Bruyneel is stunned after seeing Tadej Pogačar's sleep data and bed temperature

Thanks to a list shared online by Eight Sleep, Johan Bruyneel was surprised to see how many hours of sleep Tadej Pogačar got during the Vuelta a España. The Slovenian general classification leader from UAE Emirates-XRG actually slept nearly 10 hours a night, which, according to Bruyneel, may explain why Pogacar performs so exceptionally well, day after day.

The figures came from Eight Sleep, a company that manufactures cooling mattresses and supplies them to UAE Emirates-XRG during the Vuelta. As a result, the team’s riders sleep on a cooled mattress every night, even when it’s very hot outside and in the room. This ensures that the riders’ body temperature remains optimal.

Bruyneel had also seen the list of sleep times and mattress temperatures and shared it in *The Move*. “Ivo Oliveira slept the least from Thursday to Friday, with 7 hours and 21 minutes. Pogacar slept by far the most, with 9 hours and 34 minutes. And he slept on a mattress with a temperature of 19.7 degrees. Only Jay Vine and Pavel Sivakov slept on even cooler mattresses, at 19.3 and 18.7 degrees, respectively.'

It should be noted that a mattress topper is usually placed on top of the mattress, which raises the final temperature. However, what stands out most to Bruyneel is the 9 hours and 34 minutes of sleep. “That’s impressive—it’s really a life hack if you’re in a house or room without good air conditioning.”

Now that it’s almost even hotter in the Vuelta a España than in the Tour de France, Pogacar could actually win the race from his bed. “Although the hotel infrastructure in Spain is also much better than in France. There are really a lot of good hotels that definitely have air conditioning. That’s an advantage over the Tour.”

Data from Eight Sleep’s official channels shows that Pogacar and his shadow team leader, Isaac del Toro, also slept exceptionally well during the Tour de France. The mattress temperature was around 25 degrees at the time and decreased as the race progressed. As they headed toward Paris, the two clearly wanted to sleep in a slightly cooler environment.

Pogacar's average bed temperature throughout the entire Tour was 22.5 degrees, and the coolest night was set at 20.3 degrees. Pogacar’s average sleep time during the Tour was 8 hours and 19 minutes—and to think that, as the overall leader and with all his other responsibilities, he must have had a lot on his mind.

Del Toro, who did, incidentally, fall ill during the Tour as it entered its third week, got only 7 hours and 26 minutes of sleep per night. His average bed temperature was also higher, at 23.8 degrees. Coincidence? Del Toro crossed the finish line in Paris as the third-place finisher in the Tour. Pogacar won, and is also on track for the overall victory in the Vuelta.