Before and after the celebrations, after bathing in one of the fountains in Place Masséna, Tadej Pogacar attended the Tour's official press conference, which bids farewell to the race every year. He talked about his preparation, his rivals, Pantani, his records, and the Galibier, the stage where he felt he could reconquer the Grande Boucle. The Slovenian also spoke about doping, the shadow that will never leave cycling.
He did so calmly and with arguments when questioned if he understood the doubts that his performances, his six stage wins, his Giro-Tour double, and his nearly seven-minute lead over Vingegaard in the general classification could raise. "There will always be doubts. Because cycling has been greatly damaged in the past, before my time," admitted the UAE Emirates rider, who acknowledged that "there will always be envy, people against you, and enemies for those who win, in any sport or life situation. And in cycling, it's the same."
"The UCI invests a lot of money to ensure that this sport remains clean, and I believe it is one of the cleanest in the world because of what happened many years ago. There was abuse in the past. But it's not worth taking anything that could harm your health. It's stupid to do so. Maybe you can continue until you're 36 in cycling, but life is very long. It's stupid to risk your life for a race. This is a game, but life is not all that. The important thing is to stay healthy. We are already pushing ourselves to the limit [physically], and we shouldn't continue to put pressure on the machine," Pogacar explained in detail.
Tadej said that yes, even though it may not seem like it, he was "completely exhausted" and that even though he hears a lot about going to the Vuelta, "it goes in one ear and out the other." Because now it's time for him to rest, and his next big goal is to "be world champion."
Jonas Vingegaard will also not be at the Spanish tour, who a moment earlier, in the same chair as his rival, explained what this Tour had meant to him. "The result may be more extraordinary than winning under normal circumstances. It's possible that in a few weeks, I will be prouder of this second place than of previous victories," he said, recalling that his preparation had been far from "ideal" after the crash in the Itzulia. "Eight days in the ICU, 12 in the hospital... You lose a lot, they wouldn't let me get out of bed. It makes me think that next year I can do much better," he encouraged himself.