'Having a team like this gives you goosebumps': Pogačar credits team after UAE Tour triumph
Slovenian takes control of leader's jersey after stage four

Tadej Pogačar paid credit to his UAE-Team Emirates teammates after his first victory of the season, saying that their efforts gave him "goosebumps".
The Slovenian triumphed on the Jebel Jais climb on Wednesday to take control of the general classification. He was paced into the final by João Almeida and Rafał Majka, and kicked in the final to take the sprint ahead of Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe).
The UAE Tour is Pogačar's first race of the season, and comes just weeks after he tested positive for Covid. There are no signs that the virus has greatly impacted the 23-year old, as his impressive sprint to win on stage four came after he finished fourth in the time trial on Tuesday.
“I always like to win, having succeeded makes this day beautiful for me and for the team," he said. "As a team we rode well, also trying to move with João and Rafal: the latter was the strongest climber of the group today.
"João and Rafal were also excellent in the final in launching me towards the sprint, the victory pays off all the work done in the past months, it’s great to start the season like this."
The only general classification rider to finish above him in the time trial, Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma), shipped over 5 minutes to Pogačar on the climb. However, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) remained in contact, meaning the Slovenian only leads the Italian by two seconds, which were the result of his bonus for winning.
"Despite all the attacks that followed one another uphill, I saw that practically all the big names of the race remained in the leading group, so I checked that we reached the final with the compact group, since I knew it would not be possible to go solo I decided to wait for the sprint."
Majka covered almost every attack that was made on the 20km climb, and was briefly up the road in a group before it was brought back.
"Already in training, even after recovering from Covid-19, the sensations were very good," Pogačar said. "But in the race everything can be different; the period of the illness was not so heavy for me thankfully. I had the support of the team, they helped me and gave me peace of mind: also for this reason, today’s result is the result of an overall work of the whole team.
"Having a team like this gives you goosebumps."
The only serious test left for the general classification should be the stage seven climb to Jebel Hafeet, but Pogačar has triumphed there twice in the past, and so will Yates and Vlasov will find him hard to dislodge from the red jersey.
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Adam is Cycling Weekly’s senior news and feature writer – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing, speaking to people as varied as Demi Vollering to Philippe Gilbert. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.
-
-
Your Apple Watch is about to become a truly viable cycling smartwatch
The US tech giant is boasting connectivity to peripherals such as power meters in its new Watch OS 10
By Joe Baker • Published
-
You could own a Giro edition EF Education-EasyPost Pro Cycling team bike
Bicycle manufacturer Cannondale has partnered with the Los Angeles Bike Academy to raffle off Jonathan Caicedo's race bike from the 2021 Giro d'Italia.
By Henry Lord • Published
-
Tadej Pogačar returns to open road training just one month before Tour de France
UAE Team Emirates rider has linked up with teammates at training camp in the Sierra Nevada
By Adam Becket • Published
-
‘A perfect week for us’ – Adam Yates wraps up overall title in Romandie
Briton will now turn his focus to preparing for the Tour de France
By Peter Cossins • Published
-
Five things we learned from Liège-Bastogne-Liège 2023
The curtain has come down on the Spring Classics. Here are our takeaways from the final instalment
By Tom Davidson • Published
-
Tadej Pogačar has successful surgery on fractured wrist, expected to be out for 'approximately six weeks'
UAE Team Emirates rider crashed out of Liège-Bastogne-Liège early on Sunday
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Who can stop Tadej Pogačar? Victory at La Flèche Wallonne one more step on the road to Ardennes triple
The UAE Team Emirates rider has won the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne. Only Liège-Bastogne-Liège waits
By Adam Becket • Published
-
SD Worx and Tadej Pogačar seem unstoppable: Five things we learned from the Amstel Gold Race
Ben Healy has his breakout moment, Annemiek van Vleuten fades and Tom Pidcock is back but not at Pogačar's level
By Adam Becket • Published
-
'It denigrates racing': EF boss criticises Amstel Gold Race organisers for Pogačar drafting controversy
EF Education-EasyPost's Jonathan Vaughters frustrated at apparent car drafting advantage given to men's race winner Tadej Pogačar
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Jumbo-Visma perfect until it really mattered: Five things we learned from the men's cobbled Classic season
Tadej Pogačar should be lining up a tilt at Paris-Roubaix, Mathieu van der Poel has won almost everything he can, and Ineos Grenadiers underwhelmed
By Adam Becket • Published