Cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar will not defend his Giro title this year. The team of sports of the team UAE Emirates officially canceled a start of the Slovenia on the tour of Italy.
The first Giro participation of Tadej Pogacar will remain the last for the time being. As his sports director Mauro Gianetti officially announced in an interview with the French “L’équipe”, the previous year’s winner will leave out the tour of Italy this year.
“No. That is safe,” Gianetti replied when asked whether his protégé in 2025 will start at the Giro.
Does Pogacar start at the Tour de France and the Vuelta?
According to the head of the sports, only the Tour de France is firmly booked in the Slovenal calendar. “We will now plan everything exactly to know whether he is driving the tour and the Vuelta or just the tour,” Gianetti also left a start of Pogacar on the tour of the Spain.
He couldn’t say exactly how the answer is. They wanted to wait for the start of the season. “And in the coming weeks we will choose,” said Gianetti with a view to a possible double start at the Tour de France and the Vuelta.
Paris-Roubaix with Tadej Pogacar?
After all, the plan for the first months of the season is already certain. It is planned today that the superstar will start at the Strade Bianche, Milan Remo, the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders. The Ardennes races for Pogacar are then on the program.
According to Gianetti, participation in Paris-Roubaix is also not excluded. However, this is not yet certain. Marco Marcato, sporting director of UAE Emirates,, on the other hand, only emphasized a few days ago that the cycling monument in France does not play any role in the considerations. “Paris-Roubaix is currently not in the plans that we have with him,” he said. A statement that apparently is not carved in stone.