{"id":59858,"date":"2025-08-10T20:04:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T20:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/59858\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T20:04:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T20:04:07","slug":"pogacar-already-thinking-about-retirement-but-wants-to-win-in-quebec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/59858\/","title":{"rendered":"Poga\u010dar already thinking about retirement \u2014 but wants to win in Qu\u00e9bec"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tadej Poga\u010dar made his first public appearance since securing his fourth Tour de France victory, gathering friends and fellow riders in his hometown of Komenda, Slovenia, for a post-Tour criterium. Joining him were UAE Emirates teammates Pavel Sivakov and Luka Mezgec, former teammate Matteo Trentin, and compatriots Matej Mohori\u010d and Matev\u017e Govekar. Belgian champion Tim Wellens was expected but withdrew due to illness.<\/p>\n<p>After the Tour, Poga\u010dar returned to his home in Monaco. But this weekend was firmly back in Slovenia, reconnecting with friends, neighbours, and family. \u201cI\u2019m happy to see friends, neighbours, and family,\u201d he said. \u201cBut sometimes I wish I were a little less famous. Taking pictures and signing autographs can be tiring. However, I try to make everyone happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also spoke of the fatigue during the Tour.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, everyone has bad days. You can\u2019t expect me to be happy during all 21 stages of the Tour. This one was one of the toughest I\u2019ve ever ridden. Everyone that was fighting for the GC can confirm that. But now I\u2019m well rested. I am reset, and ready for new battles,\u201d he said to Slovenian outlet, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtvslo.si\/sport\/kolesarstvo\/pogacar-se-je-spocil-in-razkril-karte-nato-pa-se-dobil-svoj-kriterij\/754232\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">RTVSLO<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Poga\u010dar has already confirmed he won\u2019t race the Vuelta this year. Instead he will be focusing on the WorldTour races in Canada and the world championships.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter such a demanding Tour, we decided it was best to take a break,\u201d Poga\u010dar said in a team <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/tadej-pogacar-gives-2025-vuelta-a-espana-update\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a>. \u201cThe Vuelta is a race I love \u2014 I have great memories from 2019 \u2014 but my body needs rest. I\u2019m excited to return to Canada. Those races are beautiful, and they suit my style well. They\u2019ll help me get back into rhythm for the world championships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Les Grand Prix Cyclistes de Montr\u00e9al et Qu\u00e9bec, it\u2019s clear has a big goal this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that the Montr\u00e9al course suits me better,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that doesn\u2019t mean I won\u2019t try to win in Qu\u00e9bec as well. The course has changed a bit this year \u2014 it\u2019s easier overall, but the finish is tougher. We will try to win there too. It\u2019s not just up to me, though, we have other contenders like Jhonatan Narv\u00e1ez.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On retirement, Poga\u010dar was candid. \u201cI am already counting down the years until I retire. I started winning early. And while there may be ups and downs, I\u2019m ready for anything. I\u2019ll probably ride a few more Tours, though you never know. The Tour is the biggest race, and I doubt my team will let me skip it for long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Canadian Cycling Magazine will be at the WorldTour races in Montreal and Quebec. If you can make it too\u2013go for it. It\u2019s the only stop for cycling\u2019s major leagues in North America, and they are some pretty incredible races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tadej Poga\u010dar made his first public appearance since securing his fourth Tour de France victory, gathering friends and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,39340,82,1422],"class_list":["post-59858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-les-grand-prix-cyclistes-de-montreal-et-quebec","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}