{"id":196082,"date":"2025-10-13T01:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T01:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/196082\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T01:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T01:55:10","slug":"pogacar-praises-majka-and-uae-calls-merckx-and-warns-van-der-poel-after-lombardy-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/196082\/","title":{"rendered":"Pogacar praises Majka and UAE, calls Merckx, and warns van der Poel after Lombardy triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tadej Pogacar<\/a> has won his fifth Tour of Lombardy<\/a> in as many appearances, but the Slovenian world champion preferred not to talk about his own legs after the race. Pogi took every opportunity\u2014before and after the race\u2014to thank his teammates from UAE Emirates-XRG, especially the retiring Rafal Majka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old Pole is ending his career after this year, so the Tour of Lombardy was his last feat. Before the start of the fifth Monument of the year, Pogacar already indicated that he owes a lot to the climber, who has been defending the colors of UAE Emirates-XRG since 2021.<\/p>\n

Majka used to be a team leader, but in the last five seasons he had the opportunity to take on a domestique role, and how: he helped Pogacar to victory in the Tour de France and also to the overall victory in the Giro d’Italia. He was also one of the most important contributors to each of the Slovenian’s victories in the Tour of Lombardy. Saturday was his fourteenth edition, and his role was no different.<\/p>\n

Read more below the photo<\/p>\n

\"rafal-majka\"\/Pogacar praises MajkaMajka\u2019s absence will be deeply felt, especially by Pogacar. \u201cIt\u2019s the last day with Rafa,\u201d he said with emotion in an interview with\u00a0Cycling Pro<\/a> and others. \u201cIt\u2019s been such an honor to ride with him. He was my big brother, my mentor over these last few years. We\u2019ve been through so much together. He helped me to become what I’ve become. I\u2019ll miss him so much after today.\u201dOn the eve of his final pro race, Majka was full of praise<\/a> for the Slovenian. He had a front-row seat watching Pogacar win just about everything there was to win. \u201cHe can attack anywhere, win anywhere, and I\u2019ve never seen that in my life. I\u2019ve worked for Peter Sagan and Alberto Contador, but this guy is a machine. A killer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red more below the video!<\/p>\n

Pogacar thanks Majka during the race and at the finishWith a loud \u201cThank you, Rafa<\/a>,\u201d Pogacar shouted at the camera just before another solo victory in Lombardy. When Majka had done his last turn on the Passo di Gamba, we also saw a brief hand gesture from his team leader. “It was a perfect day for the team. Five in a row, we did it. I have to thank all my teammates, especially Rafa,” said Pogi afterward.<\/p>\n

However, his other teammates also received compliments. \u201cThis race is made for me. I’ve won every time I’ve participated. But in all those attempts, I’ve always had a great team around me, so I have to thank them incredibly now, too. Domen Novak did a fantastic job, and then Pavel Sivakov was impressive today. The lead-out on the Passo di Ganda was top class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pogacar warns Mathieu van der Poel\u201cI’ve been saying for seven years in a row that this is my best season ever, but now I can repeat it,\u201d Pogacar laughed in the flash interview<\/a>. In the press conference, he was already looking ahead to 2026, in which he has circled two races. \u201cMilan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix will be my next big goals,\u201d he warned Mathieu van der Poel, the winner of the two Monuments in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, let’s relax, and then we’ll think about next year,\u201d he added. Pogacar will do the Pogi Challenge for his fans on Sunday, go to camp in the Emirates with his teammates, and then go on vacation with his fianc\u00e9e, Urska. After the finish of Il Lombardia, there was also a moment with Eddy Merckx, the legend with whom he has so often been compared.<\/p>\n

\u201cErnesto Colnago (head of bicycle supplier Colnago, ed.) was here at the finish line, and Eddy Merckx called him. We talked for a while, which was very cool. I don’t like being compared to him; everyone is unique in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tadej Pogacar has won his fifth Tour of Lombardy in as many appearances, but the Slovenian world champion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-196082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}