Joxean Fernandez Matxin, the senior sporting director of Team UAE and one of the great talent scouts in world Cycling, recalled – during an interview with Eurosport – the day he understood that Tadej Pogacar would be the best runner in the world, and perhaps even in history…
Joxean Fernandez Rebellionthe team’s senior athletic director UAEspoke in recent days during an interview with Eurosport about its leader Tadej Pogacarnot hesitating to emphasize what an exceptional champion the Slovenian rider was.
“We will be able to say in a few years: ‘I witnessed such and such a victory for Tadej Pogacar’”
Fernandez Rebellion explained: “ Tadej is a gift for those of us who love cycling. We will be able to say, in a few years: ”I experienced this, I witnessed this or that victory of Tadej Pogacar” “. In the process, the boss of the sports sector of Team UAE remembered the moment when he truly realized that he had in his hands a rider destined to be the best in the world and perhaps even the best of all time.
“When we asked him to attack 44km from the finish, he said yes instantly…”
During this interview at Eurosport, Joxean Fernandez Rebellion recounted: “ When did I realize that ”Pogi” was different? I realized he was the best in the world during the 20th stage of the 2019 Vuelta. We had a very aggressive strategy because it was difficult to gain a lot of time on the last climb. When we asked him to attack 44km from the finish, he said yes, instantly. Now, 44km looks like a walk in the park compared to the 100 kilometers of the Worlds. But at that time, for a 20 year old runner… » In the process, Fernandez Rebellion remembered another decisive moment, which this time made him realize that even the best rider in the world could not win if he did not have a top team around him, the starting point of the establishment of today’s UAE Dream Team: “ Just yesterday we saw the photo of Galibier again during the 2022 Tour de France, where Tadej was isolated 4.5 km from the summit, surrounded by four Jumbo riders. Then we looked at this year’s, where the situation was reversed ».
