318 - The Meteoric Rise of Tadej Pogačar: From Prodigy to Cycling Legend

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  His 2020 Tour de France win came as a complete surprise, decided in the final time trial.

  In the Covid year, with few races, Pogačar went to the Tour as co-leader with Fabio Aru. After the queen stage to the Col de la Loze, where he finished just behind Primož Roglič, he was sure he'd be second. The team was preparing a white bike for the young rider's ceremony. He'd scouted the final time trial course in advance and rode it relaxed, with 'no tension, no stress,' and turned the race around. He rode about 380–390 W on the flat. For the climb he used a 6.8 kg bike with no power meter or radio he could hear over the crowds, and simply went 'full gas.' He weighed about 66 kg.

• 02

  His 2022 Galibier collapse came from answering too many attacks, not from poor fuelling.

  On the Télégraphe–Galibier–Granon stage, Jumbo-Visma attacked relentlessly. He answered eight or nine accelerations, then tried to drop everyone himself, which he now calls 'stupid,' with Wout van Aert up the road anyway. 'If you do eight sprints… it takes too much.' His view: the nutrition plan was fine, but you can't replace that much output by eating more.

• 03

  He trains by copying race courses.

  Since he was a junior, Pogačar has found climbs near home that resemble upcoming race climbs and repeated them as many times as they appear in the race. Before Montreal, that meant 4–5 minute efforts plus two short ones. He prefers climbs of about 20 minutes steeper than 9%, because at today's speeds 7–8% gradients give too much drafting advantage. Heat has always been a weakness, so in the last two or three years he has deliberately overheated himself in training, including on a home trainer.

• 04

  His stronger 2024 came from work off the bike and closer attention to nutrition.

  He added core and strength work for legs, glutes and hips, kept at lower loads through the season, plus more detailed nutrition. As a younger rider he 'could eat what you want.' He never bans foods like chocolate, arguing that six months of restriction ends in a binge. He raced the 2024 Tour at about 64.5–65.5 kg and peaks at about 69–70 kg in the off-season.

• 05

  He takes in about 120 g of carbohydrate per hour on hard stages.

  Easier stages need 60–90 g/hour. Bottles hold 30 g or 60 g; he prefers 30 g so he can eat more, but uses 60 g on hard days. Five years ago 120 g/hour seemed 'impossible' and he regularly had stomach problems. He credits gels designed by the team nutritionist with the right glucose–fructose ratio, plus gut adaptation.

• 06

  Heart rate is his main gauge; power meters need cross-checking.

  He's trained with a heart-rate monitor since he was 10–12 and could train on heart rate alone. He finds power meters affected by temperature and calibration, so on home roads he checks heart rate, power, speed and VAM. All-out efforts of about 15 minutes at 7.5% reach roughly 1,700–1,800 m/hour of VAM; Attia says he's happy to hit 1,000.

• 07

  His zone 2 is about 320–340 W at 140–155 bpm, but he adjusts it for duration.

  Heart rate is 140–145 when fatigued and 150–155 when fresh. Monaco's terrain forces high zone 2 on 20–40-minute climbs with recovery on descents. Five flat hours at 320–340 W would wipe out the next day, so on long flat rides he drops to 290–300 W, because zone 2 'after 5 hours may not be your zone 2 anymore.'

• 08

  He tracks overnight HRV and heart rate cautiously, because the numbers can get in your head.

  His HRV ranges from about 35 (for example, after alcohol) to 120–130, occasionally 150. It was steady at 80–110 during the Giro and Tour. His resting heart rate averages 42–43 overnight (lowest 37), and 48–50+ means fatigue or illness. His max was 213 as a junior and is still 203. His partner, also a pro cyclist, checks her morning HRV only after a race so a low number can't affect her.

• 09

  He treats defeat as a team matter.

  After cracking on the Col de la Loze in 2023, he thanked his team. 'It's a team sport… the guys sacrifice everything.' He felt he'd let them down, was devastated and angry, but 'you cannot change nothing,' and dinner with teammates helped. He traced that Tour back to a crash at Liège that hurt his preparation, then rebuilt confidence with a stage 20 win, a third place at the Worlds and victory at Il Lombardia.