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Tadej Pogačar has been in an unusually reflective mood since he wrapped up his fourth Tour de France title a fortnight ago, hinting at possible retirement in 2028 and his desire for new challenges within racing.

During a Saturday evening criterium appearance in his Slovenian hometown of Komenda, the world champion offered a few more clues to what may lie ahead in his career, saying he expects his team to keep selecting him for the Tour for “several years to come” because it’s the sport’s biggest race, but also admitting that he’s, “counting the years until I’m retired.”

Interviewed prior to the 35km Tadej Pogačar Cup event by Slovenian national broadcaster RTV SLO, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader once again highlighted the toll that winning the Tour had taken on him, describing it as, “really tough, one of the hardest ones I’ve ridden, which can be confirmed by everyone who fought for the overall ranking.”

Pressed on his previous comments about retiring, he confirmed that this has been in his thoughts, but that it’s likely to be a good few years ahead yet.

“The fact is, I’m counting the years until I’m retired. I started winning early, and there may be worse results, I’m ready for anything,” he said.

“I’m sure I’ll ride some of the Tours, even though you can never say that you’re going to perform there. The Tour is the biggest race and I doubt that the team will leave me home for several years yet.”

Two weeks on from that fourth yellow jersey success, Pogačar says he’s now well rested and has reset his focus.

“I’m ready for new fights,” he stated. Having decided against trying to win a first Vuelta a España title, his sights are now set on this coming week’s Canadian WorldTour races in Montreal and Quebec, as well as the European and World Championships.

“We know that Montreal suits me better, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t try to win in Quebec as well,” said Pogačar, who’s won the former race twice but has never finished on the podium in Quebec.

“This year they’ve changed the route a bit, now it’s even easier, but the goal is more difficult, so we’ll try to win there too. It doesn’t have to be me, we have a few more racers who can meet this goal, especially Jhonathan Narvaez.”

Beyond that, he will be aiming to defend the world road title in Kigali, Rwanda and then take a first European Road Race Championship victory in the Ardèche region of France. “According to the information we have, this year the European Championship will suit climbers, so I’ll probably be there.

“It’s similar to one of the spring races won by Juan Ayuso this year. But this European Championship probably means I won’t be able to do any of the Italian Classics except for Lombardy.”

Although he’s missing the Vuetla, Pogačar said that he’ll be keeping an eye on events in the season’s third Grand Tour, which starts in two weeks with his rival Jonas Vingegaard as the favorite for victory in the world champion’s absence. He’s hoping that his UAE teammates João Almeida and Juan Ayuso can beat Visma-Lease a Bike’s Danish leader, but admits that it’ll be a tough task. “If Almeida hadn’t fallen at the Tour, he could, but I don’t know,” said Pogačar.

After an afternoon ride showing his home roads around Komenda to French teammate Pavel Sivakov, Pogačar claimed what was his first victory in his eponymous race, finishing ahead of Jayco-AlUla’s Lula Mezgec and Tudor’s Matteo Trentin.

“I wanted to win, especially in front of such a crowd of fans who gathered today. It’s amazing, there weren’t so many spectators when the Tour of Slovenia was held here. The fans gave me extra motivation and I’m really happy that I won,” said Pogačar, who’ll now be looking for a third GP Montreal success Tuesday.