Tadej Pogačar is likely to make a return to Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milan-San Remo next March, with the Italian races set to fill out his early spring calendar.
The Slovenian superstar has yet to finalise his 2024 calendar, with that to be confirmed at UAE Team Emirates‘ media day on December 18.
However, Spanish newspaper AS has reported that Pogačar is set to spend his March racing the trio of Italian WorldTour races, with Strade Bianche (March 2) and Tirreno-Adriatico (March 4-10) back on his schedule after skipping the pair in 2023.
The season’s first Monument at Milan-San Remo (March 16) should also feature in his plans after scoring fifth and fourth places at La Primavera in recent participations. Choosing the Italian races means that he wouldn’t return to France to defend his Paris-Nice title next March.
Pogačar has mixed and matched his early season racing during his five years as a pro, having lined up at the Tour Down Under, UAE Tour, Volta ao Algarve, and last year the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior and Vuelta a Andalucía in January and February.
2024 will see the 25-year-old take on a new challenge for his first races of the year as he heads to Portugal. He’ll line up at the Figueira Champions Classic, a one-day race holding its second edition on February 10. A return to the Volta ao Algarve (February 14-18) for the first time since his victory there in 2019 is also on the cards.
The five-day stage race, which features its usual uphill finishes at Foiá and Malhão as well as a 22km time trial, has so far confirmed 10 WorldTour teams for next February. UAE Team Emirates will be joined by Remco Evenepoel and Soudal-QuickStep as well as Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck, among others, while Ineos Grenadiers and Visma-Lease a Bike should also start.
The lesser-known Figueira Champions Classic, last year a 1.1 race before stepping up to 1.Pro status for 2024, is held on the west coast of Portugal between Porto and Lisbon. Last year Casper Pedersen (Soudal-QuickStep) won from a small lead group on the hilly 190km route, while this time around eight WorldTour teams are down to take part.
Of course, Pogačar’s 2024 goals will lie beyond the early season warm-up races in Portugal. A fifth start at Strade Bianche, which he won in 2022, will give him more kilometres on off-road terrain several months ahead of the vital gravel-packed stage 9 of the Tour de France.
He’ll be in the mix for victory at Tirreno-Adriatico – which he’s won twice…
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