The very mention of the words ‘Tadej Pogačar’ and ‘retirement’ has certainly sent the cycling world into a bit of tailspin lately.
The very notion that the world champion is even contemplating his life after cycling was first uttered towards the end of last month’s Tour de France, where Pogačar cut a jaded figure as he eased, freewheeling and mouth closed, to his fourth yellow jersey, telling reporters “I don’t see myself going on for much longer”.
And, speaking for the first time since the Tour at home in Komenda, Slovenia, where he took part in a crit organised in his honour at the weekend, Pogačar elaborated on his thoughts about retirement, and his reaction to the panic they generated across cycling.
“It may seem funny to most people that I’m already counting down to retirement, but the fact is that a sports career isn’t very long,” he said. “I started winning quite early and everything has been going strong ever since. Every year we train harder and faster, so I look forward to my future with pleasure.
“On the one hand, I know that my sports career will not be long, but on the other hand, I am aware that I can enjoy the level I am at now for a few more years. However, I expect that this level will drop at some point and that there will be no more victories in the season than now and that there will be a bad year at some point.
“I am prepared for everything that is coming, so I am all the more aware that I have to enjoy the moment. I have to be prepared to stop, say thank you and say goodbye to racing at the highest level.”
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
Pogačar’s reference to the burden of training and racing at the highest level from such a young age – he burst on to the scene as a 20-year-old back in 2019, podiuming at the Vuelta – has been echoed by former Movistar pro Luis Pasamontes, who reckons the Slovenian’s retirement daydreams are “logical and understandable”.
Pasamontes raced as a pro for nine seasons in the 2000s and early 2010s, winning a stage of the Tour de Wallonie in 2007, before joining Caisse d’Epargne (which later became Movistar), racing the Tour de France, Giro, and Vuelta for the Spanish squad.
And the 45-year-old believes that this new generation of riders who have been successful from an extremely young age, such as Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and Juan Ayuso, and the increasing professionalisation of aspiring teenage cyclists, could lead to quicker than expected burnout.
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
“Pogačar is thinking about his retirement. For me, it’s normal, logical, and understandable,” Pasamontes said on X this week.
“They live tied to the numbers of power meters and scales. They live between training camps and competitions, rarely at home. That’s how it is, it’s the moment they’ve been given to live as professionals. It’s tough.
“13-year-old cyclists training 200km and doing high-altitude camps, promoted by the team. Of course, also by the parents. Being the best in junior categories is not synonymous with doing things right.
“I don’t understand anything about cycling.”
Same Luis, same.