Tadej Pogačar has confirmed that his ambition is to compete at the Giro d’Italia, and Tour de France in 2024, squeezing both into a season which is also expected to include an Olympic Games and World Championships start.
In a round-table interview at the UAE Team Emirates training camp on Monday, Pogačar said that it has always been a dream to compete at the Italian Grand Tour and now he feels the time is right to take on two Grand Tours in a year for the first time, which will enable him to debut at the race in May.
“I always wanted to do the Giro. It’s one of my favourite races because it’s close to Slovenia and as a kid we really love to watch the Giro and go to the stages. I have some of my nicest memories from the Giro, when Luka Mezgec won a stage in Trieste [stage 21, 2014 – ed]. I was there, and it was an unforgettable moment,” Pogačar said.
“It was always a dream to be [at the Giro]. Then come to UAE, first race to do the Vuelta and [then] to the Tour and it was such a success that it was never really time for the Giro. I’m not so young anymore, and I think I can do two Grand Tours. I probably could have before, but it’s a nice time to have a new challenge in my career.”
On Sunday, Giro d’Italia organisers RCS Sport had already confirmed that Pogačar would make his debut at the Italian Grand Tour. Pogačar previously expressed his desire to take on the race, which runs from May 4-26, but also stated a main season goal of racing at the Tour de France, which is June 29-July 21. The Giro-Tour winning double hasn’t been achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998.
“Everybody wants to do the double, and it’s one of the hardest things to win, to achieve. I think the main goal for all the GC riders who have already won a Grand Tour is to have all three of them,” Pogačar said.
“This is something to have in a palmares. Let’s see first how it goes with the Giro, and then the Tour. Let’s not think about the double, but just let’s go to enjoy some long racing.”
Asked if his goal was to win the Giro d’Italia for the first time or to win the Tour de France for a third time, Pogačar said he placed a higher priority on the UCI Road World Championships held in Zurich in September.
“World Championships, also Olympics is a good goal, but it’s not set in stone. It’s not a perfect parcours for me, but you never know. It’s going to be a really hard race because there are not big teams in the Olympics so it can be almost like gambling, no? If you’re in good shape…
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