Tadej Pogacar Rides Like a Young God but Felt Old After Tre Valli Varesine

A new cycling day, a new victory for Tadej Pogacar. In Tre Valli Varesine, there was once again no match for the Slovenian. The world champion soloed to his nineteenth(!) win of the season in the Italian one-day race. And that despite having, according to himself, very bad legs just on Monday.

"I really felt shattered on Monday (a day after his impressive solo at the European Championships, ed.)," he said before the start to CyclingProNet. "But this is a new day. I’ve had one day and two nights to recover. That should be enough. Today, we mainly want to win as a team; that is the primary goal."

And Pogacar appeared recovered from his efforts last Sunday, because in and around Varese there was once again no beating the UAE Emirates XRG leader. "The plan was actually to wait for the final lap, but Tudor Pro Cycling decided to open up the race earlier."

Unexpected attack 
"Isaac (his teammate Isaac Del Toro, ed.) then launched an attack on one of the climbs and I jumped with him. That was a good situation for us, although we did realize that nobody really wanted to contribute."

It was then a matter of waiting for an attack from Pogacar, but the Slovenian went off at a very unexpected moment, on one of the descents. "When I looked back after that, I decided to go full gas. He could have ridden myself into the ground there, but even then it would have been a good situation for Isaac."

New generation
However, Pogacar didn’t stop, extended his lead further, and soloed impressively to a new victory. The man in the rainbow jersey was flanked on the podium by Julian Alaphilippe and the only 19-year-old Albert Withen Philipsen, who won the sprint for second place.

"I did feel old on the podium. The next generation is already arriving," Pogacar also referred to the French top talent Paul Seixas (19), who took third at the European Championships on Sunday. "They are fantastic riders. They will carry the sport forward for many years," Pogacar said with admiration.

The somewhat surprising runner-up, Albert Withen Philipsen, also spoke after the race. The Dane from Lidl-Trek is regarded as a top talent, but this first-year pro is now starting to back that up with results. Last Saturday, he was already tenth in the always fiercely contested Giro dell'Emilia.

"It was really a very tough race. I didn’t feel very good at first. I was still feeling the fatigue from yesterday," he said in an interview with TNT Sports, referring to his participation in the Coppa Bernocchi. "But I managed to get through it at some point. The team rode very well again. I was kept well positioned all day. It was a very nice experience."

"We wanted to race aggressively today. Quinn (Simmons, ed.) was very strong out there, but unfortunately he couldn’t hold on until the finish. However, we kept racing and I simply finish second here. I did not expect that; I’m really very happy with this performance. And now? I’ll rest for a few days and then I’ll race Paris-Tours on Sunday."

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