First cycling memory to winning the Tour de France - get to know superstar Tadej Pogačar

Promotional feature with Met Helmets

Tadej Pogačar is about to hit a monumental moment in his career, as he starts the 2021 Tour de France wearing the number one of the reigning champion.

On the eve of the 2021 Tour, Pogačar offered a little more insight into the life of a young cycling superstar.

Pogačar, the youngest winner of the Tour de France in the modern era at 21 years old, has shared some of his earliest cycling memories and revealed how he felt heading into last year’s Tour, which he won in dramatic fashion on the stage 20 time trial.

In a wide-ranging interview at Met headquarters in Talamona in the Italian alps, Pogačar sat down with presenter James McLaughlin for a 15-minute chat about all things cycling. 

The pair discuss Pogačar’s influences, whether he has an idol, winning the Tour de France, and racing with no fear. 

Met set up the interview as the helmet sponsor of Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad, as the Emirati-Italian team hopes to defend its Tour de France title from last year.

Pogačar, part of a wave of young stars along with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), heads into the race as the bookies’s favourite, having dominated stages races this season.

The 22-year-old has already won the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and his home race the Tour of Slovenia this season, as well as claiming his first Monument win in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

But he faces tough competition if he wants to claim a second consecutive victory with challenges from stronger teams like Jumbo-Visma with their leader Primož Roglič, and a stacked Ineos Grenadiers outfit.  

>>> 'It's a beautiful life': Primož Roglič's partner Lora Klinc on family life inside the peloton

The 2021 Tour de France starts in Brittany on Saturday (June 26) with three punchy stages and a pivotal time trial on stage five.