UAE Team Emirates team manager Mauro Giannetti sat at the back of the conference room while Tadej Pogačar spoke of his hopes and ambitions for Slovenia’s Road World Championships in Zurich, with the team leader wearing a rainbow jersey on Sunday. I was quietly confident that I would get it.
Jannetty signed Pogačar while he was still a teenager and helped him develop into the generational talent he is today. The veteran Swiss team manager helped plan and prepare Pogacar for a great 2024 season and back-to-back wins at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
The triple crown in cycling is already within reach.
“It would be great if Tadej won the treble, but the first goal must be to win races,” Gianni warned Cycling News and Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, adding that Pogacar is unlikely to win the rainbow stripes in the near future. Team Emirates Jersey is cautiously confident that it will be able to race in the UAE.
“He’s been thinking about the world title for a long time, but this year is probably the first time the course really suited him,” Jannetty noted. “Tadej is in great shape. He worked really hard after the Tour. It was really impressive to see that.”
“He sacrificed a lot in his life this year. Spent the spring at high altitude, raced and won the Giro, then went back to high altitude. Won the Tour, but only had a few days off. Then I jumped back into the highlands and trained with incredible passion and determination to do my best for the World Championships. ”
Jannetty came close to winning the world title himself at Lugano in 1996, but lost in a two-man sprint to Belgium’s Johan Mouseuw. Pogačar will probably want to win alone to avoid the risk of losing in a sprint finish in Zurich on Sunday, but Jannetty is confident he can win even from a small group.
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“Tadej is also fast in the sprints. It depends on who he is with,” suggested Jannetty. “Tadei can win in a sprint against anyone after a hard 273km race. That’s a big advantage he has.”
The race, consisting of five laps around Zurich’s hilly and winding 27km circuit, will ultimately decide whether Pogačar will be crowned world champion.
“Theoretically many riders can advance to the top, but how they race will determine how many riders fight for the win,” warned Jannetty.
“Mathieu van der Poel will be able to go higher if he’s in good shape, we’ve got Remko Evenepoel and maybe some riders like Michael Matthews and other riders.”
UAE Team Emirates will field multiple riders for Sunday’s race, but as they will be racing as a national team, they will theoretically face Pogacar, who has Primoš Roglić and Jan Tratnik as their main teammates on the Slovenian national team. It will be.
Marc Hirschi will lead the Swiss team. He plays for UAE team Emirates but is expected to leave for Tudor in 2025. Jannetty is torn between rooting for Pogacar or his compatriot Hirschi, both of whom could bring UAE Team Emirates a world title.
“I wish Mark was with us.” [UAE Team Emirates] But it’s understandable that he wanted to team up with Fabian Cancellara, a good friend and mentor at Tudor University. But I would honestly be happy if Marc could win the world title because he will ride for us this year and win the rainbow jersey. ”
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