Full attention will turn to Tadej Pogačar this Saturday as he makes his 2026 season debut at Strade Bianche, the first of five one-day Classics he will take on this Spring.
It’s the first year of his illustrious career that he won’t be racing at a stage race until as late as April, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG allowing him to streamline his calendar and cherry-pick the races he wants in order to keep his motivation high through variation and, hopefully, his fatigue low.
Motivation became a point of discussion surrounding the sport’s top rider throughout the latter half of last season after he visibly grew tired towards the end of the Tour de France – though it has since been revealed that he was nursing knee pain – and questions of when he would retire began to crop up.
Pogačar dismissed any suggestions he would leave cycling earlier than the expiry of his current contract with UAE, which lasts until 2030, but every time he comments on his race programme, it’s Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix – two races he hasn’t won yet – which he continues to highlight as he tries to keep himself hungry.
“2025 was an incredible season for him, for the team, and Tadej is now in such a big dimension, and sometimes he’s fatigued. Also, to be Tadej Pogačar, not only during the races, but being Tadej Pogačar is not easy.
Gianetti only echoed these words as he…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…