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Tadej Pogačar is getting his own security detail for training rides.
Speaking to this week to Spanish outlet AS, UAE Emirates-XRG sport manager Joxean Fernández Matxin revealed his super team is taking radical steps to ensure the safety of its prime asset.
“Now, what we do is put a motorcycle behind Tadej,” Matxin said.
The revelation comes hot off the back of two high-profile, highly unfortunate interactions between the public and the pros.
Jonas Vingegaard crashed during a training ride in January while being followed by an amateur, and Pogačar last week recounted an ugly encounter with a short-fused fan who was seeking a selfie.
The incidents come amid a growing trend of Instagrammers and vloggers risking it all for “content” while they pedal through popular pro training zones.
The mishap with Vingegaard in particular raised a debate about how amateurs should interact with riders at “work,” and how both populations share the open road with drivers.
The tricky relationship between pros at work and amateurs at play
Matxin told AS he’d seen some of the worst examples during his team’s training camp in Alicante this winter.
“I’ve seen some very complicated situations where many cyclists, caught up in the excitement, start recording in the middle of the road,” he said. “If at that moment a cyclist gives you a rude response because they see a car coming towards them, they’re the one who comes out looking bad.”
That’s why UAE Emirates-XRG is taking etiquette and appetite for risk out of the picture.
The multiple world and Tour de France champion now has an escort to protect him while he works.
“We had a motorcycle to protect Tadej in Alicante, because we ride in small groups,” Matxin told AS. “If you have groups of 20, the cars behind can’t overtake them. So we ride in groups of eight, but if other cyclists join in, the groups become too large.
“Now, what we do is put a motorcycle behind Tadej to ensure that the small group is respected and that cars can pass without creating a traffic jam,” Matxin said.
It’s unclear whether Pogačar receives any such “escort” for his solo jaunts around his home on the Côte d’Azur.
For a rider who might train 30 hours a week, a designated outrider might not be feasible, even for the endless resource of a $60 million super team.
Nonetheless, the news is an intriguing development in pro cycling’s newest tension.
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