Tadej Pogača was very impressionable as a child. Whenever someone introduces him to a new sport or activity, he becomes curious about it and wants to learn more. Like the first time he saw someone riding a unicycle. “There was a guy nearby who had a unicycle, and one time he brought it to an event,” his mother, Marjeta, told me in a spacious café in their hometown of Komenda, 20 kilometers from Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana.
“He showed people how to ride it, and our kids were really interested. They wanted to learn, so we bought them one.” The sibling competition soon led to the purchase of a second unicycle, and soon, the 10-year-old Tadej and his brother Thielen often ride a unicycle around this town of 6,000 people. “If you give them a unicycle now, they can still ride it. They practice it all the time,” Marjeta added.
Unicycles aren’t typically thought of as cargo bikes, but the brothers would even ride them to collect milk from their grandparents’ farm. “When we ask Tadej and Thielen to go pick up the milk, they say: ‘It’s too hard to walk. It’s easier to go by bike, so they go on a unicycle,'” Marjeta laughs.
You might have thought Tadej was beckoning to Tadej at this point rather than competing in the World Tour – but his one-wheel fun came to an abrupt halt. “They rode their unicycle until one day it was stolen,” Margeta said, then paused and smiled wryly. “Or they lost them. We don’t know. We just know we had two and then they were gone.”
Over the next two decades, Tadej Pogačar has evolved from a unicyclist to arguably the greatest two-wheeled cyclist of all time. When he was a child, his parents could not have imagined such a trajectory, but a life of sports was guaranteed. “Tadej was always active,” Majetta said. “If there wasn’t enough action, he would take some action. He was always looking for ways to have fun with his siblings.”
Young Tadej was always active
(Image credit: Courtesy of the Pogacar family)
Marjeta, 55, teaches French at school, and her husband, Mirko, 62, the manager of a chair factory, both quit their jobs this summer to focus on running the Tadej Pogačar Foundation. I’m meeting them in a café, along with Tadej’s first coach, Miha Koncilija from the local club Ljubljana Rog. They pulled into the parking lot in a small green Nissan—I had originally assumed it was a flashy black 4×4 purchased from Tadej’s growing wealth. A small “TP” signature on the hood, the emblem of their famous son’s foundation, is the only identifying feature of this unassuming car.
Both wore black leather jackets, and Mirko first greeted me with a warm smile and a handshake. However, it soon became clear that Margetta would be the face of the family. “Are we going in?” she asked, looking up at the gloomy sky. Once seated, Marjeta immediately became chatty and vividly described the makeup of their family with anecdotes, and it was clear who Tadej was modeled after. “We have four children, two girls and two boys,” she said, holding a cup of fruit tea in her hands. “Barbara, the eldest, is now an electrical engineer; Tilen, the second oldest, is a continental-level cyclist and now works in logistics. Then there is Tadej; His sister Vita is eight years younger and in her final year of secondary school. “So, a busy house? “The house is noisy,” Majetta corrected me. “Tadej is like a clown in the house.”
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Growing up in Slovenia
Komenda is like many other towns in Slovenia: with the Julian Alps towering over the horizon on one side, and rolling green hills on the other. The Baroque-style church is the focal point of the area, and most of the houses are located on farmland. With plenty of green space at Pogačar’s home, it sounds like there’s never a dull day. “We always had fun with the kids: sports, playing cards, board games, dice games, going to Mirko’s parents’ farm to pick potatoes,” says Marjeta. “The kids also play with Pokemon, Lego and Beyblade.” However, there is one thing the boys are not interested in: learning French. “I understand why,” Margetta said. “It’s because when they’re being naughty, I’ll start talking to them in French, so when they hear French, they think, ‘Uh-oh, we did something wrong.'”
If there is tension in the home, Tadej is quick to lighten the mood. “He was always trying to cheer us up or make everything better,” Margetta said. “He always did something to ease the tension,” I interjected, suggesting that perhaps he was born with natural leadership qualities. “We never saw him as a leader,” Majetta said, looking at Mirko, who shook his head in agreement. “Maybe he was a leader but in a way you didn’t feel it. He wasn’t saying, do this, do that, but he would always do whatever needed to be done. If I asked who was going to get water, he Will say: “I’ll do it. “He’s always been like that, setting an example for others. He brings families together just like he brings his team together now.”
Thielen, who is two years older than Tadej, is the big brother the future champion looks up to. “Thielen started a football career, Tadej started a football career,” Majetta said. “But when Thielen saw that Tadej was doing very well, he left the team and joined a basketball team.” Tadej persisted in football for a while, but when he gave up football, Magita Very happy. “The atmosphere with the other parents was really unfriendly and aggressive and I didn’t like it,” she said.
Fortunately for Marjeta, the family’s cycling chapter is about to begin – thanks to the man sitting next to them, local club coach Miha Koncilija. When Tilen was 11, Marjeta’s former student Koncilija visited the children’s school and gave each a two-minute bike test.
Koncilija recalled that Tilen’s grades were “very good.” “We didn’t have a lot of kids in the club and I told Margeta and Mirko it would be great if Thielen started training with us.” That’s exactly what his brother did, and six months later, nine-year-old Tadej He was joined and given a green Billato bike, but Koncilija admitted it was too big for him. “We don’t get any smaller than this!”
