Tadej Pogacar enjoyed the rainy Sunday in Madrid. The Slovenian, from the UAE team, won the first edition of the Madrid Critérium, held in the Paseo de la Castellana in the capital. He won alone ahead of the Spanish Carlos Rodríguez, from Ineos, and Raúl García Pierna, from Kern Pharma. Warm, and also with his inexhaustible competitive character, he was one of the most active in the morning. Accompanied during the weekend by his partner, the also cyclist Urska Zigartboth had a plan for the Madrid afternoon: go to the Santiago Bernabéu to see the Madrid stadium, as AS learned. The Slovenian, who does not have a favorite team as such (“maybe sympathy for Manchester City, he met Guardiola”point from the UAE), he had on his agenda to see the white coliseum before flying back to his home.
Precisely, he moved home in Monaco a few weeks ago and between various trips once the competition was over, such as the Giro de Rigo in South America, and this appointment in Madrid, He just stopped by his new house. On December 10 he will return to the charge in the concentration of the team. Precisely, the streets of Madrid have previously seen Pogacar on a podium: it was in 2019, at his premiere in La Vuelta, when he, sBeing a semi-unknown, he achieved three stages and third place overall. Since then, he has established himself as one of the great stars of the squad. She does not close the door to being in the Spanish round in 2023, although her main objectives will be the Tour and the World Cup. Precisely both tests are before La Vuelta, which makes it difficult for her to be present in the Spanish round.
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Ayuso prevails in the elimination
The morning was complete for the UAE, since Juan Ayuso prevailed in the other test of the day, the elimination one. He did it ahead Jonathan Lastra, from Caja Rural who will make the leap to the World Tour next season with Cofidis, and Pogacar himself. Before starting, the aforementioned runners from the UAE spoke with the mayor of the city, José Luis Martínez-Almeidawho was also encouraged to go around the circuit with an electric bicycle, like Ayuso and Pogacar, among others. The one from Jávea hopes to be back on a podium in the streets of Madrid at the end of September, since he announced that La Vuelta will be his great objective in 2023 after being third, at the age of 19 (he is now 20) in 2022.