"Pogacar isn't a gamble, he's a sure-fire value. He's a champion," was how Joxean Fernández Matxin once assertively described the current world's number one cyclist and leading Tour de France favourite, Tadej Pogačar, in an interview way back in 2019.
That particular claim by the UAE Team Emirates-XRG head of sport about the squad's leader was made well before the Slovenian had fully (and amply) proven his worth in three-week stage racing and when his dreams of capturing multiple Monuments or the rainbow jersey were still only just that – dreams.
