The secrets to Pogačar’s rise? League of Legends, pizza sticks and Long Island Iced Teas.
Photo credit: Cor Vos
Cor Vos
Escape Collective contributor Andy McGrath has written the first in-depth biography of Tadej Pogačar. ‘Tadej Pogačar: Unstoppable‘ is out today. Following is an edited excerpt looking at Pogačar’s fun-loving teenage years as he progressed down the path to WorldTour domination.
During the winter of 2017, the Rog-Ljubljana team became Ljubljana Gusto Xaurum. Taiwanese bike manufacturer Gusto came on board alongside Slovenian cryptocurrency company Xaurum.
At the 2018 season opener, the GP Laguna Poreč, Tadej Pogačar had to endure conditions of -1° C (30° F), freezing rain and snow.
He could barely eat an energy bar as his hands were frozen, but he was in the winning breakaway with Jaka Primožič and finished fifth. Pogačar went to the team van afterwards and asked them to turn on the heating. It was already blasting, but he was so chilly that it still felt like he was outside.
Some training sessions could be like races. If a rider dropped back, unable to keep up with the fierce pace, nobody stopped and waited. On one ride with the club’s junior group, a coach attacked up a hill, leading to more accelerations from other riders, dividing the pack by the crest. One kid then crashed on the wet, twisting descent, chasing hard. They did not stop to regroup. “He knows his way home,” the coach bellowed as they continued roaring downhill.
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