From the UAE Emirates hotel on the outskirts of Montpellier, Tadej Pogacar and his teammates set off in the late morning, followed by a swarm of amateur cyclists who soon fall behind. It's a rest day, but the legs can't stop abruptly. A couple of easy hours, a coffee, and back to headquarters, which they share with Lidl and Bahrain, where Joxean Fernández 'Matxin' deals with his frantic routine: sponsors, journalists, and agents.
Question. Does it bother you that everything is going so well?
Answer. You try to enjoy it. I have learned to do it because I have personally been through tough times too. You realize that nothing is either fleeting or eternal.
Q. Like Tadej's cold.
A. There are so many temperature changes... In the podium, the air conditioning is on full blast, in the press conferences, the anti-doping, and then suddenly the heat. It affects. But it's okay.
Q. Did you feel fear during the fall in Toulouse?
A. You don't have time to think. You act quickly and try to get to the fall to change the bike... I always have two phrases that I repeat a lot and they tease me about them. One is: "Today we have to win no matter what." And the other: "Every problem has a solution." And I always look for the solution.
Q. The feeling is that only something extraordinary, an accident, or an illness, could prevent Pogacar from winning his fourth Tour.
A. There could be more circumstances. We have experienced them and remember them. The Granon (2022) was a fatal day, the col de Loze (2023) another. We cannot forget those things. We must remember the bad moments.
Q. Hautacam, Mont Ventoux, La Loze... This Tour has insisted on returning to the places where Pogacar has suffered. Is it another motivation?
A. Yes, undoubtedly. When you achieve something and accumulate many victories, you have a general memory of them. But when you have a bad day, that is not forgotten. The best way to motivate someone is to solve those bad memories. The stimulus for someone like Tadej is that. It was already seen in Hautacam. We only have Granon left in this triptych. Someday we will have to overcome that challenge.
Q. How do you maintain the hunger of someone who wins everything?
A. That is the easiest part. Honestly. When you compete, you realize that there are 200 other riders who want to move forward and beat you. The difference between "I can" and "I do" is quality. He is aware that he has it and is always competitive. What we seek with him is to vary the objectives, change races. There is the priority objective and then we approach others, like this year with the classics.
Q. Does Tadej look a lot at history?
A. You journalists make it easy for him. Sometimes I tell him something. He writes to me or calls me more about the UCI points, the rankings... Lately, not so much, because he is always in first place, so there is not much to look at.
Q. Is he gaining a bad image for winning so much?
A. If there is something Tadej is not, it's arrogant. He gets wet and said: "This team pays me to win." They don't pay him to give it away to a rival. And I don't think it would be fair to them. If I were his rival, I wouldn't like him to give it to me. He competes to win. It's different now that he can race more calmly, like the other day. Possibly in Superbagnères, instead of waiting for Vingegaard to attack, he would have done it. But the circumstances are like this, now he is not restless, there is no need to make extra efforts when such a tough week remains.
Q. When a cyclist dominates so overwhelmingly, suspicions of doping soon arise. Does it anger you?
A. Honestly, I analyze who talks about doping, and they are people from 20 years ago. I would say to them: "Look at today's cycling, it's nothing like that." They are journalists who have lived through a time that has marked them. I would ask them to live day by day. A few days ago, David Lappartient (president of the UCI) published in a media outlet like Le Figaro a complete performance analysis of Pogacar. I appreciate it.
Q. Do you notice Tadej being more mature?
A. Yes, in all aspects.
Q. For example?
A. He now knows that instead of signing 18 autographs, he should only sign four or five. Because if he signs 18, there are another 200 fans who will get upset. Also, during the race, he knows how to pause to stay in the peloton. And regarding the motivation of his teammates. The difference is being a leader or being a champion, and he is a leader. He cares about his teammates, about the staff... He leads by example. That's what I like most about him. And I tell him personally: "You are not just a champion, you are a damn leader." Every time he comes to the bus, he thanks his teammates, and they give their all for him. He was happier for Wellens' victory than for his own.
Q. Does a leader get angry?
A. Yes. Usually, he knows how to channel it well, but he is very direct. He has the courage and guts to tell me things.
Q. What does he still need to improve?
A. To be a massive sprinter and beat a peloton of 200. But we neither work on nor think about that.
Q. Victory on Mont Ventoux, La Loze, or Paris with Montmartre?
A. Knowing him, full team.