UAE manager left with mixed emotions after Almeida's crash; Could a Tour without Pogacar be an option? "Anything is possible"

“I would give our Tour a good rating in all areas,” he told AS. “But I wouldn’t give it a 10 because of João Almeida’s crash. I am ambitious, and so is the team, so losing him in a crash was tough. I am convinced that he would have made the podium, or at least fought for it.”

That wasn't the only area where Almeida played a crucial role. “Also, in terms of the team classification. Because of that crash, I think we lost a podium place and also the team classification.” Visma | Lease a Bike won the prize for best team in the Tour, while Vingegaard was beaten in the individual classification.

Pogacar, who will also not be riding the Vuelta, seemed a little exhausted towards the end of the race. Matxin thinks this is partly due to the defensive riding style that comes with wearing the yellow jersey. “That's not fun: neither for the crowd nor for him. It's in our nature to attack, but when you have a four-minute lead in the GC, you also have to be consistent.”

It's up to Matxin and co to keep the Slovenian star motivated. How? “Partly by making some changes to the schedule. Some years he rode Jaén and Andalusia, other years he adjusted his schedule, such as Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico... For example, after winning the Tour of Catalonia, we saw the classics as a motivation to push ourselves and prepare differently.“

When asked whether Pogacar will ever skip the Tour for a year, Matxin does not yet have a suitable answer. "Anything is possible. Everything has its time. Last year, right after the Tour de France, all the talk was about him going to the Vuelta and making history by trying to win the three Grand Tours in one year. Then he won the World Championships and no one remembered that."

"Everyone talks to me about history, but at the same time, things are very changeable, even contradictory. That's why we plan very carefully," says the manager of UAE Emirates-XRG.