Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) can in many ways be predictable. Take when he attacked in Strade Bianche at the exact moment he told everyone he would, for example, and how he dominates much of the calendar, as most expect him to. But at the UAE Tour in 2025, he’s kept everyone guessing throughout the week with several attacks over 130km from the finish.
Is he bored? Is this all a game to him? Is he worried about detraining on an easy sprint stage? It turns out, it’s perhaps a mix of all three.
When he and Domen Novak moved to the front of the bunch at a rate of knots with 149km to go and powered away from the peloton, it was déjà vu of the Slovenian pair’s “practical joke” from the Volta a Catalunya last season. However, this time, the move stuck.
Vincent Langellotti (Ineos Grenadiers) closely followed, and soon, defending UAE Tour champion Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) was also in the wheel and committed. The new group joined those already in front to form an 11-man breakaway that lasted until the 39km to-go mark in Dubai.
“It was just a funny moment like it was last year in Volta a Catalunya, me and Domen [Novak] alone in the front with one minute and a half gap in the bunch. But today, other guys followed as well and it turned out to be a breakaway,” said Pogačar in his post-race press conference.
“Then we just sort of committed and tried not to spend too much, just rotate with the guys and follow their pace. It was a good day out, I was having a good time and we finished the stage much faster because of that.”
In Catalunya, Pogačar and Novak hid in some bushes after a nature break, which ended their joke attack. However, in today’s move, it was coincidentally stopping to go to the toilet that got things going.
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“I don’t know how me and Tadej were in the break but we stopped for a pee then we came back with some speed, Tadej just pushed me then we went and stayed there,” Novak told Cyclingnews and Velo at the finish.
“We spoke to the guys and it was not too hard so we stayed like 100km in the break.” The Slovenian domestique even took a chance to wave at the peloton when the break passed them on one of the highway roads running parallel to each other, however, no words were exchanged when the break was caught.
“I don’t know, nobody said anything but I think a lot of teams pulled behind,” Novak said. “We were 12 guys and not such strong riders but we worked well and I think in the peloton it was also not easy.
“Tadej likes to enjoy and he plays with it like that. I think he can and it was just like this. I enjoyed it too.”
His teammate Mikkel Bjerg also confirmed that it was purely an instinctive thing for Pogačar to make such a move, with no pre-race plans being made in the team van or meeting.
“The break already went and Tadej I think he said it was kind of a joke, then suddenly they had the gap with Van Eetvelt [also there] and then I think they just went,” Bjerg told reporters including Cyclingnews at the finish.
“No [it was not planned], it was just instinct I guess and maybe he was hoping a few more would follow.”
Pogačar did get three bonus seconds out of his day in the front of the race, beating Van Eetvelt to the line in the first intermediate sprint, however, the Belgian too gained three seconds on the GC field, coming second to Pogačar in one sprint and beating the race leader to the final one second available at the other.
The detraining factor was a real one, however, with his teammates acknowledging how Pogačar, specifically, needs harder days to maintain his large capacity. After a sprint on day one, an all-out time trial effort on day two, the Jebel Jais mountain sprint on stage three and the crosswinds on stage 4, today’s race threatened to be much easier. But Pogačar, of course, didn’t let that happen.
“In these races, it can be a little bit boring. Also, it’s not that your shape goes down but when you don’t train hard and the race isn’t hard you don’t feel this,” said Novak. “Tomorrow we have maybe a little bit of rest and then another hard stage.
“If just you stay in the peloton it’s kind of an easy day and for him, it’s what his engine needs so I think he’s not going to apologise for making it a bit of a hard day for the peloton,” echoed Bjerg.
“He focuses on what he needs for this campaign and part of the season and I guess maybe on the TV it looks a bit crazy but he can decide what he wants to do.
“I guess it all depends, if you are a sprinter it’s probably enough endurance but a guy like him, we had some pretty nice days with Jebel Jais, yesterday crosswinds so he could open the gas a bit then today, potentially an easy day, I guess he wanted to push a bit as well.”
Pogačar ended his press conference by revealing that there was also a light-hearted bet involved with his new teammate Florian Vermeersch that played a role in why he attacked, after welcoming the Belgian into cycling’s number-one-ranked team with a nickname.
“I’m not a betting person, but today there was a bet involved,” said the world champion. “We find a nickname for Florian from one cartoon – Frankie the turtle, who in Slovenian is called Franček, so that’s his nickname now.
“He said if I win today, he would put a tattoo on his forearm with Franček, so that was the only bet I did in a long time now, actually.”
For now, Vermeersch’s forearm will remain unblemished without any cartoon reptiles.
However, Pogačar, even as the world champion and race leader in the UAE, is having as much fun as ever on the bike. With another pancake flat sprint day to come on stage 6 in Abu Dhabi, don’t be too surprised if you see the red jersey on the move again.
