Tadej Pogačar has flatly denied that he had ever had plans to retire at the end of 2028, with his current plans to see out his contract with UAE Team Emirates-XRG until 2030 and then very possibly continue his career into the next decade, and with the same team.
Now 27, speculation had begun to swirl earlier this year that Pogačar might end his career in 2028 following the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
However, in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pogačar insisted that he was already looking to continue for at least another five years.
In the same report, the newspaper conjectured that Pogačar would repeat his comparatively late season start of 2024, with his first race likely to be Strade Bianche on March 7. Pogačar did not confirm that, but he did say that both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix would be part of his program for 2026.
Regarding the early retirement rumours, Pogačar stated categorically that “I never considered leaving at the end of 2028. I signed my contract until 2030, and unless something crazy happens, I’ll obviously respect that. Otherwise, I would never have signed until that date.”
Apart from the Tour de France, where he will be pushing for a record-equalling fifth victory and the World Championships where he will also be aiming for the record of three wins – where success would put him on an equal footing, too, with Peter Sagan‘s tally of three straight triumphs in a row in 2015, 2016 and 2017 – Pogačar confirmed he would be targeting the two Monuments still lacking in his palmares.
While Pogačar will be maintaining his top 2025 Spring Classic targets into 2026, he also said that on the personal front, he and his…
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