'Pogacar reads the race better than ever' – UAE confident in Tour plan
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG boss praises his team leader and confirms they have a plan to gain time later in the race.
Tadej Pogačar is reading races better than ever before according to UAE Team Emirates-XRG boss, Joxean Fernández Matxín.
In a long form interview with Spanish website Marca, Pogačar’s boss acknowledges the Tour is far from over, even if his rider is well placed as they head into the second week of a so far gruelling race.
The Slovenian rider begins Wednesday’s Toulouse stage in second place overall, having lost the yellow jersey to Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) after the Irishman’s heroic ride during Monday’s 10th stage. However, Pogačar still leads his main rivals, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) one minute down and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) a further 17 seconds behind.
With two stage wins already, Pogačar has sought to take time where he can, earning bonus seconds and putting time into Vingegaard in the time trial, and twice distancing Evenepoel, but we're yet to see a trademark huge attack.
“He's simply learned to read the race better,” Matxín said of his charge. “Rather than holding him back, you have to understand that race circumstances sometimes change plans. At Strade Bianche, we planned to start 52km from the finish, and he ended up starting at 80."
“He has perfect race timing. If he's ahead of schedule, it's not because he's been hasty. But sometimes it's better to take risks than let others get ahead of him. It seems like he's losing, but in reality, he's selecting the group."
“Yesterday [Monday] was a medium-mountain stage, with second-class climbs and not too tough. The demanding part was the accumulation of meters and the work of the domestiques. The most important thing is yet to come: the stages in the Pyrenees, the time trial, the Alps. The Tour neither begins nor ends here.”
Even if Pogačar himself appeared a slightly restrained version of his usual swashbuckling self, attacking only in the closing kilometres, the team seemed under pressure during Monday’s mountain stage to Le Mont Dore, more than likely feeling the absence of João Almeida, who was forced to abandon, and Pavel Sivakov’s illness.
“Monday was a stage where we had to ride defensively, and so far, everything is going according to plan,” Matxín said. “It’s unfavourable regarding the loss of Joao Almeida, who was a hugely important player for us, but we're optimistic. Last year we competed with seven riders, we were able to perform. We hope for a similar outcome this year.”
Despite Monday’s finish line handshake between Pogačar and Vingegaard, one of the themes of the opening week has been the apparent beef between their two teams, something Matxín played down.
“There haven't been any clashes as such, because for there to be one both sides must argue. And we haven't argued. We respect Visma, one of the best teams in the world, to the utmost, and we expect the same respect."
“They're being very offensive, perhaps looking to repeat what worked for them at Granon [stage 11 of the 2022 Tour] which was how they managed to oust Tadej. It's clear they have that same character in mind."
“We're in a different environment. Tadej is leading the standings and has a minute's lead. The one who should attack is Vingegaard. Sometimes cycling seems to forget that the one who goes first shouldn't always attack."
“We've proven it many times. We'll act accordingly on each stage. Not all stages are the same. When it's necessary, we have a plan.”
Those plans may well come into action this week. Not only does the race enter the Pyrenees on Thursday, but Wednesday’s punchy final in Toulouse could turn out like the one we saw in Rouen last week, where Pogačar won his first stage.
