Tadej Pogacar has not only been the absolute superstar of cycling world since this year’s victory at the Tour de France. One of his ex-team colleagues has now underpinned this with a small anecdote.
The New Zealand cyclist Finn Fisher-Black, who drove at the UAE Team Emirates between 2021 and 2024, has noticed how Tadej Pogacar has risen to the absolute superstar in recent years.
“I think people are not so aware of how big he got,” said the 23-year-old in the “Domestique HotSeat Podcast”.
“He begins to grow beyond sport. Even people who are not interested in cycling now know who he is,” said Fisher-Black. He noticed that especially when visiting Canada: “We went to a café and tried to form a bubble around Tadej so that we could actually get to the counter without the people.”
Pogacar wants to “be a little less famous”
After his fourth overall victory at the Tour de France Jümgst, Tadej Pogacar had Jümgst through that the whole hustle and bustle around his person has become too much for him. “Sometimes I wish to be a little less famous,” the 26-year-old confessed. The photo shoots and autograph sessions are sometimes exhausting, “but I try to please everyone”.
At the same time, the superstar acquaintances that he also ends up at the end of a career. He “has already counted the years until my resignation”.
Fisher-Black, who has been driving for the German Red Bora Hansgrohe racing team since this year, also recognizes a certain tiredness at Pogacar. Nevertheless, he says: “He begins to grow bigger than the sport itself. But the fire in it continues to burn. As soon as the starting shot is given, he loves the race. It will never disappear.”
The Spanish Vuelta, the last Grand Tour of the Year, is out of the question of Tadej Pogacar for reasons of stress control. For his team, Juan Ayuso and Joao Almeida go into the race as co-captains.