{"id":356332,"date":"2026-01-07T03:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/356332\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T03:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:45:08","slug":"pogacars-successor-has-a-lot-of-work-ahead-of-himself-to-live-up-to-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/356332\/","title":{"rendered":"Pogacar&#8217;s successor has a lot of work ahead of himself to live up to predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 season is about to begin. It will be a key year as a new three-year cycle also starts. But there will be much to watch beyond the relegation fight. One rider drawing big expectations is Jakob Omrzel. The Slovenian, at just 19, won his country\u2019s Elite National Championships, and the comparisons with Tadej Pogacar were inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>All the more so as Omrzel, who will ride for Bahrain Victorious\u2019s first team after stepping up from the development squad, also secured the GC at the Giro Next Gen, the under-23 version of Corsa Rosa. A Slovenian who wins a U23 Grand Tour, with a huge engine and a steel-trap mentality. The script sounds familiar.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, Jakob Omrzel made it clear he belongs to the sport\u2019s future elite and, hearing him speak, it\u2019s easy to see why many mention him alongside Tadej Pogacar. He explained as much <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idlprocycling.com\/cycling\/a-winner-in-the-giro-and-roubaix-are-comparisons-between-jakob-omrzel-and-tadej-pogacar-justified-more-of-a-climber\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">in his interview with IDL Pro Cycling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Omrzel stressed he knows the pressure is coming, but it doesn\u2019t worry him. He also outlined his own goals despite the comparisons with Pogacar, making it clear his focus will be on general classifications, with the cobbled classics a little more in the background.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The public expects a lot, but it doesn\u2019t affect me. I know my progression and what I can do. The goals will come. Pressure even helps: it forces you to believe you can do it,&#8221; said Jakob Omrzel, regarding the towering figure of Tadej Pogacar ahead of him.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"280\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/collage-tadejpogacarjakobomrzel-69458529b05ee.jpg@webp.webp\" class=\"w-auto h-auto\" alt=\"Tadej Pogacar and Jakob Omrzel are two stars of Slovenian cycling.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Tadej Pogacar and Jakob Omrzel are two stars of Slovenian cycling.<\/p>\n<p>Roubaix, the cobbles\u2026 and one more coincidencePogacar won the Tour de l\u2019Avenir early in his career. Omrzel, the Giro Next Gen. But they share something else: comfort on the cobbles. While <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclinguptodate.com\/cycling\/video-disaster-for-tadej-pogacar-as-mathieu-van-der-poel-goes-solo-at-paris-roubaix-2025\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pogacar shone at this year\u2019s Paris-Roubaix<\/a>, Omrzel already knows what it\u2019s like to win there\u2026 when he triumphed in the junior race two years ago.<\/p>\n<p>However, his main focus goes elsewhere: &#8220;I\u2019m more oriented to general classifications. But it\u2019s also good to feel competitive on the cobbles. They\u2019re very different races and they make you more complete. I like working on that too.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>And if he has to define himself, he doesn\u2019t hesitate: &#8220;I\u2019m a climber. I\u2019m not a sprinter, except when only climbers are left and everyone is on the limit. That\u2019s where I can take advantage. I try to improve in everything, but everyone ends up specializing in what they are [best at],&#8221; he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 season is about to begin. It will be a key year as a new three-year cycle&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,114535,101,8782,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-356332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-jakob-omrzel","tag-sports","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356332","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=356332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}