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Speaking from a team training camp, Pogačar revealed his ambitions for 2024, a season where he will tackle some new challenges with a Giro-Tour double and a shift to the later season classics, including a tilt at the world championships all major goals.
"I am now not so young anymore and I think I can do two Grand Tours," said Pogačar. "I could probably do it before but now is a nice time to do a new challenge in my career."
"I always wanted to do the Giro. It's one of my favourite races because it's close to Slovenia and as a kid, we really love to watch the Giro and go to the stages. I have some of my nicest memories from the Giro, when Luka Mezgec won a stage in Trieste. I was there, and it was an unforgettable moment.”
Since winning back-to-back Tours de France in 2020 and 2021, Pogačar has run second to Jonas Vingegaard in the last two editions. The Slovenian star will be the main general classification threat at the Giro, and then is expected to head up the Tour team ahead of the likes of Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, and 2023 Tour de France third-place finisher Adam Yates, with all joining Pogačar on the startline of the Tour in Florence.
The Giro-Tour double victory, a feat not achieved in men's cycling since Marco Pantani did it in 1998, is on the cards for the first time for Pogačar, the 25-year-old opting not to compete in two Grand Tours in a season before. His only appearance at La Vuelta in his neo-professional season saw him take third overall.
“I think everybody wants to do the double and it is one of the hardest things to achieve,” said Pogačar.
“I think the main goal from all the GC riders that already won some Grand Tours, is to have all three of them. This is something to have in your palmarès, so let's see how it goes with the Giro and how it goes with the Tour. Let's not think about the double, let's just go to enjoy racing.”
Jonas Vingegaard (R) looks toward Tadej Pogacar (L) as the Tour de France leader passes him in the final metres on Stage 7 of the race.
"World Championships, also Olympics is a good goal, but it's not set in stone,” said Pogačar. “It's not a perfect parcours for me, but you never know. It's going to be a really hard race because there are not big teams in the Olympics so it can be almost like gambling, no?
“If you're in good shape there, you can win, or you can DNF. The Olympics are a bit so-so, but for sure, the World Championships is one of the big goals next year.”
There will be no title defence at the Tour of Flanders, where he took a memorable win against strong competition in 2023, becoming only the third Tour de France winner to win the cobbled Classic.
Pogačar will also skip two more Classics he won last year, Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, but he will attempt to win the remaining one of 'The Ardennes Triple' that eluded him last year after crashing out, as the Slovenian will race Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
After riding Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, Pogačar will race the Volta a Catalunya in late March before heading off for altitude training.
As currently announced, there is no racing planned between his tilts at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Tadej Pogačar's race calendar in 2024
· Strade Bianche: March 2
· Milan-San Remo: March 16
· Volta a Catalunya: March 18:24
· Liège-Bastogne-Liège: April 21
· Giro d’Italia: May 4-26
· Tour de France: June 29-July 21
· Olympic Games time trial: July 27
· Olympic Games road race: August 3
· GP Québec: September 13
· GP Montréal: September 15
· World Championships road race: September 29
· Il Lombardia: October 12
