a fourth Tour de France, despite crashing on stage 11 and struggling with knee pain in the final week. After the race, he admitted that the mental and physical load was beginning to catch up with him. 

“I’m at this point in my career that if I do burnout, I would be happy with what I achieved,” he said. “Burnouts happen in sport, both mental and physical. We train a lot, maybe too much, and we always want to do more. The team needs you to race and you keep going in that circle until you finally stop.”

For his mother, those words made sense. “He was so tired, mentally and physically,” she said. “And that’s all under the eyes of millions of people.”

When he crashed during the Tour, she remembered feeling his pain from afar. “He told me, ‘No, it doesn’t hurt my shoulder, just a little in my hip, but it’s not serious.’ And me, on the other hand, my shoulder hurt a lot, as if I had fallen. Maybe he wasn’t in pain because I took his pain. That’s what mothers feel for their children.”

Now, as the season comes to an end, Pogačar should finally have time to rest, but according to his mother, that is easier said than done. “After the season, it’s the sponsors and other obligations that force him to stay active. He really doesn’t get much rest,” she said.

For most fans, 2025 will be remembered as another year of brilliance. For those closest to him, it was also a reminder that even champions need time to breathe.