HAHA! Marred Pogacar hid in bushes after pee break: 'Platoon didn't know where we were'

Tadej Pogacar made a strong bid for the overall victory in the Tour of Catalonia. The UAE Team Emirates Slovenian isolated on the long final climb to Vallter 2000 and took over the leader's jersey from Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech).

With hat and extra thick winter jacket, the winner then faced the press in the flash interview. 'We still started with very nice weather, it felt like summer. But then we saw the clouds lifting. We thought we could still survive until after finish, but then the rain came.'

And the combination of rain and climbing to high altitude made the course extra tough, the Slovenian prodigy said. 'It was really tough to survive. Especially at this altitude. You feel you're working at altitude, so that makes it even harder, but I'm very happy with the win.'

Pogacar accidentally goes on the attack and then suddenly has to pee

Still, the 25-year-old rider was able to have some fun along the way. 'Nobody started attacking. Israel-Premier Tech told us they didn't want to do any front work, so then we decided to do the work. We came from behind, but no one came with us. So then suddenly we had a gap and decided to keep going.'

So together with teammate Domen Novak, Pogacar rode ahead. But then the two suddenly had to do a sanitary stop. 'We stopped for a 'pipi;,' laughed the stage winner. 'And then we hid in the bushes. The peloton didn't know where we were, haha. Just a little bit of fun,' concluded the joker afterwards.

Fortunately, Pogacar could still laugh a little about it: shivering, he addressed the press. 'Until the last climb it wasn't bad. But after that ... I didn't expect that. I haven't often been as cold as in the last kilometers. Even though we were going full speed, my hands got colder and colder. I still thought, maybe they do the press conference in a warm room," he snapped to the press room, which looked anything but warm.

Pogacar still hopes to have something on sick teammates this week

'We had a good plan with the team today. Unfortunately, Jay Vine couldn't start today because he is sick. Felix (Grossschartner, ed.) also had stomach problems, but everyone did a good job, under the motto 'never give up'. Everything was up to us, because everyone was watching our team. Joao (Almeida, ed.) wasn't feeling so good, but when he did head work, he rode everyone on a lead. I still thought, he can stay with me, but I knew it would be a long time to the top.'

With almost a minute and a half ahead of the runner-up, Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick Step), Pogacar had all the time he needed to make his victory sign. Besides stage winner, the rider is also leader of the general classification. So the rest of the week will be about defending the leader's jersey. 'Today I had a good day, we will see what it brings in the coming days. A lot depends on my teammates. I hope Domen and Felix didn't suffer too much today.