Still in Paris, about to board the plane to return home – he couldn’t even vote in the general elections -, Joxean Fernández Matxin (Basauri, 52 years old), the discoverer of Tadej Pogacar, one of the people who knows the Slovenian best and who guides his career in the UAE team, analyzes how the second consecutive defeat at the hands of Vingegaard in the Tour has fallen on him.
Pogacar, second, and Adam Yates, third, got on the podium in Paris, but you are not entirely happy. Does the greatness of Pogacar compel more?
It’s like this; we had a great Tour, but we are not worth 66% of the podium. We are missing the most important thing. We’re leaving with the wound. We should not look for excuses, but recognize that Vingegaard is a fair winner. He was superior in the time trial and Tadej had a bad day, he didn’t.
Did they get their bad mouth off with the win at Le Markstein?
We leave with the satisfaction of winning three stages and for 2nd and 3rd on the podium. On the last mountain day, Tadej was able to take out his pride and we managed to win the stage. It was the realistic goal.
What would you say to those who talk about failure?
No, no and absolutely not. When someone dies on the bike, when someone gives everything, there can be no failure. I am proud of the team and congratulated the runners on Sunday at dinner.
How do you remember the moment you heard Pogacar say he was “dead” at the Col de la Loze?
I was at the finish line, on the bus. I was in permanent contact with the directors. The priority was to find solutions. Viable solutions must be sought for problems. Marc (Soler) had to stay with Pogacar and Majka stopped to accompany Adam to look for the podium. We went from an offensive tactic to a defensive one.
Were they really convinced to turn it around at the Tour?
We tried to take Vingegaard to the limit, with a fast pace, and for that we opted for Majka and Soler on the breakaway. It was our tactic.
So, do we need to rethink Pogacar’s season?
We have the best runner in the world and Pogacar must make the most of the schedule. No one can argue that he is a chosen one, he can win you the Tour of Flanders, which he won, Liège and Milan-Sanremo. We can’t give that up. The Tour is a race with so many conditions that you can’t mortgage the whole season for this goal. I have discussed it with him and he thinks the same. The planning is correct: a first block until April with the classics and then a second block of work with altitude concentrations. The problem is that this year the fall in Liège has prevented us from doing the second part as we wanted.
Wouldn’t he like Pogacar to be as cold as Vingegaard is for these three weeks, always wearing a mask, unchanging?
Tadej is authentic and you shouldn’t want to change him. Geniuses must not be changed. Pogacar is cycling perfection.
In charisma he is unbeatable.
It’s amazing how much people love him, he almost looks like a footballer. Hotels are overflowing with people. It would take an hour to sign… but we don’t have that time.
Is it stuck in aerodynamics? Does he have to work harder?
Everything can be improved, but Tadej’s numbers in the Combloux time trial were good. And still Vingegaard crushed us. But Van Aert got three minutes… with the same clothes, the same bike, the same technique and the same preparation.
The first stages of the 2024 Tour, in Italy, are very tough. What else do you want from the tour?
Pogacar level will be fine. Vingegaard deserves all the respect, but with Tadej we have the peace of mind that he is number 1 in the world. The time trial misplaced us. We thought the Tour would be played for seconds and bonuses, and no.
Is it possible to apply Jumbo his medicine and attack Vingegaard with Pogacar and Ayuso, as the Dane and Roglic did to him in 2022?
The year must end. For Ayuso, the next one (the Tour of Spain) is the most important race of the year. There will be time to talk about the future, now is not the time.
“He who attacks a lot shows insecurity”, said Vingegaard. Can you detect pride in Danish? Can it be a motivation for you?
In cycling the most important thing is to talk with your legs. Opinions are respected. Every time Tadej has attacked, Jonas has come out on his wheel. Aerodynamics is not important in the mountains, or with a headwind, until you reach 23 or 24 km/h. So the same attacks that Pogacar has done, Vingegaard has done. It is a wrong belief.
