Tadej Pogacar and his night as the hometown hero, in Komenda, the city where he was born and raised, in the race that bears his name and is organized by his team - the Pogi Team - and his partner Urska Zygart's team - the Pika Team.

A night during which the world champion spoke again and offered some very interesting insights. "First of all, I'll tell you that I'm happy to be home again, to see friends, neighbors, and my family. Sometimes taking photos and signing autographs is exhausting, other times it's a bit less so, but I always try to accommodate everyone. I invited many riders to come to Komenda, initially everyone was enthusiastic, but then they started to decline. Some have physical issues, then there are many other races at this time, so it was difficult to have them here, but I'm grateful to those who participated in the race".

Among the questions that came up, the inevitable one about his career end, since Tadej himself had touched on the subject after winning his fourth Tour de France.

"The thing is, I'm already counting the years until my retirement from racing. I started winning early, I know negative seasons can come, I'm ready for anything. But I'm sure I'll race a few more Tours: it's the biggest race and I doubt the team will leave me at home, at least for a few more years" explained Tadej, who is tied to UAE Emirates XRG until 2030.

His competitive return is scheduled in Canada in about a month, with two WorldTour events: "We know that Montreal suits me better, but this doesn't mean I won't try to win in Quebec. This year, the course has been slightly changed, it's a bit easier which makes the objective more difficult, but we'll try to win there too. And I won't be alone, we have other riders who can do well in those races, like Jhonathan Narvaez".

After the Canadian races, Pogacar will race both the World Championships and the European Championships a week later. "According to the information we have, this year's European Championship is suitable for climbers, so I'll probably be there. It's similar to one of the spring races won by Juan Ayuso this year (the Spaniard won the Faun Drome Classic, ed). However, I know that if I race the European Championship, I probably won't be able to compete in any other Italian classic except Il Lombardia".

A comment about the Vuelta that will start from Turin on August 23rd: "It's difficult to say if Almeida or Ayuso can beat Vingegaard. If he hadn't fallen in the Tour, I could definitely say that Almeida could have done it, but now I don't know, I can't comment".

And to finish, an exchange of jokes with Raffaele Ferrara and the tough admission that there's a flaw in the world number one's career: watch the video to discover it...