Pogačar reveals moment he went all-in to win Vuelta time trial: ‘Then I heard another name on the radio’

Tadej Pogačar — what can’t he do? The UAE Team Emirates-XRG Slovenian was certainly expected to be among the leading contenders in the opening time trial of the Vuelta a España, but even his own team had not necessarily expected him to beat the specialists on a time-trial bike in stage 1. There was plenty of celebration afterwards, although Pogačar had clearly set his sights on making the most of racing on home roads.

Pogačar has lived and trained in Monaco since 2019, so Saturday’s Vuelta time trial through the Principality was an occasion he was particularly looking forward to. “It’s a strange feeling. I win the time trial, the first stage, by such a small margin,” Pogačar said in the post-race flash interview, referring to the nine hundredths of a second separating him from Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step). The 9.4-kilometre course featured 25 corners, making local knowledge particularly valuable.

Even the world champion had not seen this result coming. “I didn’t expect this, so I’m really happy. It’s very nice. Those nine hundredths of a second came from the section past my apartment. That was the most technical part, and I walk and ride there every day. It’s completely different in a race, but I was riding on my home roads and that helped me today.” Pogačar ultimately edged Hayter by just 0.09 seconds, while Joshua Tarling finished third, four seconds down.

UAE had also noticed that Pogačar wanted to make something of the opening time trial, although team boss Mauro Gianetti still looked somewhat surprised when he spoke to Eurosport immediately after the finish. “He knows the roads and he was motivated, but there were so many contenders for the victory that this really is fantastic.” It was another indication of just how much Pogačar’s familiarity with Monaco played into a course dominated by corners, changes of direction and technical sections.

Sports manager Joxean Matxin sounded slightly more confident that something special had always been possible. “With Tadej, you always expect that he can win somewhere, but this was an incredible performance. He took the corners very quickly and accelerated out of them, while not really taking any risks. That is Tadej’s perfection as a cyclist. There were a lot of specialists, but Tadej was racing at home. He knew the corners, the descents and, in the final section, he rode right past his own home.”

That knowledge allowed Pogačar to fly through the streets of Monaco without having to push the limits unnecessarily. “It was perfection,” Matxin stressed, although he was not yet interested in looking too far ahead to what the rest of the Vuelta might bring. “We’re going to look at the gaps to his rivals, but first we’re going to enjoy this. That’s what Tadej needed to do today as well.” Pogačar had already arrived in Monaco as the overwhelming favourite for the overall Vuelta title, but his first red jersey came earlier than even he expected.

Afterwards, Pogačar admitted he was pleased that, if he had to take the victory away from anyone, it had been Hayter rather than Joshua Tarling. Tarling ultimately finished third, four seconds behind the Slovenian, but many cycling fans had been hoping the Netcompany INEOS rider would win after the recent death of his younger brother following a crash at the Tour of Portugal. Pogačar acknowledged that he, too, had wanted to see the Brit take an emotional victory in Monaco. Tarling had briefly occupied the hot seat after clocking 11:01 before Hayter went four seconds faster.

“When I started, I saw that Tarling had the fastest time and, somewhere inside, I really wanted him to win today,” Pogačar explained. “I gave everything, but it was also a bit of a strange moment. I was riding for myself, but also for Josh. Then suddenly I heard another name over the radio and realised Hayter was three seconds ahead. At that point I thought: I’ll give everything, without taking risks, and then we’ll see what happens.” That approach proved enough by the smallest of margins, giving Pogačar the stage victory and the first red leader’s jersey of his career.

With the red jersey now on his shoulders, it is perfectly conceivable that Pogačar could remain in the race lead all the way through the Vuelta, although the Slovenian was quick to point out that the gaps are still tiny after such a short opening stage. “There are still quite a few guys close enough, especially with breakaways and bonus seconds. It’s going to be a fight and we might see some changes in the general classification.” For now, though, Pogačar has already made his mark: on the streets he knows better than almost anyone, nine hundredths of a second were enough to put him in red.