Urska Zigart and Tadej Pogacar are without a doubt one of the most powerful couples in the world of cycling. Both have had remarkable careers in the sport, with Tadej Pogacar being one of the most successful, taking home two Tour de France titles (2020 and 2021) and winning Il Lombardia three times, among other great triumphs.
Urska Zigart, however, is not far behind and is committed to developing her own career in the women’s World Tour squad. But she doesn’t stop taking advantage of her partner’s experience to improve her techniques.
“He gives me a lot of advice, because he has more experience in everything. But I think at the end of the day, what he has is a winning mentality that is very difficult to teach someone. I’m working on it, but yes, it’s a little different,” she commented to Velo.
Pogacar worried about girlfriend
While Pogacar was competing in the Tour de France in 2023, Zigart was in the Giro d’Italia Donne. On a particularly difficult day for the couple, Zigart suffered a violent fall, which resulted in a concussion, while Tadej Pogacar lost some considerable time to his arch-rival, Jonas Vingegaard.
“I remember I wanted to ask him how the race went, but he didn’t say anything about it. He just asked how I was feeling and said he wished he was there with me. He didn’t say anything about his performance,” Zigart recalls.
Tadej Pogacar thought about abandoning the Tour de France
At the time, it was said that Tadej Pogacar considered abandoning the Tour de France to take care of Zigart during his recovery. “I said ‘No, it’s the Tour!’. You have worked very hard since the day of your accident (Pogacar fractured his wrist before the Tour de France) to be here and no, you are not coming home”, she says.
For Zigart, mutual understanding of their cycling experiences is one of the main building blocks of their relationship.
“We both know how each other feels, what we have to go through. Of course, with him it’s a little more about dealing with pressure and things like that. Everyone thinks that once you reach the top, everything gets easier, but that’s not true.”
“We both encourage each other to stay centered and maintain the joy of just riding and competing, and everything else that comes with that,” concludes Zigart.