"Amstel, Freccia, and Liège hat-trick like Gilbert? It's clearly a goal, and we're working towards it."». To say it is Tadej Pogačar. And you can't even accuse him of being a "braggart" given the natural yet serious way he says it. The Slovenian also won the Fleche Wallonne. The rider of UAE Emirates He's in great shape. And now in these latitudes everyone is waiting for nothing else Remco Evenepoel, the only one, it is assumed, who can counter his excessive power on the coasts.
And he speaks to us about this state of grace Diego Ulissi. The Tuscan champion crossed the finish line smiling, happy for his teammate's victory and for the excellent work done by his team. A little piece of this victory is definitely his. Diego takes us on this Arrow's journey.
The conversation with the Tuscan begins with compliments to him and the team. "Tadej," says Ulissi, "is really going strong, and everything seems easy for us. We just need to put him in the best possible conditions to perform. I think we did a great team effort today..We are happy."
You didn't see it, but we can tell you that he basically started from a sitting position. Only at the end did he stand up on the pedals.
"Well," Ulissi laughs, "that's right. Like I said, it's going really strong." Let's hope we continue… until Sunday at this point.
It all seems easy, but when you have such a strong captain, what do you say to him during the race? How do you help him? Here, just avoid falls and punctures, and the result is guaranteed...
Let's try to run ahead. To do that maybe We also spend a lot more energy, but it's worth it. In the end, you just have to stay focused.
Was there anyone you kept an eye on more than others?
We are focused on what we have to do. There are many strong opponents, so you have to be very careful right from the start. You know, when Tadej is well, he fears no one. So we had in mind to do what we had planned.
And what was the program?
As I said, try to keep him covered. In the meeting, we mainly talked about the approach to the final part. We wanted to try to make the race as tough as possible. The tougher, the better for him. In particular, Hirschi and I had to stay close to him on the last lap. So I (it must be said that Ulissi is also doing very well, his fresh face at the end of the race is proof of that, ed.) I did very well on the penultimate climb and Mark put him well at the start of the wall. At that point it was his turn… But all day I think we controlled the race very well. Tadej had to wait for the wall and so he did. We risked being a bit slow. With everyone watching us, it wasn't easy.
Look, keep your eyes on me. This week, there was some criticism after the Amstel that it's crazy to help Pogacar while you're in the lead... Is there this feeling of being forced to take control of the race? Is there a fear that everyone will be waiting for you?
No fear with him at all! If anything, we have even more motivation. When Tadej is in the race, we work at our best and without fear. Also because he's the first one who isn't scared! He's super calm and, believe me, he transmits this calmness to us too. We rely heavily on our work, on what we do during the week and we don't think about others.
In fact, there was always one of your teammates at the head of the group…
This is because we are doing well. Those who are not here are out due to some fall or various setbacks, but we have shown that when we're all well, we're among the strongest teams in the world.
But were this Flèche Wallonne (and the Ardennes classics in general) really not on the agenda?
I don't know that. But I know he's going strong and wanted to race. He's in incredible shape and rightly wants to make the most of it. Then we know that when Pogacar attacks the number he wants to win. The Flèche Wallonne is an important race and he wanted to write his name in the roll of honor.
How did you approach this Arrow? Did you discuss it among yourselves the night before, or did everything resolve itself during the morning meeting?
We focused mainly on the meeting the night before, but then we always try to lighten the mood, to detach ourselves. We have to be super focused for 5-6 hours and in fact even today, up until a few moments before the start, we were joking and laughing.
How do you handle a Pogacar in a race? What should you tell him in the end?
He trusts his teammates blindly. He knows there are athletes with more experience than him. Athletes who have run certain races ten times. What we have to do is keep an eye on him. Today, for example, halfway through the race there was a moment when it seemed like there might be fans. At that point we got even closer to him and he followed us. We've been running together for several years now and to tell the truth, we don't need to talk that much.
