Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar sets out plans for remainder of 2025 as he admits to 'already counting down to retirement'
By Matt Jones
Published 10/08/2025 at 23:49 GMT+1
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Tadej Pogacar is ready to get back in the saddle after some much-needed rest. The 26-year-old has been enjoying some recovery time after landing his fourth Tour de France title. He will not take part in the Vuelta a Espana, but has a busy autumn ahead, with the World and European Championships on his radar. The Slovenian, though, is also talking about retirement.
Victorious Pogacar wants 'week off' and 'hot days' before making Vuelta decision
Video credit: TNT Sports
Just weeks after securing his fourth Tour de France title, Tadej Pogacar is talking about retirement - albeit not an imminent one.
The Slovenian is enjoying some well-earned rest back home as he plots out the rest of his 2025 season.
Aged just 26, he ought to still have plenty of time left in the saddle.
But the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, who beat Jonas Vingegaard to the yellow jersey in France this year, admits he is well aware his glittering career will not go on forever.
"It may seem funny to most people that I'm already counting down to retirement, but the fact is that a sports career isn't very long," he said.
"I began winning early, so I know there can also be seasons with fewer results. But I will probably ride a few more Tours. It’s the biggest race and I doubt the team will leave me out for years to come.
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"On the one hand, I know that my sports career will not be long, but on the other hand, I am aware that I can enjoy the level I am at now for a few more years.
"However, I expect that this level will drop at some point and that there will be no more victories in the season than now and that there will be a bad year at some point.
"I am prepared for everything that is coming, so I am all the more aware that I have to enjoy the moment. I have to be prepared to stop, say thank you and say goodbye to racing at the highest level."
Pogacar, who won the 2024 Road Race World Title, has opted to skip this year's Vuelta a Espana, which gets underway Saturday, August 23 - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Instead, he is managing his workload, with one eye on the 2025 European Championships.
They will be held in France, from October 1-5, with the Slovenian keen to improve on the fifth and 12th-placed finishes he landed in 2021.
Prior to that, he will be back in action in Canada.
The Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and Montreal takes place in September, and two-time winner Pogacar and his UAE team are determined to defend the crown won last year.
In-between those two events are the World Championships in Rwanda, so Pogacar is set for a busy autumn.
It is just as well, then, that he has been getting some much-needed time off after an energy-sapping Tour de France.
"The Tour was really difficult, one of the hardest I've ridden, which can be confirmed by everyone who fought for the overall classification," he continued.
"Now, two weeks after the end of the Tour, I have rested, reset myself, so we are now moving forward normally.
"Montreal suits me more, but I’ll try to win in Quebec too. The course is now easier, but the finish is harder, so we’ll give it a go.
"If not me, we have riders like Jhonatan Narvaez who could target it.
"According to the information we have, it'll be a European Championship for 'climbers' this year, so I will probably be there.
"It is similar to one of the spring races that Juan Ayuso won this year. But this European Championship probably means that I will not be able to go to any other Italian Classics except Lombardia."
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