Tadej Pogačar in his current guise is unbeatable, says his countryman and rival Primož Roglič, as he weighed up the 2025 season ahead of Saturday's Saitama Criterium in Japan.
Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) conceded the UAE Team Emirates rider had a couple of gears more, but added that he was concentrating on his own condition and challenges.
One of those was continuing to adapt to the "completely new way of racing" that riders such as Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard had ushered in.
"Where he is at the moment, Tadej is really unbeatable, or it's hard to compete," Roglic said, adding: "I like to win, but the reality is quite clear. Tadej has a couple of gears more this year.
"You never know what next year will bring – maybe he'll be [even] better. But if I can be the best version of myself, I'm happy," he added.
Racing in the Pogačar era had become an 'always on' phenomenon, he said, with winning attacks an ever-present danger.
"Last time I was here [in Saitama], in 2019, it was a completely different way of cycling to how it is nowadays. It's a challenge to me to keep going with the younger generation, and to adapt to this style of racing. This is something that attracts me," said the Slovenian.
Describing the transition, he said: "It's huge. In the past we were just saving, saving, saving, spending energy in the right places. But nowadays, every day is 'the day', and it's from the first day with 100K to go – you are there or you can lose it.
"It's a completely different way of thinking, a completely different way of racing. I think that's quite a challenge for us older guys," he said.
Asked about the Tour de France route in 2025, he admitted that he had not looked at it in any detail. "It was released on my birthday, so I didn't really have time to follow it if I'm honest," he said. "But we'll have time now to study it a little bit."
Asked about which races he would do next year he joked that he would find out what Pogačar was riding and do the opposite, before clarifying: "I've no idea at all, I'm just fully in my off-season now, we'll definitely let you know, probably in December.
Talking of birthdays, he said that his age – he has just turned 35 – was a double-edged sword:
"Getting older you're losing on some points. It's a fact that I'm not 20 years old," he said. "But you also gain on different aspects – you gain experience with every year. I just always try to keep improving a bit. It's what drives you on when you wake up.
In terms of future challenges, it was all about self-improvement, and as for that Tour de France-shaped hole in his palmarès, it doesn't keep him up at night.
"I don't need to win any race that will change my career, I'm really happy with everything that I've achieved," said the three-time Vuelta a España winner.
"You can always say 'winning Tour de France' because I haven't won it yet. It would be cool to add to my palmarés, but without it, we'll be all fine, eh?"
