{"id":350070,"date":"2025-12-15T18:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350070\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T18:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:35:09","slug":"when-crashes-happen-there-is-no-space-for-emotions-pogacars-mechanic-on-chaos-calmness-and-unfinished-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350070\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen crashes happen, there is no space for emotions\u201d \u2013 Pogacar\u2019s mechanic on chaos, calmness and unfinished goals"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nWhat the cameras do not showWhen Pogacar crashed at Strade Bianche<\/a> earlier this season, the images on television looked dramatic. Dust, speed and a sudden loss of control. From close range, the picture was more nuanced. \u201cFirst, it should be said that he crashed in a relatively good way, even if that sounds strange,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

Luck played a role.\u201cHe was lucky. There was no curb, no pavement, no drop,\u201d he explained. \u201cHe slid and ended up in bushes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The distinction matters. For mechanics and sports directors, the difference between a slide and an impact can decide whether a rider continues or whether a season is altered.<\/p>\n

Kavcnik and the UAE Team Emirates – XRG<\/a> staff were not immediately behind Pogacar when the crash happened. \u201cFirst comes the commissaire car, then the neutral service, sometimes the doctor,\u201d he said. \u201cOnly then do we come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until the convoy is allowed to stop, there is nothing a mechanic can do. \u201cThe procedure is clear,\u201d Kavcnik said. \u201cYou wait until the car stops and only then react.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calm instead of chaos<\/p>\n

In those moments, coordination is everything. \u201cThe better coordinated the driver, sports director and mechanic are, the faster and more precise the intervention,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

What stands out to him is Pogacar\u2019s behaviour once help arrives. \u201cIf I think of all the riders I have worked with at UAE, I can say without exaggeration that he is among the calmest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kavcnik has seen the opposite too. \u201cI saw Cavendish throw his bike in anger at the Tour of Slovenia,\u201d he recalled. \u201cBernhard Eisel tried to calm him down, but it did not help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those reactions, he believes, say a lot about personality. \u201cMoments like that reveal a lot about a person\u2019s character,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

Pogacar reacts differently. \u201cIn such moments it is crucial to remain level headed and to know that you have someone beside you who will do everything necessary for you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Liege and the limits of control<\/p>\n

That calm was tested far more severely at Liege in 2023, when Pogacar crashed and injured his wrist in an incident caused by a rider ahead suffering a sudden puncture. \u201cThat was a completely different crash,\u201d Kavcnik said. \u201cAt Strade Bianche he made a mistake himself. At Liege it was an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The memory remains vivid. \u201cI still remember the moment he was lying on the ground, catching his breath,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could already see from his face that the impact was heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the pain, Pogacar tried to continue. \u201cHe got back on the bike,\u201d Kavcnik said. \u201cHe changed helmets because the first one was cracked, took the spare bike and rode for another kilometre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only then did reality catch up. \u201cHe had to admit that it would not work,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

Even as his own race was ending, Pogacar\u2019s focus stayed with the team. \u201cBefore they took him away, he told the guys over the radio to continue the race and to follow Remco,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

For the mechanic, it was another example of instinct overriding emotion.<\/p>\n

Security in the chaos<\/p>\n

Kavcnik believes that Pogacar\u2019s calm is closely linked to trust in those around him. \u201cThat sense of security, that feeling that you can completely trust the mechanic beside you in a critical moment, strongly influences who you are as a competitor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When rider and mechanic function as one, panic has less space to grow. \u201cIf rider and mechanic are compatible and function as one, then things simply work,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

The fire that still burns<\/p>\n

Despite the crashes and the accumulated success, Kavcnik does not believe Pogacar is anywhere near slowing down. \u201cI think Tadej is driven above all by the races he has not yet won,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Two Monuments sit firmly at the top of that list. \u201cMilano Sanremo and Roubaix,\u201d Kavcnik said. \u201cThose two bother him the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also one Grand Tour missing. \u201cAnd of course the Vuelta,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Retirement, in his view, is not a current concern. \u201cAs long as he still has that fire, he does not think about retirement,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

For now, Pogacar arrives at races with the same mindset. \u201cOn principle, he comes to every race with the goal of winning,\u201d Kavcnik said.<\/p>\n

And when things go wrong, he does not waste energy on emotion. \u201cWhen crashes happen,\u201d Kavcnik repeated, \u201cthere is no space for emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What the cameras do not showWhen Pogacar crashed at Strade Bianche earlier this season, the images on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85,6494,19805],"class_list":{"0":"post-350070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tadej-pogacar","13":"tag-uae-team-emirates-xrg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}