Rome (Union)
Slovenian Tade Pogacar, cyclist for the Emirates Team, expressed his pride in his distinguished experience with Abu Dhabi and the Emirates Cycling Team, and in the achievements he achieves with the team members in various races, especially this season, which witnessed important victories occurring for the first time.
Pogacar, who recently won the prestigious Giro da Italia title, said: “My joy has no limits.” I think I’ll pull myself together once I get home and spend some time recovering in a week or so; This is my first time in Rome, and this is an important race that I win for the first time.”
As for whether he expected to win first place and be crowned with the title, especially in this long race consisting of 20 stages over 20 days, he said: “It is a beautiful dream, as winning the general classification by 9 minutes and 56 seconds, achieving the lead in 6 stages, and spending 20 days wearing the jersey.” Pink, all of these things exceeded my expectations.
He stressed that it is a historic race of importance and said: “We entered competitions with the best riders in the world, but my faith was deep and my confidence in my colleagues was great, and we are capable of achieving a strong result during the three weeks of the race, but winning in the way that happened, and working in harmony in this way, “I never imagined it. It was a beautiful feeling.”
Regarding the most important moment in his memory in this race, he said: “The Giro da Italia is a turning point in my career, and the more experience you have, the better you will get in every race. The cyclist develops from race to race, especially when races last for three weeks. I find it difficult to choose just one moment, there are many special moments, whether with my teammates, fans or competitors. “It was a beautiful race with many beautiful moments, and I hope we can experience it again in the future.”
He said: “It was a wonderful experience full of a special atmosphere, as fans from all over the world flocked to it, with many Slovenian fans as well, which made me enjoy these overwhelming feelings. It was very wonderful and special, in addition to the success of the organization, which gave me and the team a pleasant feeling. Overall, it was a really great experience.”
He spoke about the decisive stage in this global race, saying: “For me and all my colleagues, winning this round is an amazing moment. Although it was very difficult, especially with some strong competitors in the starting groups, my teammates did a great job keeping those groups under control, and then Rafa (Maika) made a great effort to help me, and I also did my best to win. Now I am very happy that I was able to win the decisive stage in Livigno, which is one of my favorite places in Italy.”
Regarding the value of his achievement and the role of his teammates, he said: “I would not have achieved this achievement without my teammates. I see the Giro da Italia in the way my teammates cooperate every day as a win for all of us, and this also includes the management team and the technical team. They are the best ever. Over the course of three weeks, they provided us with amazing help and experience. In the race we had a very strong group of riders, as we had previously participated together in different races, so we were aware of each other’s skills and strengths and we continued to push hard every day. Trying to achieve our goal. I feel happy on my bike with my teammates, and I love being with them at the races and outside of it; “So these are special moments for all of us.”
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