It was a little quiet day for Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). The yellow jersey, which, except reversal of the situation, should win this 112nd edition and equal in particular Chris Froome the number of victories on the Tour de Francehad found a smile this Saturday, on the eve of the arrival in Paris. Present at a press conference at the end of this 20th stage won by the solid Australian sprinter Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), which has ahead of Frank van den Broek (Team PicNic PostNL) et Pascal Eenkhoorn (Sudal Quick-Step), the world champion spoke about the difficulty of this Tour de France 2025.
“I can't wait to be on the last day …”
It is not always easy to see it with you, but you must be tired at this stage. Can you describe to us how difficult this turn was, your level of fatigue, and if it had an impact on stages like that of Mont Ventoux or the Col de la Loze?
I think each year we say that it is the hardest round that we have ever done, that it is the craziest race. But honestly, I know that this tour was of another level. Maybe we had a single day a little quieter. If you look at power data on the whole turn, it's really impressive and very difficult. Even today, we have almost done everything to block from start to finish. And I must say that, even if it was one of the hardest towers I did, I appreciated it because I was in good shape and I had good legs. I’m really looking forward to the last day tomorrow.
When you go home after the tour and you take a little rest, how many days go before you want to go up on the bike?
This year, I don't know. Maybe I'm going back on the bicycle on Monday. I go home, and maybe on Tuesday I drive a little. You never know. If I feel good, I have a little outing, I stop having a coffee and I enjoy summer at home.
Tadej, there have been a lot of questions about doping in recent years. During this round, there was a particular case involving the Slovenian healer David Rožman of the Ineos team, returned to his home and being the subject of an investigation by the Anti -Doping Agency. What do you think of this affair in general, and do you know David Rožman well, since he is also Slovenian?
I don't know about this case. I heard, I didn't even read. Yes, I heard what has happened in recent days. Of course, it's never pleasant to hear, but I don't know him very well. He had been at Sky then Ineos for a long time, but … I don't know. I don't really know the situation, so I can't say much.
Tadej, I know you want to go on vacation, but have you decided if you will make your Vuelta?
No, I said, I don't know what day it was during the press conference … that we will decide a few days after the round, when everything is calmer and that we will have a clear mind. At that time, we can make decisions for the next races. It will be difficult to decide, of course. I would like to go to Vuelta, because after having done the tour every year, I would really like to do the Vuelta one day too. So we'll see.