The family did not have the means to provide equipment for their two sons. “We’re happy that they’re all getting into cycling, but it’s not cheap,” Margetta said. “We were lucky that the club provided bikes, shoes and helmets, otherwise it would have been too expensive for us to afford.” I joked, never before had hand-me-downs appeared on such promising shoulders. “For Tadej, cycling is the most important thing in the world,” Majetta said. “He always spent his pocket money on sunglasses, socks or wheels. When he was 12 he would get €5 or €10 for winning a race, and as he got older the prize money would increase – and soon After that, he can afford anything he wants.”
The Slovenia trophy is also in the collection
(Image source: Future)
At the age of 11, Tadej rode his first mountain, Krvavec, a ski station road visible from the family’s back garden (11.7 km, 8.3%). “This is the only U12 hill climb race,” Koncilija said. “We saw that, too,” he paused, as if replaying the race in his mind. “Well, we said he was special.” Tadej earned his first win and immediately wanted more. “He loved competing and beating people – he still has that strong passion,” Koncilija added. Did he get his cycling skills from his parents? “No, no,” said Margeta, laughing. “We ride mountain bikes to the Tour de France to climb hills that are inaccessible to vehicles, but he goes uphill faster than we go downhill.”
Tadej celebrates his 2021 Tour victory with Marjeta, sisters Vita and Mirko
(Image source: Getty Images)
The first time the Pogačars watched a Tour event in real life was by chance. “We didn’t want to go to the game – we just wanted to go to Lyon!” Marjeta recounted their encounter during the 2011 match. “The tunnel from Italy to France was too expensive, so we went via Sestriere. But as soon as we got there the road to the game was blocked and we had the chance to see the stage. It was the best day of our holiday ”
Inspired by his heroes—especially Alberto Contador, Andy Schreck and Frank Schreck—Tadej got a taste of his future. “When he was 14, he said he wanted to ride in the Tour de France and he would do whatever it took to make it happen,” Marjeta said. “I tried to ground him – we wanted him to finish high school so he could have a career, but school wasn’t very important to him. When he had to choose a program [to study between 15 and 18] He chose mechanics because it was not very demanding. “
Always a joker, Tadej is popular with his classmates and susceptible to the temptations of a typical teenager. Did he give in? “He went to one or two class reunions, but that was it,” Margetta said. “He didn’t have time! He would say, ‘I have a game and I have to train and I can’t go.’ “He doesn’t drink a lot – he’s really focused on cycling.”
An anonymous roundabout in Komenda celebrates Tadej’s success
(Image source: Future)
I realized we had been talking for almost an hour – time flew by so fast. Our drinks were empty and the cafe was packed with construction workers taking their lunch break. Marjeta, Mirko and Koncilija had a brief conversation in Slovenian. Margetta turned to me: “Do you know the museum?” No, I answered. “Okay, come with us, go to the roundabout first, and then we’ll show you where the museum is.” The CW photographer and I jumped into our rental car and drove along the Nissan for five minutes until we reached a roundabout At the intersection, this is also apparently where the Bogacha Shrine is located.
“This is it,” Margetta said with a smile, shy but proud. Several posters of their son are plastered around; the center of the roundabout is painted with concentric rings of yellow and pink; Tadej’s signature is emblazoned on the road, spray-painted by himself. “People come here every day from Italy, Spain, Belgium,” Margetta said.
As if to prove the point, a British lady who had been taking photos overheard our conversation. “I’m so sorry, can I take a picture of you two?” she asked politely. “I’m a big fan of Tadej.” Margeta and Mirko happily posed, clearly used to being minor celebrities because of their son.
same family home
Has it changed them? “I don’t know how we can change,” Marjeta said with a smile. “We live and work normally, just like before.” The family home, which is just a two-minute pedal walk from the roundabout (or 30 seconds from Tadje), will remain in the family home. “I sometimes joke that if we get old and don’t have enough money to buy things, we’ll sell the house and move to a smaller, lower-cost apartment,” Margetta said. “But all the kids said: You’re not going to sell our house.”
Award winning bike display
(Image source: Future)
If the house and its memories are too precious to part with, the collection of Pogačar memorabilia stored 30 minutes away from the headquarters of the Pogi Team (renamed Rog Ljubljana Cycling Association in 2021) development project is simply priceless.
The bike Tadej rode in races such as the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Tour of Flanders sits alongside the pink and yellow jerseys of the leaders. There are also countless trophies. The loft is to bike lovers what the Louvre is to art lovers, and there has been talk of eventually turning this private collection into a public museum in Ljubljana.
Tadej Pogačar is still collecting treasures that will one day be curated and exhibited. The bushy-haired mischievous boy who has followed in his brother’s footsteps since childhood has ambitious plans to win all three Grand Tours multiple times, tick all the monuments, win all seven of the week-long major stage races – basically Win it all while riding a bike.
Is he the greatest cyclist in the history of the sport? “For us, we don’t think he’s the best cyclist in the world; we think he’s the best cyclist in the world.” “He’s our son,” Majetta replied, turning to Mir again Ko, Mirko nodded. “To us, he was like any other of our children,” she continued. “I often say to other kids that they are also the best at what they do. Sometimes it’s quite difficult for them because they say they’re not as valuable as their brothers, but that’s wrong – they’re not as valuable as their brothers. He has the same value. “To us, he is just our son and will always be our son. “
