Pogacar is a cycling genius and one of the best riders of his generation. Its secret lies in a drink that is, to say the least, incongruous.
While Slovenian prodigy Tadej Pogacar discovers the Tour of Italy for the first time in his career, he is the huge favorite to win the Giro. With a less demanding course than the other editions and nearly seventy kilometers of time trials, the double winner of the Tour de France seems to be on another planet than his direct competitors.
This year, Pogacar will attempt to double the Tour de France and the Giro for the first time, with the ambition of winning both three-week events. A real feat, which only seven runners in history have achieved. The latest is Marco Pantani, in 1998. Before him, Indurain did it in 1992 and 1993, just like Bernard Hinault in 1982 and 1985, or Eddy Merckx in 1970 and 1972.
To achieve this performance, the Slovenian can count on astonishing help. During the Tour of Lombardy last October, Tadej Pogacar revealed that he had been able to count on a strange drink to save him from a physical failure. In the Sigma Sport Café Ride show, he explained that he felt cramps during the transalpine event and that he thought he would lose his title on the Monument. “I knew I could go down with a little head start but climbing with a cramp was not possible,” he revealed.
This was without counting on the miracle cure of UAE training. “They were able to give me a salty drink with vinegar. It really helps me. There is also cucumber juice. It helps me a lot. The electrolytes and the salt work,” says the runner. This unexpected mix in any case allowed him to regain strength and win the Tour of Lombardy for the third time in a row. The 25-year-old runner explained that this is not the first time he has resorted to this miracle drink to avoid cravings.
Tadej Pogacar is definitely an astonishing runner, who does not experience the race in the same way as his competitors in the peloton. During the last Tour of Catalonia, he left the rest of the riders to hide in a bush and observe the reaction of the other cyclists.
This 2024 season, which began in thunderous fashion for the Slovenian, could be historic if he managed to get ahead of the competition in both the Giro and the Tour de France, with a few days later, the road race of the Olympic Games in Paris. For this, his famous vinegar-salt-cucumber juice preparation could well help him avoid failure.