The slovenian cyclist kicks off his 2021 season looking back at his spectacular
victory in the 2020 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana Gran Premi Banc Sabadell.
Pogacar acknowledges that his victory in Valencia gave him the confidence needed
in order to have a very strong season, in which he established himself as one of the
elite members of the international peloton, conquering his first Tour de France on
September 2020.
- ¿How is your offseason going? ¿Are you eager to kick off the 2021 season?
The pre-season has been good. After the season I managed to go on a small holiday trip
to UAE which was nice. Unfortunately since then the restrictions have become a bit
tougher with Covid so now I’m focussing just on training and busy with some sponsor and
media requests. But I am enjoying it all and looking forward to race again in a few months
time.
- ¿How do you face a new season after reaching the ceiling of a professional cyclist,
conquering the Tour de France? ¿Where do you find the motivation to keep pushing
to your limits?
I love to race so to motivate myself is not hard. There is still a lot of things I want to
achieve in cycling. Defending my Tour de France win is obviously something I’d love to do
but there are other very important races I would like to win.
- ¿Are you training in the Comunitat Valenciana to prepare for the 2021 season?
The idea is that we will go to UAE for our team camp in January. Last year we were in
Benidorm to prepare and it was good. Last year I also had an altitude camp in Sierra
Nevada in January so actually I spent a lot of time training in Spain last year.
- Last year, you started the season in the best way possible, winning in Valencia.
¿Did this victory help you in the rest of the season? ¿Did it grow your confidence
up?
It was the perfect way to start the year, winning in Valencia. The level was very high and
there were some very tough finishes. When you can beat a champion like Valverde in a
finish like that it gives you confidence.
- ¿Did you think, at the start of VCV 2020, that you could win the race?
I knew my form was good after the camp at altitude, but you never know in the first race of
the season.
- De las dos etapas que ganaste en la VCV 2020 ¿cuál fue la más especial?
La victoria en Cullera fue muy importante porque era mi primera victoria de la temporada y
además me permitió enfundarme el maillot de líder. La victoria en Altea fue también bonita
porque gané en solitario y supuso el triunfo que selló mi triunfo en la clasificación general.
- ¿Qué recuerdo tienes de la organización de la carrera?
La VCV 2020 fue una carrera perfectamente organizada y una espectacular preparación
para mis metas de la temporada, como el Tour UAE y el Tour de Francia.
