Tadej Pogačar is slightly nervous about one thing on Alpe d'Huez: 'It's going to be insane'

Tadej Pogačar is known as a rider who knows the history of cycling. The Slovenian hasn’t yet managed to win on Alpe d’Huez, so you can bet he’s aiming to cross the finish line with his arms in the air on Friday, or Saturday, or both. In the days leading up to the final weekend, he was already looking ahead.

Pogačar has climbed Alpe d’Huez once so far, in the 2022 Tour de France. On that occasion, Tom Pidcock won from the early breakaway, while the Slovenian was the first of the general classification contenders to reach the summit and finished fifth. How does he assess the climb? “Alpe d’Huez, of course, carries enormous prestige. But Mont Ventoux is also very iconic, just like the Tourmalet.”

"Those two or three are in a league of their own in terms of prestige in France, even though they’re certainly not the toughest climbs. It’s mainly their history that makes them so iconic. And I think it’s going to be extra special this year, because we’re finishing on Alpe d’Huez two days in a row. That’s going to draw a huge crowd.”

"I expect it's going to be insane. We already saw it on the Le Markstein—I've never seen such a huge crowd before. But I think Alpe d'Huez might even top that. So yeah, it's going to be fantastic. I hope nothing goes wrong, but well... we’ll see. It’s going to be a great finale to this Tour,” said Pogacar, who has already faced boos during this Tour and is hoping to get through the days on the Alps safely as well.

Pogacar’s last victory dates back to Le Markstein, so he’ll probably be eager to do it again. “Well, when you have a team around you that gives everything for you… Not just the riders who sacrifice their own chances so I can win, but the entire staff behind them. There are more than a hundred people working toward this one goal.”

"Then winning no longer feels like something that’s just mine, but something that belongs to the whole team. Everyone works incredibly hard for it, and that motivates me to keep winning. Everyone does their part and makes a lot of sacrifices, so the responsibility falls on my shoulders to see it through. And well… winning is just fun. I’ll never deny that—it’s still a wonderful feeling to cross the finish line first. That’s very satisfying,” says the Slovenian, who also shared a great Alpe d’Huez anecdote earlier this week.

"I'm actually kind of glad that Urška (partner, Zigart, ed.) isn't driving my car up there like last time, in... what was it, 2022? I remember how dirty that car got because everyone was touching it and shaking it. So yeah, I’m actually glad I don’t have my own car parked there right now, because I think it’s going to be a madhouse.”