With his masterful victory this Sunday in Zurich, Tadej Pogacar gave himself a new string to his bow with the rainbow jersey. At 26, the Slovenian has already accomplished almost everything.
Starting 100km from the finish Tadej Pogacar showed this Sunday in Zurich the full extent of his talent and his supremacy on the cycling planet. Magnificent world champion, “it’s an honor” to take second place his runner-up Ben O’Connor lost at 34 seconds, as if the alternative no longer existed. “Normally, it’s a suicidal attack” said Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel, “I have never seen a performance like that in a race” reveals the former world champion Mathieu Van der Poel, and yet Tadej Pogacar did it… The Slovenian pushes human limits, sweeps away all certainties and gets closer to the greatest records. At 26 years old, the star runner of the UAE Team Emirates has already etched his name in the legend of his sport and it is far from over.
A 2024 season in history
2024 is the year «Pogi»to symbolize this year’s golden bike (equivalent to the golden ball in football, which rewards the best cyclist of the season) should logically complete the Slovenian’s already full trophy cabinet. With his world champion title in Zurich, Tadej Pogacar came to seek one of the last major titles missing from his XXL record.
“I can’t believe what just happened! I put a lot of pressure on myself for today. We came for victory. There was a dangerous breakaway at the front, maybe I made a stupid attack… It wasn’t planned.” said the new world champion after the finish. If nothing was planned, the Slovenian’s season looks like one hell of a fairy tale. “It was never a specific goal for me but this year everything aligned well, and after a perfect season I had this big goal, to be world champion,” he added.
His victory in the World Road Championship allowed him to join the very closed circle of winners of the Triple Crown by winning in the same year: the Tour of Italy, the Tour de France and the World Championship. Before him, the Belgian Eddy Merckx (1974) and the Irishman Stephen Roche (1987) were the only ones to have created it.
Nico Vereecken / PANORAMIC
Pogacar wins and in style. Winner after a magnificent escape during the world championships, on the grand Tours, the climber is often the first to lead the race. After two defeats against Vingegaard in the 2022 and 2023 Tours de France, the native of Komenda regained color at the start of the year in a 2024 Giro which he crushed. A final victory with almost 10 minutes in advance overall and six stage winners’ bouquets. Two months later, he did it again by crushing the competition from the Tour de France. Relegating to more than 6 minutes a washed-out Vingegaard and competitors relegated to the role of extra in his supremacy.
As if that weren’t enough, the Slovenian ogre is also capable of shining on classics. This season, he raised his arms at Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Records already or almost broken
The most impressive thing is that Tadej Pogacar is (only) 26 years old. Although he already has many records under his belt, such as his entry into the circle of winners of the Triple Crown, the Slovenian is still hungry and could achieve others. Often compared to Eddy Merckx, the prodigy has already done better than the “Cannibal” on several aspects. Already 38 stages with the leader’s jersey on the road to his Giro-Tour de France double compared to 35 in pink or yellow in 1970 for the Belgian. Same thing, looking at the Giro-Tour de France double in 1970 Merckx had won 11 stages compared to 12 for Pogacar this year.
Six stages won and a final victory in the Tour de France, an unrivaled performance since Bernard Hinault in 1979. Alone in the world at such a precocious level, at 25 years and 10 months, “Pogi” became the youngest triple winner of the Tour de France .
He is also the record holder for victories in the best young person classification with four white jerseys won on the Tour (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).
Zuma / Panoramic
The youngest post-war winner of the Tour de France also has his sights set on a record set by Raymond Poulidor for the number of podiums achieved. If the Frenchman has been on the box eight times, in five appearances, the leader of the UAE Emirates team has never done worse than second.
Lance Armstrong stripped of his seven final victories on the Grande Boucle for doping, the victory record is now shared by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain with respectively five final victories on the Tour. Pogacar is already at three and given his age, he could quickly join these legends or even surpass them.
The stage victory record in the sights? With 35 stage successes, Mark Cavendish has entered the history of the Tour at 39 years old. The Slovenian is already halfway there with 17 victories and has repeated that he is giving himself time before setting this record. But the idea must necessarily cross the mind of the new world champion. The only gray area, the sprinter was ahead in the passing times with 20 victories in his first five editions, three more than Pogacar.
If he is one of the eight riders who have completed the Tour of Italy-Tour de France double, he will try to be the fifth to do it twice (after Fausto Coppi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain). Even crazier, Pogacar can dream of being the only one to do the double three times.
In the box of records that seem almost impossible, that of consecutive stage victories. With his three successes in a row (19-20 and 21st stage), Tadej Pogacar became the only rider (apart from Lance Armstrong) to achieve such a hat-trick in the 21st century but François Faber in 1909 remains the only one to have had five successes in a row.
There’s still a way to go
The Vuelta to dream even bigger? This year, the Slovenian did not start the last Grand Tour of the season. Although he won three stages in this race during his only participation in 2019, he has not yet won the Tour of Spain. A victory in the red jersey would allow him to join other cycling legends in history like Christopher Froome, winner of the three Grand Tours. In history no rider has won all three Grand Tours in the same year.
Alterphotos / Panoramic
But the real question will arise over time. If riders like Gino Bartali won the Tour de France ten years apart (1938 and 1948), competition exists and the Slovenian must remain vigilant. The Belgian Remco Evenepoel is gaining strength over the months and could well be a new alternative for final victories. Same thing with Jonas Vingegaard who has already proven that 100% he can knock Pogacar to the ground.
Tadej Pogacar is undoubtedly the best runner of the 21st century, for the rest, the road is still long, it will be necessary to confirm. The 2025 season will (already) be a new meeting to which he hopes to be present in the best possible way with his rainbow jersey on his shoulders.
Pogacar’s track record
GREAT TOURS
3 times winner of the Tour de France (2020, 2021, 2024)
1 time winner of the Tour of Italy (2024)
STAGE RACES
2-time winner of the UAE Tour (2021, 2022)
2 times winner of Tirreno-Adriatico (2021, 2022)
1 time winner of Paris-Nice (2023)
1 time winner of the Tour of Catalonia (2024)
1 time winner of the Tour of California (2024)
ONE DAY RACES
1 time winner of the Road World Championships (2024)
2 times winner of the Strade Bianche (2022, 2024)
2 times winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021, 2024)
2-time winner of the Montreal Grand Prix (2022, 2024)
1 time winner of the Tour of Flanders (2023)
1 time winner of the Amstel Gold Race (2023)
1 time winner of the Flèche wallonne (2023)
3 times world ranking winner (2021, 2022, 2023)
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