{"id":378414,"date":"2025-12-29T15:18:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/378414\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:18:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:18:07","slug":"i-cant-place-myself-that-high-tadej-pogacar-motivated-but-humble-as-lequipe-award-places-him-amongst-sporting-legends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/378414\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I can’t place myself that high’ \u2013 Tadej Poga\u010dar motivated but humble as L’\u00c9quipe award places him amongst sporting legends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> won a final award and was on the front page of L’\u00c9quipe for a final time in 2025 on Monday, with the influential French sports newspaper crowning him the ‘Champion des Champions Monde’ along with Canadian swimming revelation Summer McIntosh.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar is only the second cyclist to win the award after Greg LeMond in 1989. He has now won the Tour de France<\/a> four times and so much else, sparking a debate that we perhaps saw ‘peak Poga\u010dar’ in 2025. However, he told L’\u00c9quipe<\/a> he is still motivated to do even better.<\/p>\n

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“There’s always room for improvement, to see how I can be even better, how far I can go,” Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n

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“So it’s not very difficult to stay motivated, even more so when you know I have a long contract with my team and many years ahead of me. And when you have good results, motivation comes easily. It’s more complicated when you don’t win much or at all.”<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar joined names like Michael Jordan, Usain Bolt, Roger Federer, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, Simone Biles and Novak Djokovic on the roll of honour of the Champion des Champions Monde award. The award is decided by L’\u00c9quipe journalists via a vote. Poga\u010dar beat pole vaulter Armand Duplantis and tennis player Carlos Alcaraz to this year’s award.<\/p>\n

Summer McIntosh won women’s Champion des Champions award Monde after winning three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and four world titles in 2025. She is already one of the greats of women’s swimming, like Poga\u010dar in men’s cycling.<\/p>\n

In the Champion des Champions France award, Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot<\/a> took home a fourth title after her Tour de France Femmes<\/a> victory this summer, whilst paracyclist Alexandre L\u00e9aut\u00e9 also won for a third time.<\/p>\n

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“\u200b\u200bHonestly, I wouldn’t have put myself on that list. I can’t place myself that high,” Poga\u010dar admitted when L’\u00c9quipe gave him his latest trophy.<\/p>\n

“I see some really cool names. Champions… I am very honored and happy to be part of this list.”<\/p>\n

One of the secrets of Poga\u010dar’s success is his humility and ability to stay grounded. He is dominating professional cycling like few others before him but still loves riding his bike.<\/p>\n

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“I don’t particularly seek that out,” he said of fame, awards and history-making records. “It’s what happens, so I accept it, but then I move on.<\/p>\n

“I’m 27, I still have time to grow up. But I’m becoming less and less of a “kid” because I’m being judged more and more.<\/p>\n

“Everyone needs to do what they love. If you do what you love, you need to savor it. If you approach it like a game, I’m sure it works better for you. It’s obviously different from ten years ago, but I still love this sport; it’s a part of my life, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar is renowned for his aggressive racing and long-range attacks. He has developed in the post-COVID-19 era as nutrition and performance<\/a> was transformed.<\/p>\n

“Why do I attack so far out? Because that’s how I win,” Poga\u010dar replied to L’\u00c9quipe with a laugh.<\/p>\n

“If I wait for the sprint, I’m sure not to win. I know I’m lucky to be able to do this, to know the moment in the race when I can go solo. Sometimes it works and I win, sometimes it doesn’t and I lose.”<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar seems to win with ease but explained there is a lot going on when he goes solo.<\/p>\n

“When I attack, I only think about what can help me win, managing my energy, everything… And that’s already a lot. It’s not a walk in the park!” he said.<\/p>\n

“You have to think about how you’re feeling, look at the gaps, and anticipate what’s coming next. Of course, there are times when you think about something completely different \u2013 that’s human nature \u2013 but most of the time, you’re focused on the only way to reach the finish line as quickly as possible.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tadej Poga\u010dar won a final award and was on the front page of L’\u00c9quipe for a final time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-378414","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"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378414","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=378414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}