Pogačar beaten by Van Gils and wary of Evenepoel: "It scares me that he would get better"

The offseason is slowly coming to an end and so many riders are already in full training for the new year. In Milan on Friday, a lot of the big stars of cycling gathered thanks to Alex Carrera and in doing so, Tadej Pogacar had some interesting words up his sleeve. Philosophical words, even.

On the day organized by Carrera, the agent who, in addition to Pogacar, also has riders such as Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay in his portfolio, the fun started with a padel tournament. This would be followed by races in a simulator and then in the evening it would be time for the gala.

"I've already lost, so it's already game over for me," Pogacar laughed to Sporza. The reason? "Maxim Van Gils beat me," the world champion said honestly and with a big smile. "Still, I had a good time. I would rather lose a game of padel than a race, because that is and always has been my job."

Winning is fun and Pogacar does it a lot, but having fun is what the Slovenian finds most important. "Still enjoying my victories? No, I don't. I did take time to relax with nice people around me. In Mallorca we were able to enjoy another week of beautiful weather. I also had some good training sessions behind me."

In a recent interview, the world champion already indicated that he would focus on classics like Paris-Roubaix and Milan-Sanremo again next year. Maybe he should, because he can hardly do much better than this year either. "Maybe I can't do better in terms of results on the bike, but I can do better in daily life."

Pogacar thus strikes a philosophical chord, so what does the Slovenian really mean by "doing better in daily life"? "The meaning of life is to be happy and to do good for others. So I want to find a good balance," it sounds firm and yet somewhat surprising.

Yet he also remains eager for new victories. "The Tour is and remains the Tour," Pogacar laughs, but his sights are on other races as well. "I would like to compete again for wins in Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, yes. Winning a classic like that is much bigger than going there thinking you can win."

With that, the Slovenian repeats his earlier words and also reaffirms his eagerness for the Monuments. "Every journalist makes those races my big goals. But I just want to do my best," he says. In any case, the competition has been warned.

Among those competitors we also include Remco Evenepoel, the Belgian who made the switch to Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe this winter and will undoubtedly face Pogacar in 2026. "For Remco, the change could be good. He went from one super team to another. It will be interesting if he can make another step," Pogi said of the Belgian's transfer.

But whether Evenepoel will actually take that step? "I hope not, because I think he's already pretty strong and dominant," Pogacar said. "It scares me that he would get better. Although I think he will do well. The whole world will follow his coming steps with great interest," he concluded praising his colleague.