Under the Moutiers sun, just a few kilometers from the top of La Loze, still in the Alps, mechanics, technicians, cyclists and team members were swarming over what happened, looking for explanations where there may not be any.. “I was very screwed up”, they say about Tadej, always the soul of the group, the boy who encourages the rest with his rap and jokes. “Of course I was very sad yesterday afternoon. Who wouldn't be?», he admits after the stage, already in Bourg en Bresse.
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The legends in cycling can also be explained from the great disasters, those that water heroism to some guys who make suffering their way of advancing. The loser's epic. Rilke wrote that “all art is born from one who has gone to the extreme of an experience, where one cannot go any further”. Pogacar and his charisma will always be accompanied by La Loze like Indurain La Plagne, and in that already recurring image also for those who idolize him despite his frustration with Jonas Vingegaard, Marc Soler will also forever be by his side – “without him I would have lost the podium, he took me to the limit” – his left arm on the back of the fallen colossus, his whispers of encouragement, his effort to try to minimize damage.
“We have held so many concentrations together, we have shared a room…”, pronounces the Catalan after the signature control, a guy dedicated to the cause, who has won over the directors of the UAE despite the fact that at first he was under suspicion for those controversies in his last days at Movistar. “It was a bad day and that's it. Everyone can fail, it's human. What happens is that he has spoiled us, “he confesses to EL MUNDO at the start of the stage.
Soler and Pogacar, at the Courchevel finish line. EFE
Pogacar spent a good night after a bird that had to do with a stomach problem, although he did not vomit or sleep badly or show any symptoms of illness, as this newspaper has learned. He himself acknowledged that he followed the eating plan proposed by the nutritionist Gorka Prieto, that he did not stop eating or drinking -an error recognized after his other famous bad day, a year ago in Granon-, but that the energy did not reach his legs. The crash at the start of the stage was never used as an excuse, but long before he lost contact with Vingegaard, the Slovenian had already warned his team that something was wrong.. «He told us that he did not have a good feeling, that we should not make any offensive approach. We ruled out the aggressive tactic very soon, because he was not having his day”, says Josean Fernández Matxin, who also admits that this change in mentality, together with the blow of the time trial on Tuesday, could have taken its toll on Pogacar. And that he assures that, despite the enormous pain, his pupil did not at any time cross his mind the idea of leaving.
With his pale face in which some herpes on his lip have been attracting attention for a few days, a symptom of low defenses (it is quite common in the squad), his bare chest and his suffering gesture, Pogacar pronounced the famous “I'm dead, it's over” and got rid of the earpiece. At that time the UAE activated plan B. He sought to reinforce his podium position with Adam Yates and stopped Majka for this, and made Soler accompany Tadej on his ordeal towards Courchevel.
Question.- Marc, what is said to you at those moments?
Answer.- You try to cheer him up, it's the only thing you can do. I told him, 'you have to suffer, Tadej'. He repeated to him that he should not collapse, that he also had to fight for second place. That he keep fighting, that he lose as little time as possible. I don't think I'm a psychologist, you just help with what you can.
At night, Pogacar “was sad, but above all very tired from the effort,” says Marc. “Maybe he didn't have his usual joy, but he never loses his smile or his manners,” confirms Matxin.
Nor was there much spirit in the team to think about objectives from here to Paris, in that stage on Saturday in Le Markstein that Pogi intends as a reward for his wonderful gregarious. If he regains strength. The same triumphant Vingegaard, a few meters away, praises his defeated rival: “He is still the best in the world.” “You have to be honest, the goal is to keep the podium. We are going to spend the day and we'll see, “says Matxin.
