Tadej Pogačar has declared himself 'back to work' after just over a week of rest and recovery following his record-equalling fifth victory in the Tour de France.
The road race world champion hasn't stepped far away from cycling since standing on the top step of the Tour podium in Paris on July 26, attending his own Pogi Challenge events in Slovenia last weekend and then hopping onto his gravel bike earlier this week.
However, with the Vuelta a España next on his agenda in just over two weeks' time, he has now logged two solid days of riding on the road, the first of which was uploaded to Strava with the title 'back to work'.
On Wednesday, Pogačar completed a 130.54-kilometre ride around his home town of Komenda, with a solid elevation gain of 2,195 metres and a zippy average speed of 35.4km/h.
On Thursday morning he set out early for another ride of 121.65km, taking in 2,262 metres of elevation, at an average speed of 34.8km/h. This one was uploaded to Strava with the title 'Train against clock', perhaps in reference to the early start and perhaps indicating that Pogačar will leave Slovenia this afternoon.
After his Tour triumph, Pogačar indicated that he will return to France to support his partner Urška Žigart at the Tour de France Femmes. It remains to be seen whether Pogačar will head to Mont Ventoux for the marquee mountain stage on Friday, but the race concludes with two stages in Nice, just around the corner from where he and Žigart live in Monaco.
Prior to his two training sessions on the road in the past two days, Pogačar dabbled in something of a novelty: gravel riding. The 27-year-old is a four-time winner of Strade Bianche, so is no novice when it comes to gravel, but this time he swapped his normal race bike for a dedicated gravel bike from Colnago, the C68 Gravel. What's more, he ditched his UAE Team Emirates kit for unbranded off-the-peg clothing, still from the team's supplier, Pissei.
With gravel essentially a separate discipline of cycling, Pogačar perhaps has the freedom to wear what he wants for what is in reality a bit of fun rather than serious work. Pogačar has worn various non-race-issue jerseys for training on the road, in a bid to avoid attention from other cyclists, but these have still featured team branding.
Pogačar rode 62 kilometres on the gravel on Monday at an understandably slower average speed of 27.1km/h, while on Tuesday he did 39.57km at 25.4km/h in what he described as a 'gravel jungle', sharing a video of him riding through a thick forest.
The gravel will indulge Pogačar's natural inclination to mix things up in the interests of mental freshness, but it's also worth noting that the upcoming Vuelta route will feature a 3.5km stretch of gravel on the late category-1 climb of El Bartolo on stage 6.
Pogačar has not ridden the Vuelta since his scorching Grand Tour debut back in 2019 and he is the favourite for a victory that would complete the set of all three Grand Tour victories and add a layer of completeness to his extraordinary palmarès.
