Still in Paris, about to get on the plane to return home -he couldn’t even vote in the generals-, Joxean Fernández Matxin (Basauri, 52 years old), the discoverer of Tadej Pogacar, one of the people who knows the Slovenian best and the one who guides his career in the UAE team, analyzes how his second consecutive defeat at the hands of Vingegaard on the Tour has sat for the double winner.
Pogacar, second, and Adam Yates, third, made it to the podium in Paris, but you’re not entirely happy. Does Pogacar’s greatness require more?
That’s right, we did a great Tour but it’s not worth it with 66% of the podium. We are missing the most important thing. We leave with the little wound. There is no need to look for excuses, but to recognize that Vingegaard is the fair winner. He was superior in the time trial and Tadej had a bad day, he didn’t.
Did they get rid of the bad taste with the victory in Le Markstein?
We leave with the satisfaction of winning three stages and for the 2nd and 3rd place on the podium. On the last day in the mountains, Tadej was able to get the pride out of him 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 I congratulated the runners on Sunday at dinner.
How do you remember the moment of hearing Pogacar say that he was “dead” at 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. Problems must be found with viable solutions. 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 you really convinced of turning the Tour around?
We tried to push Vingegaard to the limit, with a fast pace, and for that we put Majka and Soler in the breakaway. It was the tactic we were looking for.
So, do we have to rethink the Pogacar season?
We have the best rider in the world and Pogacar must make the most of the calendar. Nobody can argue that he is chosen, he can win 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 the entire season cannot be mortgaged for that objective. 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 work block with high altitude concentrations. The problem is that this year the fall in Liège prevented us from doing the second part.
Wouldn’t you like Pogacar to be as cold as Vingegaard is in these three weeks, always wearing a mask, unalterable?
Tadej is authentic and you shouldn’t want to change him. Geniuses don’t have to be changed. Pogacar is perfection made cyclist.
As for charisma, he is unbeatable.
It’s impressive how people love him, he almost looks like a footballer. In the hotels he overflows with people. I would be signing for an hour… but we don’t have that hour.
Are you stuck on aerodynamics? Should you work more?
Everything can be improved, but Tadej’s numbers in the Combloux time trial were good. And still Vingegaard crushed us. But it is that Van Aert took three minutes… with the same clothes, the same bicycle, the same technique and the same preparation.
The first stages of the 2024 Tour, in Italy, are very tough. What else do you ask of the tour?
Pogacar’s level will be fine. Vingegaard deserves all the respect but with Tadej we have the peace of mind that he is the number 1 in the world. The time trial misplaced us. We thought that the Tour would be played for seconds and bonuses, and no.
Is it a possibility to apply its own medicine to the Jumbo and attack Vingegaard with Pogacar and Ayuso, as the Dane and Roglic did to him in 2022?
You have to finish the year. 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, it is not the time.
“He who attacks a lot shows insecurity,” Vingegaard said. Does he detect pride in the Danish? Can it be a motivation?
In cycling the most important thing is to speak with your legs. Opinions are respected. Every time Tadej has attacked, Jonas has come out on top of him. Aerodynamics are not important in the mountains, nor 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.
