Updated November 4, 2025 04:36AM
Tadej Pogačar rates 2025 as his best season yet, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbow jerseys for cycling’s transcendent superstar.
In fact, Pogačar suffered his most problematic summer as he led the UAE Emirates-XRG mega-team to a record 97 season wins.
The 27-year-old was slammed for being “arrogant,” buffeted by burnout, and battled a race-threatening injury as he closed down on his fourth Tour de France title.
Pogačar’s lieutenant Tim Wellens shared some juicy “inside the bus” revelations on Pogačar’s period of tumult in an interview with L’Equipe this week.
Also read: Rating Pogačar seasons by everything but wins
Pogačar nearly knocked out by knee injury
Pogačar was physically and mentally knocked back by a knee injury in the final week of the Tour. (Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
The Belgian superdomestique revealed Pogačar nearly didn’t make it to Paris this year at the Tour de France.
The Slovenian’s knee flared up so bad in week 3 that everyone inside “Team Pogi” feared the worst.
“On the Valence stage [stage 17 – ed], Tadej told me, ‘Tim, we have a problem, my knee is killing me.’ So much so that he went all the way to the doctor’s car to get checked out,” Wellens told L’Equipe.
“He went to the hospital after the race for tests, they found inflammation. He was in a lot of pain, we had doubts about his ability to finish. We even considered him abandoning the race,” Wellens revealed Monday.
“On the team bus, we could see his body wasn’t well, he was all fluid, he’d gained weight. It was a relief that he didn’t give up.”
The world saw a new side of Pogačar as he nursed his knee and braced against a resurgent Jonas Vingegaard.
It was a defensive, sullen, injured ride to a fourth Tour de France title that led to a storm of speculation. Accusations of boredom, arrogance, and ennui stalked the typically affable frontman of pro cycling.
“Everyone was wondering why he wasn’t attacking, which was understandable,” Wellens said, before suggesting the team was none-the-wiser of a deeper malaise.
“Afterward, we were worried about him physically, but mentally, I was surprised to read that he was eager to get home,” Wellens said. “Because, between us, we were really having a great time.”
‘I might be fed up with Pogačar’s dominance, too’
Wellens raced with Pogačar through the classics, Tour de France, and into the fall. (Photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
A nasty knee wasn’t enough to stop Pogačar punching his ticket to the “four time winner’s club” and moving closer to a historic fifth title at the Tour de France.
It was an unrelenting dominance that continued through a second world title in September and record-typing fifth win at Il Lombardia in October. As even Remco Evenepoel discovered, was no stopping the Pogačar Express.
Wellens was able to sympathise with Pogačar’s beleagered rivals.
“If I weren’t on Tadej’s team, I might be fed up [of his dominance], too,” Wellens told L’Equipe. “But I’m around him and I see all the work he does. For me, he’s the most professional on the team, along with Juan Ayuso.
“For example, one day we had just come back from Abu Dhabi. Everyone was tired, but he went straight into a training session in the heat.”
Pogačar’s rout of the summer didn’t only ruffle his rivals’ feathers.
His sullen reluctance at the Tour de France, some copy-paste long-range raids, and an off-key “do not distub” training jersey drew criticism across the social-sphere.
Pogačar can’t go to the toilet without being papped
Pogačar is in the spotlight everywhere he goes. (Photo: Gruber Images)
As one of Pogačar’s most trusted wingmen, Wellens followed Pogačar through the season.
The 34-year-old revealed more on Pogačar’s luxury problem of superstardom.
“He’s really become a big star. If he needs to take a bathroom break during a ride, he hides because as soon as he stops, people come up to take pictures,” Wellens told L’Equipe. “We don’t realize it, but he feels it 24/7.
“He handles it very well,” Wellens continued. “Sometimes I see he’s fed up, but at his level, that could happen much more often and much faster. He’s very patient.”
Wellens reassured that while Pogačar finds celebrity exhausting, it’s no existential threat.
“I think Tadej will be racing for a long time because he truly loves what he does,” he said.
Criticism, burnout, arrogance, or none of the above, Pogačar set the tone for Team UAE, all year long.
He amassed 20 wins, more UCI points than multiple WorldTour teams, and reached a level of fame in the Emirates it was deemed worthy of a gold statue.
Life inside the UAE Emirates-XRG winning machine
McNulty and Pogačar underlined UAE Emirates-XRG’s dominance when they went 1-2 in Montréal. (Photo: Getty Images)
Pogačar’s late summer blitz was backed up by that of his team. Pogačar, Isaac del Toro, and Brandon McNulty led the squad to a stampede of 29 wins in the post-Tour de France period, alone.
The level of criticism was shared, too.
Nonetheless, Wellens told L’Equipe the team didn’t feel the public’s rising discontent at a team that throttled the sport.
“No, but perhaps because I experienced it from the inside,” Wellens said when asked if the squad felt any external resentment.
“But it’s true that there’s confidence. For example, at GP Montréal, we were saying to each other, ‘We shouldn’t be stressed, we’re the best!’ And then, we completely dominated during the race,” he continued.
“I hope our competitors don’t see this as arrogance. But I would understand if there were annoyance, because it must be demotivating.”
Pogačar and UAE Emirates-XRG wrote history multiple times in 2025.
Concerns over public perceptions won’t stop them doing it again in 2026, either.