Author of a new XXL season, Tadej Pogacar is THE star of world cycling. A status that he has difficulty understanding.
Tadej Pogacar has made cycling history a little more in 2025. Thanks to his victories in the Tour de France, Liège-Boastogne-Liège, the Tour Tour de France, the Tour of Lombardy or at the World Championships, the Slovenian has had a golden season. To the point of being designated by L’Equipe Champion of world champions ahead of Armand Duplantis and Carlos Alcaraz.
The leader of the UAE-Emirates Team is only the second cyclist to receive such an honor after Greg Lemond, crowned in 1989, which the person concerned explains easily. “Cycling is really a special sport, not easy to follow and practice. It seems easier to me to watch a tennis match than a race that lasts six hours, he explained. In tennis, only two guys compete for victory and you support one of them. In cycling, you also take one, but 175 riders can beat it. The probabilities are completely different. It’s the same in basketball, it’s a match between two teams. We, 23 teams compete in a single race. »
This coronation proves the exceptional dimension taken by Tadej Pogacar. A situation that the native of Ljubljana has difficulty understanding. “I’m still on planet Earth (smiles). It’s really nice to see all these kids, cycling fans, so young, especially when they are my supporters. But I don’t feel like a star.” he assured.
“I’m not a big star”
“I’m always struck when a guy stops me in the street while I’m in civilian clothes, in a restaurant, or when he asks me for a photo, his hands trembling, even though sometimes he doesn’t even listen to you when you answer them and he just wants the photo, he continued. But I’m not a big star. If I decide to go to Asia for example, people might not recognize me. In Barcelona, Brussels or Italy, it’s different. It all depends on where I am. »
And Tadej Pogacar is convinced of it. This status is not made to last. “I know that one day everything will stop and I will just want to go back to a normal life. I don’t have this need, this desire, to constantly show that I am the best, he explained. Sometimes it’s nice to compete in a race and not feel the need to absolutely win. »
