Tadej Pogačar may win almost everything he enters—but he’s also known for his quiet respect toward other top riders. But on Wednesday, he may have done something he tries to avoid.
Earlier this year, Rune Herregodts told Het Nieuwsblad about a little-known habit of the current road world champion.
“During training, we sometimes switch from a traditional bike to our time trial bike during a session. Tadej always changes his jersey at that moment so he doesn’t wear the rainbow jersey on his time trial bike,” he said. “He also hides the world champion stripes on his shorts by folding them over.”
The gesture was made out of respect for fellow star Remco Evenepoel–the then, and now, the current TT champ.
But on Wednesday, Pogačar was spotted on the road doing exactly what he’d sworn he wouldn’t. Egads! The Team UAE Emirates trained on his TT bike wearing the full rainbow kit, rainbow shorts and all.
It reminded some of the time when there was no TT championship–only road. Which meant yes, the road world champion would also have a matching skinsuit. Well, to be fair…the road world champion does have a skinsuit, or speedsuit…but not to be worn in time trials.
Meanwhile, Pogi is already laying out his 2026 campaign. Whether or not he will one-up his 2025 season–which was remarkable, is anyone’s guess.
He will kick things off at Strade Bianche before heading to Milan-Sanremo and Ronde van Vlaanderen. And then, he will try to win Paris-Roubaix–something he seems very keen on doing. Pogi was out doing a recon recently in some pretty miserable weather. Then he will head to Liège-Bastogne-Liège to round out the Classics.
Afterward, Pogačar will test himself on new terrain with the Tour of Romandie and Tour de Suisse. These are both stage races he has yet to tackle. Then, he will defend his Tour de France crown in July. Beyond the Tour, the 2026 UCI road world championships in Montreal are already on his radar, though his post-Tour calendar remains a mystery.
Anyway, back to the sartorial slip-up. Cycling blogger Lukáš Ronald Lukács, who is always on top of jerseys and kit was on the ball and posted an image on social media.