š„ At Unibet and in Tietema's house, they see with pain in their hearts how Tadej Pogacar again leaves no crumbs
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Follow us on GoogleFor the number of victories of Tadej Pogacar in recent years, you need a sturdy abacus before Christmas. The Slovenian ruled wherever he wanted and that dominance seems to have no end in sight for now. The Unibet Tietema Rockets and team owner Bas Tietema were also painfully watching for a first sign of wonder legs in Pogi.
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Indeed, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG figurehead recorded an impressive climbing time on the Coll de Rates on Friday. This climb of 6.4 kilometers at 5.5 percent in Spain is very popular among cyclists and is thus often used to test the legs in preparation for the new season. On several occasions we have seen a train racing up the mountain as a lead-out for a record.
The best time on the Rates was already in the hands of Pogacar at 12.21 minutes that way. He recorded that time almost exactly one year ago, on December 20, 2024. So just under a year later, Pogacar ventured into an all-in effort on this climb again, and this time he was a whopping 24 (!) seconds faster (11.57 minutes), according to Strava.
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Pogacar sees 2026 preparation flawless with some new goals
Seeing this climbing time will certainly not do Pogacar's opponents any good. After all, Pogacar was already untouchable in 2025 and should he get even better, his supremacy in 2026 certainly seems to have no end in sight. In 2025, Pogacar won the Tour de France with 4.24 minutes difference on Jonas Vingegaard. Possibly that will be more rather than less in 2026.
Pogacar is once again focusing on the spring classics in the first part of 2026. Winning Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix will be big goals, as these are still missing from his list of honors. Other voids Pogacar wants to fill in his palmares next year are the Tour of Romandie and the Tour of Switzerland. The latter race will count as his dress rehearsal for the Tour.
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Pogacar breaks Christophersen's record almost immediately
The rest are thus left empty-handed, as Pogacar leaves very few crumbs in his career. Even the StravaKOM on December 19, 2025 turned out to be "wrong timing" according to the world champion himself, he commented under a message from Unibet RosƩ Rockets. After all, Bas Tietema's team had just improved their record time on the Rates on Friday!
What - yes, really - Cedrik Bakke Christophersen could not match Pogacar's existing time on the full Rates, but on a segment of more than 2 kilometers halfway up the climb, the 24-year-old Norwegian held the top time for a moment. 'Insane aura,' his team wrote. However, the 4:19 minutes was quickly improved by Pogacar to 4:06.... It resulted in a hilarious Instagram post, with a reaction from Pogacar himself.
Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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Latest Comments
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