Professional cyclists and their desire for a rich and varied palmarès, eh? Only last week Jonas Vingegaard was proclaiming that he could prioritise the Giro d'Italia over the Tour de France. And now we have none other than his nemesis Tadej Pogačar announcing his intentions to win, well, just about everything – Tour de France records or no.
“I always choose as much variety as possible," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "even if there are seven Tours. Yes, the Tour is the biggest race, but in the other events too, you have to beat the best. Always. And so, in my eyes, they're on the same level.”
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had been asked whether, at the end of his career, he would rather have won a record six Tours de France, or all five Monuments.
So far his tally sits at four Tours and 10 victories across three of the Monuments – the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.
However, he still has to win Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo, both of which are very much on his hitlist for 2026, he says.
“It's no secret that I'll try to be in top form for those two occasions," he said. "Those are two goals for me and the team.”
Roubaix and Milan-San Remo' fall into the rapidly dwindling category: 'major races that Tadej Pogačar has yet to win'.
He has won so much now that his rivals could reasonably start to wonder whether he might soon run out of motivation and allow them to get a look in. But judging by his comments to La Gazzetta, his rivals would be out of luck.
“Well... I can't stay home on the couch doing nothing," he said. "I love cycling and racing; I've been doing it since I was nine years old. Adrenaline is part of my lifestyle.
"But there's one thing that motivates me more than anything else… Seeing how far I can push myself to improve. Training, racing, everything. Finding new ways to progress, staying at the top. In short, continuing to be the best version of myself."
When it comes to his rapid progress over the past two seasons – progress that has seen such dominance that we are now beginning to talk about 'Pogačar-fatigue' – the Slovenian credits his coach Javier Sola and nutritionist Gorka Prieto.
"I talk to Javier every day; he's a great guide, and we connect perfectly," he said. "As for Gorka, he's one of the hardest working people I've ever seen.
"[My] nutrition is now almost perfect. Until a few years ago it was hard for me to follow it, but now I understand how important it is, how much of a difference it can make in performance.”
Elsewhere, he address what appears to be a growing phenomenon in pro cycling – nervous exhaustion and mental burnout. It was important to have a balanced programme, he said, and to be "good and giving yourself a break", adding:
"In any case, if nervous exhaustion and similar topics are discussed more in sport, it's because they're being discussed more in society as a whole.”
Away from the cut and thrust of the peloton, and the glitz of the podium presentations, Pogačar said that he and his pro cyclist partner Urška Žigart enjoyed living a very 'normal' lifestyle.
"My former coach pointed out to me how soccer players often had a private chef, someone to go grocery shopping, someone to take care of the house... Well, that's not for me and Urška," he said. "Yes, sometimes it's not easy, with the house in disarray and suitcases everywhere, but we prefer to take care of things ourselves. I like going to the supermarket and buying what I need myself. Or cleaning the room, the windows. Or even just going for a walk. I'm not a superhero, just a normal guy.”
