POGACAR: I WAS PREPARING TO SPRINT
Today a lot happened. In the beginning I was at the back, just following the wheels. I look down and see that we’re going fast, the next moment I look up and see that the group has split. After 20 minutes we realized it wasn’t so bad to let them go. It was a big group which is never good for collaboration, but of course still a bit scared. We kept it under control, Vegard [Langen] and Rune [Herregodts] did an amazing job. Later Decathlon came to help, then the rest of the team did a super job. In the end it was all under control, but you never let Remco go. Today was different, and I’m happy we succeeded.
It means a lot to win again one of the biggest races in cycling. I don’t do many races; I don’t have a lot of opportunities to win, so it’s a lot of pressure to deliver on days like today. I’m really happy that we succeeded and couldn’t be more proud of the team.
On La Redoute I was really going deep and could see that Seixas was a little bit on the elastic but on the top he came next to me. I was really impressed. Then he was pulling quite strong and we opened a big gap, which was really quite good. Back in my head I was preparing for a sprint because he was so strong but I tried on Roche-aux-Focons – I know the climb super well – it suits me well. Luckily he dropped but I was prepared to go head-to-head sprint.
