Pogacar wins a padel tournament and thinks about becoming friends with Evenepoel because “he is a really cool guy.”

There is no question that Tadej Pogacar’s 2024 cycling season will be one of the best in his career. That meant it was time for a party, which was planned by his director, Alex Carrera. The main event was a padel game, which the Slovenian won of course. Even though Pogacar is good at padel, he doesn’t want to play it more in the future. He laughed after his win and said, “Today was fun, but I should stick to cycling.”

Carrera called his friends and family to a day of sports and fun in northern Italy, where there was a padel tournament and then a big party. Pogacar showed off his tennis skills by winning with Felix Grossschartner, another member of his team.

Pogacar wants to be friends with Evenepoel after he finishes his job.

Naturally, his girlfriend Urska Zigart was there too. This winter, she will be moving to AG Insurance-Soudal, which is like Soudal-Quick Step for women. As a result, she and Remco Evenepoel will work together. Winning a joke, Pogacar tells Sporza, “She’s joining the same team as Remco, lol.” “Whether she’ll tell him my secrets? They probably won’t ride together very much. I joke that Urska would drop Remco too quickly, but he’s serious.

There’s no reason for this subtle jab at Evenepoel. It’s no secret that they get along, and it was clear this year that they are becoming close friends. This rider from Belgium is “really cool,” according to Pogacar. “They aren’t very often that I race against him.” He is and will always be a rival, but we get along fine. We might become real friends after we finish our jobs.

Another choice for Pogacar is the Tour of Flanders.

Aside from his personal life, Pogacar’s cycling season is all about achievement. This winter, a few good riders have joined his team, UAE Team Emirates. Some players who are making the move are from Belgium, like Jhonatan Narváez and Rune Herregodts and Florian Vermeersch. “I have to say that all of my new teammates are great. We’ve already had a team camp.” “I can’t wait to see how they do in the races,” Pogacar was excited.

Pogacar has won almost all of the important bicycle races, sometimes more than once. The question now is, “What next?” The Tour winner laughs, “I will have to start more races to win more of them.” During 2025, he plans to attend the Vuelta and the World’s. “I don’t know my calendar yet.”

Potential for the Triple Crown, according to Pogacar: “We will see.”

The Slovene was asked by Sky Sports about his year. “Unfortunately, 2023 was a bad year, but 2024 was a good year because we knew what we were doing. I don’t care if I write history; I just want to ride my bike and enjoy the moment. This is what I want to do better next year.

The “Triple Crown” followed the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France this year. Someone tried to pull it off, but failed. Who knows what will happen in the future? There is a whole other story behind the three grand tours in one year. The Tour and the Giro were two important goals for me last season. I wanted to do both every year. I shouldn’t have gone to the Vuelta a España too. I used to try to win each one on its own, but now I only need to win the Vuelta. Someday, I might even try to do all three in the same season. He says, “We’ll see,” leaving all of his choices open.

He still wants to ride the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia. “I’ve come close many times in Milan-Sanremo, but I know it’s a tough race to win.” “Roubaix, I’ll give it a shot once to see if I can keep up with the best on the hills.”