Pogacar wins padel tournament and envisions friendship with Evenepoel: "He is a really cool guy"

The celebration was held in northern Italy, where Carrera invited his friends and loved ones to a day of sports and fun, with a padel tournament followed by a big party. Pogacar showed off his skills with a racket, winning with teammate Felix Grossschartner.

Of course, his girlfriend Urska Zigart was also there. She moves this winter to AG Insurance-Soudal, the female equivalent of Soudal-Quick Step. She and Remco Evenepoel will thus become teammates. "She's going to the same team as Remco, lol," Pogacar winks to Sporza. "Whether she will tell my secrets to him? I doubt they will ride much together. But Urska would drop Remco too fast," jokes the 26-year-old world champion.

This little jab at Evenepoel doesn't come out of the blue. After all, it's no secret that the two get along well, and this year, it was obvious that a close friendship is developing. "He's a really cool guy," Pogacar said of the Belgian rider. "I haven't raced against him very much. Of course, he is and remains a competitor, but we get along well. And maybe after our careers, we get to be real friends."

Besides his personal life, Pogacar's cycling season obviously revolves around performance. His team, UAE Team Emirates, welcomes a few strong riders this winter. Jhonatan Narváez is joining, for example, but Belgians Rune Herregodts and Florian Vermeersch are also making the switch. "We have already had a team camp, and I must say: all the teammates that arrived now are super good. I can't wait to see how they will perform in the races," Pogacar enthused.

Now that Pogacar has won almost everything necessary in cycling, sometimes even several times, the question looms: what next? "I will have to start more races to win more of them," the current Tour winner laughs. In 2025, he wants to go to the Vuelta and the World Championships. "I don't know my calendar yet."

Sky Sports asked the Slovenian about his year. "2023 was an unlucky year, but in 2024, we managed to put the cards on the table, and the whole season went perfectly. I don't care if I write history; I want to enjoy the moment and cycling. And my goal is to improve next year."

This year was all about the "Triple Crown" in one season after the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. Pogacar didn't pull it off, but who knows what the future holds. "The three grand tours in one year are a completely different story. Last season, the Giro was an important goal, and then there was the Tour, which I wanted to do every year. It wouldn't have been smart for me to also go to the Vuelta a España. At first, I tried to win them individually, but now I just need the Vuelta. I might even try to do all three in one season in a few years. We'll see," Pogacar keeps his options open.

Also, two Monuments remain on his wishlist, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia. "I have tried many times in Milan-Sanremo and came close, but I know it is a challenging race to win. Roubaix, I will try once to see if I'm with the best on the cobblestones."