Pogačar continues to reach peaks that seemed possible only for the generation of cheaters
At 27, Tadej Pogačar won the Tour de France for the fifth time, and the exclusive first place is only a matter of time. In the clean era of cycling, no one can compete with his supreme ability.
Tadej Pogačar, the Slovenian, who will turn only 28 next month, is a boring guy. A cyclist who invites yawns. The spectators along the grueling route of the Tour de France that ended yesterday can no longer stand his figure. His victory in the most prestigious cycling race has become a routine; the other riders are competing for second place. "Pogi" has taken from the sport its most important value: competitiveness and the uncertainty of how the competition will end.
There were several subplots to this year's Tour: the protests of climate activists; the fact that the race passed twice through Alpe d'Huez, the most famous and prestigious climb; the drug tests that took place in the middle of the night, which perhaps caused significant injuries to some riders; the use of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence for data analysis; or the numerous complaints from participants about holding the competition in weather impossible for riding. But all these stories served only as secondary plot lines for the Slovenian prodigy. The Five Club is proud to present: King Tadej the First.
Although he had to ride a smaller number of kilometers before entering Paris for another anointing ceremony (many sections were shortened due to fires), he still wore the yellow jersey for most of the race and broke records on the difficult climbs. He won the Tour de France for the fifth time (and the third in a row) with a huge gap from second place. The only reason the gap was not larger is that on the penultimate stage, Pogačar, who had already secured his victory, refrained from attacking and worked in the service of his teammate, Isaac del Toro from Mexico, so that the latter would finish in third place in the general classification. They celebrated the achievement with a picture in which both are signaling with their fingers next to the helmet like horns, in a gesture to del Toro's nickname, "The Bull".
"One day in the future, a rider from our team will win this race," said Ralph Denk, team manager of the Red Bull team, whose rider, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, came in second in the general classification, "but considering Pogačar's abilities and his age, we are probably talking about a very distant future." The Slovenian's dominance is so absolute that riders and managers have raised proposals borrowed from American sports – such as matching the best talents under 23 to the worst teams, or setting a salary cap. But it seems that no proposal will help the other teams catch up with Pogačar.
He understands that he is an individual within a team and owes his friends by his side. On the second day, he let del Toro win for the first time in a stage. Almost three weeks later, he did everything so that Pogačar would win. The record for stage wins in the Tour de France stands at 35 and belongs to Mark Cavendish. Pogačar is already at 26, and they are not limited to sprints, but include first place on the most complicated climbs. This time he won five stages, and gave up three others that were within reach for teammates.
Yesterday he officially joined the "Five Club", alongside Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Induráin, and Jacques Anquetil. One more victory will place him in first place of all time. It appears that Pogačar will compete in the Vuelta, aim for gold in Los Angeles 2028, and will try to claim Paris-Roubaix. There is another peak that Merckx believes Pogačar can conquer if he only wants to – the first ever to win the three Grand Tours in one year: Giro, Vuelta, and Tour de France.
Nice, generous, modest. His training, long rides in the Sierra Nevada, are considered the most exhausting on the circuit. The improvements in bicycles, aerodynamics, and nutrition have made Pogačar an unbeatable riding machine. He achieves results that seemed possible only for riders from the generation of cheaters. After victories, he always talks about the importance of teamwork. When asked about the night raids for drug testing, he criticized them but accepted the matter with understanding in light of the ugly history of using prohibited substances in cycling. It was a typical reaction of his, completely different from that of Lance Armstrong, the rider who tarnished the sport more than any other: "Tests at two in the morning," commented Armstrong on the news about the night raids, "that's already a matter of human rights."
