World Champion spotted concealing the rainbow stripes beneath a black jersey prior to the pre-Dauphiné training camp ride.
As the current World Champion after his remarkable 101km triumph in Zürich last September, Tadej Pogačar is fully entitled to don the rainbow jersey, whether competing in the WorldTour, training at a team camp, or casually riding local roads in Monaco.
Nevertheless, prior to a UAE Team Emirates-XRG training session at Pico Veleta on Tuesday, the Slovenian was seen concealing his rainbow jersey with a black team-issue Pissei jersey.
Even though the bike was entirely black and white, he wasn’t aiming for color harmony. The explanation? Pogačar was heading out for a tune-up on his Colnago TT1 time trial bike, but instead, he was concealing rainbow stripes since he isn’t the world champion in that event. Certainly, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) wears the rainbow jersey in the time trial, having defeated Filippo Ganna for the title by six seconds in Zürich.
UCI regulations do not prohibit riders of any level from wearing a world champion’s jersey while training. Pogačar is, naturally, not allowed to wear the rainbow stripes while competing in a time trial.
UCI regulation 1.3.063 states that world champions are required to wear their jersey in all events pertaining to the discipline, specialty, and category in which they earned their title, and no other events, until the evening prior to the start of the next world championships for that discipline, specialty, and category.
Nevertheless, Pogačar adhered to a cycling tradition and concealed his rainbow bands during his period on the time trial bicycle.
The video, captured by ‘jmisniak’ and shared on Lucas’ cycling blog on Facebook, showed Pogačar hiding the rainbow-striped sleeves of his jersey beneath the black jersey to conceal them.
During practice rides, Pogačar consistently brings a non-rainbow jersey for this specific occasion. His UAE teammate Rune Herregodts disclosed this fact in a February interview with Het Nieuwsblad.
Do you know what I found to be excellent? While training, we occasionally alternate between a standard bike and a time trial bike. “Herregodts mentioned to the Belgian paper that he always insists on bringing a standard jersey along with the rainbow jersey he’s wearing.”
“He doesn’t wish to ride his time trial bike while wearing his rainbow jersey.” “To honor Remco,” he states. He prefers to carry a jersey in his pocket at all times while riding.
He also pulls up the rainbow straps on his pants when riding his time trial bike. Chic, isn’t it? “Regarding respect, that matters.”
Pogačar’s training session during his team’s camp in Sierra Nevada, Spain, was conducted in anticipation of his race return at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he will compete against Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) before the Tour de France.
The Critérium du Dauphiné course includes three mountain top finishes and a 17.7km time trial during the race, with other competitors for the general classification being Enric Mas (Movistar), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers), and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
