318 - The Meteoric Rise of Tadej Pogačar: From Prodigy to Cycling Legend

Tadej Pogačar is a three-time Tour de France champion and one of the most dominant cyclists of his generation. In this episode, he shares insights into his 2020 Tour de France victory, his historic 2024 season winning both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, and the struggles he faced in 2022 and 2023. He also dives into his training regimen, nutrition, and the key metrics he tracks, like power, VAM, and heart rate variability. Tadej offers a glimpse into his goals for the future and what it takes to stay at the top of the sport.

We discuss:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:01:38 - 2020 Tour de France win
0:06:54 - Learning from previous mistakes
0:09:04 - Training: simulating steep climbs and other challenging race conditions
0:11:49 - Tadej’s historic 2024 season and what contributed to his success
0:15:30 - Nutrition for optimal performance: offseason diet and carbohydrate intake during intense training sessions
0:18:51 - Training metrics: heart rate, power output, VAM, and HRV, and his approach to zone 2 training
0:28:11 - Epic climbs in the Tour de France, mindset after challenging stages, and rebuilding confidence after the 2023 Tour
0:36:35 - Racing dynamics, media criticism, and Tadej’s reflections on racing records
0:45:02 - Training in the off-season

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About:

The Peter Attia Drive is a deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing longevity, and all that goes into that from physical to cognitive to emotional health. With over 90 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including exercise, nutritional biochemistry, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more.

Peter Attia is the founder of Early Medical, a medical practice that applies the principles of Medicine 3.0 to patients with the goal of lengthening their lifespan and simultaneously improving their healthspan.

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We discuss:
0:01:38 - 2020 Tour de France win
0:06:54 - Learning from previous mistakes
0:09:04 - Training: simulating steep climbs and other challenging race conditions
0:11:49 - Tadej’s historic 2024 season and what contributed to his success
0:15:30 - Nutrition for optimal performance: offseason diet and carbohydrate intake during intense training sessions
0:18:51 - Training metrics: heart rate, power output, VAM, and HRV, and his approach to zone 2 training
0:28:11 - Epic climbs in the Tour de France, mindset after challenging stages, and rebuilding confidence after the 2023 Tour
0:36:35 - Racing dynamics, media criticism, and Tadej’s reflections on racing records
0:45:02 - Training in the off-season

[jaredwilkerson]

It’s hard to understand why anyone would dislike Pogacar.

He seems humble, intelligent, and hardworking.

And he’s incredibly entertaining on the bike.

[LexD-]

That “pause” after Tadej says 320-340 at z2 was me spilling my morning coffee 😅

[oneeleven]

Been watching cycling for 45yrs Tadej is the best all rounder Ive ever seen..nice fella as well 👍

[Lockeness]

He was way more transparent and candid than I thought he would be! Cool to hear him reveal his specific numbers

[richiejames]

Just for some context, the numbers Tadej can sustain for a 5 hour stage, the average casual cyclist couldn’t sustain for 5minutes. This kid has perfect genetics for cycling. he’s just phenomenal. and the most attacking/entertaining riders in a generation.

[MrMattie]

Pogy throwing subtle shade at Shimano powermeters, love it :D

[dustinmaherfitness]

The questions you asked and how he answered them all. Incredible. Maybe the best cycling interview I have ever heard. The zone 2 at 320 is crazy given how light he is.

[DayTradersDaily]

Hands down, Peter is at another level with his interviewing skills with cyclists. For cycling enthusiasts, it's great to see Peter asking the kinds of questions we would want to ask if we were conversing with Tadej. Thank you so much, and I hope you continue to conduct cycling interviews in the future. You are in a class of your own!

[StefanieFieck]

As a casual biker (just rode 50 mile ride today) and fan of your podcast and professional cycling, this was one of my favorite podcasts you’ve done. It’s likely rare he gets to converse with someone so knowledgeable about what it takes physiologically to achieve what Tedej has. He is a big reason I started following cycling and Dr. Attia you’re a huge reason I focus on my health as I do. Thank you!

[TimHeidfeld]

Min 20:04: VAM stands for "Velocità Ascensionale Media", an Italian term that translates to "Average Ascent Speed" in English. It measures a cyclist's rate of vertical ascent during a climb, usually expressed in meters per hour (m/h). VAM helps to assess a cyclist's climbing performance and is often used to compare the difficulty of climbs or the relative strength of different cyclists on hilly terrain. Tadejs VAM is 1800m/h on a 7, 5% Gradient.
General VAM Benchmarks:
Above 1, 700 m/h: Elite level (Tour de France contenders: Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Bernal, Froome, Contador).
1, 500–1, 700 m/h: Very high level (top climbers in professional races).
1, 300–1, 500 m/h: Strong amateur or semi-professional level.
Below 1, 300 m/h: Typical amateur cyclist.

[BenchRacer]

One of the best interviews I’ve seen in a long time. We are witnessing the best endurance athlete of our time… perhaps of all time.

[edmundtschopp]

Hands down, best cycling interview I have ever listened to. And I've listened to many

[PatrickDelorenzi]

The enthusiasm and interest expressed by Peter Attia in this interview is next level - a true fan of the sport

[Frangrance]

Tadej has a very cool personality, he shows at the same time lot of humilty but also that he realises his own greatness.

[ernestb.]

Great interview, thank you both. It is nice for us who understand this sport, but not inside this professional circles, to hear something about it first hand. Great guy Tadej. Keep it like that! I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina, once part of former Yugoslavia, as Slovenia also once was. We are very proud of both Tadej and Primoz to achieve this high level. They are the first ones is our history. So very remarkable! Keep up the good work Tadej, enjoy your training and racing like you do. We will support you along the side and enjoy to see you in the battles but also of the bike. Cheers

[natpaler]

Extremly proud of our national Slovene cyclists, but especially Tadej!! 🚴

[Filedll]

Never expeted Pogacar interview. Thats a bomb!

[xGshikamaru]

That's probably my favorite video ever. It's really amazing how spot on your questions were and how Tadej would answer any of it without any hesitation. Thanks so much!

[GasperRazdevsek]

Peter, thank you for this fantastic interview—it made my day! And a big thanks to Tadej for taking the time and being such an amazing, down-to-earth champion who is a wonderful role model for kids. Stay as you are!