Tadej Pogacar is a magician capable of all kinds of tricks. Sunday afternoon, he bewitched the World Championships to offer himself a title which was missing from a list of achievements in which it is increasingly difficult to see the holes and now, in the process, he manages to make the immense Eddy Merckx, mountain of victories and ego, that he is bigger than him. He perhaps found there the greatest accomplishment of a career which will go down in history. Even more than his successes and their prestige, it is with his manner that he writes his legend.
He wanted it more than the others: the triumphant arrival of Pogacar, new world champion
“It’s obvious he’s on top of me nowconceded the greatest cyclist in history to L’Équipe. I already thought it a little deep down when I saw what he had done in the last Tour de France but, this evening, there is no doubt“. There would not be the slightest hint of uncertainty between the man with half a thousand victories, including five Tours de France, as many Giro, eleven grand tours in total and no less than 19 Monuments and the Slovenian ?
23 victories, two in the sprint only
Would Merckx himself give in to the culture of the moment, to the 100 kilometer long tornado that swept away Zurich and the world championships on Sunday? This feeling of inevitability even when the project seems so crazy that it becomes laughable? Remco Evenepoel and the Belgians were trapped by Tadej Pogacar on Sunday but Mathieu Van der Poel considered the enterprise impossible, thinking that he would see his Slovenian friend again before the line and especially before having to send him sincere congratulations tinged with a reverence in the face of the feat.
Pogacar doesn’t just win, he crushes. We should no longer even ask ourselves if he will win, but how. Of his 23 victories in 2024 (before a 24th and a 25th to finish in Lombardy?), 18 have been in road races (minus times and general classifications). Only twice was he forced to sprint to win. His season had already been fantastic with simple successes in the Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro, the Tour and the Worlds. In his case, this litany would suffer if we failed to add the “how” to the “what”.
“It was suicidal for Pogacar to leave 100 km from the finish”
Eighty-one kilometers on the Strade, 34 in Liège or Bassano del Grappa (20th stage of the Giro), 19 beyond the Galibier on the Tour, his solos will be remembered as much as his bouquets. On Sunday, he was alone for around fifty kilometers – only we would be tempted to add since it is him we are talking about – but he triggered hostilities 100 kilometers from the goal, with this world champion jersey which he dreamed so much, which didn’t stop him from doing something “stupid“, at the risk of losing it.
He achieved all his goals
This is obviously what characterizes him, what sets him apart. Sunday, it was about the leaders’ battles, a final confrontation, an expected fireworks display, tactics. So many things that amuse the followers before a race that is by definition uncertain… with the exception of those where Tadej Pogacar is present. The Slovenian has achieved all his goals this season. Far from being a small player, “Pogi” was not targeting a grand tour, a Monument or the world championships but all of that at the same time.
In cycling that is ever more precise in its approach, ever more scientific and in an era that we consider glorious, its domination becomes even more impressive. More than the culture of the moment, which he has never embraced, this is undoubtedly what Eddy Merckx is referring to, who maintains at least five sixes, seven, eight, nine or ten lengths of advances on “Pogi”.
He’s stronger than him: Pogacar attacks… 100 km from the finish
He dominated as much, and even more, his era and his record lacks neither quantity nor quality. Has Merckx forgotten it on the altar of passing years and missing images? When “Pogi” does what he does in 2024, we can dissect his every pedal stroke. Long after him, the Slovenian is indeed the distant heir of the Belgian. Like him, his successes have a seal, a mark, that of the unique Pogacar.
