Pogacar explains how he made enormous progress last year: "It’s really an upgrade for me"

In his progression, the role of his new coach, Javier Sola, is crucial. The Spaniard replaced Iñigo San Millán, and things have progressed more smoothly than ever. "It feels good always to have someone on hand whom you can trust and communicate super well with," Pogacar says. "I'm also training a little differently – a bit more specific stuff, more targeted towards the races that are coming up. I bring something to him; he brings something to me, some new methods and some new ways of training, and so far it's working well."

What has especially changed is that the world champion started to train more on VO2 max: maximum oxygen uptake had to improve. That has paid off. "This is where I think I improved the most: when I am fatigued, I don't lose so much of my explosiveness anymore so it's really an upgrade for me."

Improvements have also been made in terms of nutrition. "Urška [Žigart, his partner and fellow pro rider] and I have always known what to eat, but now I've started to follow the nutrition plan from Gorka [Prieto-Bellver], our nutritionist, when it's really necessary. If I don't need to eat, I don't eat – it's about eating only what you need."

Mentally, Pogacar is strong. He managed to come back from a disappointing Tour de France last year. He has his methods for that, too. "I don't talk to myself in the mirror, but sometimes if I cannot sleep, I imagine a race situation. So many things can happen in cycling so you need to be mentally prepared."

Last year, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader rode the Giro and the Tour. This year, he is skipping the Tour of Italy. Jonas Vingegaard will not travel to Albania either: he is focusing fully on the Tour. "If you go to the Giro and make some mistakes, it would be a big problem for the Tour," Pogacar explained. "But for me, I rested well after the Giro, and the Tour went super good for me. I think I was more or less at the same level at the Tour as I was at the Giro, and I knew I could maintain good shape after the Tour, too." Recently, Paolo Bettini criticized riders going all out to win the Tour.

The Slovenian was then bombarded with a series of quick-fire questions, from which came rather playful answers. It turns out, for example, that he very much likes baking and cross-country skiing: besides cycling, that is his favorite sport. He doesn't like slow training partners: "So slow that you have to wait for them." He ended on a philosophical note. "I think people know me better than I know myself now."