No doubt about it, we live in the age of Tadej Pogačar. The 25-year-old has rapidly entered the pantheon of cycling greats alongside the likes of Eddy Merckx and Fausto Coppi.
Six Grand Tour starts and six Grand Tour podiums. Tadej Pogačar is a Grand Tour force wiser than his 25 years. An over-achiever on Vuelta debut in 2019 to a royal six stage wins at the recent Giro d’Italia, Pogačar has his eyes set on Grand Tour greatness. Even in 2024, the Slovenian is aiming to claim the Tour-Giro double billing for the first time this millennium.
As we continue our voyage into ranking all things in the men’s peloton, let’s mull over the six Grand Tour performances in the life and works of Tadej Pogačar. Remember, this is our opinion, so feel free to chime in on our social media or in the comments to defend your personal highlights of the greatest cyclist of the post-pandemic era.
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6. Tour de France 2023
‘I’m dead. I’m gone,’ Pogačar puffs out as he slowly withers away on the Col de la Loze. After 16 stages of valiant battling against Jumbo’s Jonas Vingegaard, the Tour de France disappears up the roads of the Alps. In this moment, the Tour is defined in a way only Pogačar could script.
All discourse about the 2023 Tour de France is overshadowed by this radio message back to the UAE Team Emirates team car. No matter how many bullets he fired at Vingegaard, his barrel was empty when it mattered, even if he was riding in recovery from a broken wrist.
Pogačar sparkled in the race before this moment. A road-ripping acceleration on Cauterets gave us a glimpse of Pogačar’s best, but all moves were marked closely by Jonas Vingegaard, from the Puy de Dôme to Le Grand Colombier. A stellar supporting role from Adam Yates brought hope to proceedings, but too much playing around with strategy proved fatal in Pogačar’s Tour attempt.
5. Tour de France 2022
Starting in Vingegaard's backyard in Denmark felt like a premonition of things to come. After winning the previous two Tours plus a host of stage races in 2022, Pogačar came into this race as the top dog. The race started in the same vein, as Pogacar claimed the yellow jersey early on after a stage win close to the Luxembourgish border in Longwy. A return to La Planche saw Pogačar claim another victim in the Vosges. However, his aggressive style was seeming all too fruitless as the race moved closer to the Alps, with only a small advantage over his Jumbo-Visma competitors.
And Vingegaard's game-changing Stage 12 move up the Col du Granon finally showed Pogačar up. The Slovenian had laid his cards down, assuming that his prestige was insurmountable. In his last climb in the yellow jersey, the chances of a Tour de France trilogy came crumbling down as the former fish factory worker Vingegaard danced up the alpine slopes. Gone were the days of unmatchable attacks. Now, a true rival had arrived.
For the rest of the race, Pogačar appeared desperate to overturn his deficit. UAE Team Emirates were gutted down as a result of Covid and injuries in all fairness, but Pogačar failed to put time into Vingegaard outside of a bonus second from a stage win at Peyregudes. The day after that high, Pogačar's shoulders dropped again as Vingegaard dropped him with the support of green jersey holder Wout van Aert.
Alarm bells rang loud and clear as Pogacar failed to win the Tour de France for the first time in his career. The beginning of a new era-defining rivalry was brewing, but shock therapy would be needed for Pogačar to flip this power shift.
4. Vuelta 2019
Pogačar's Grand Tour debut came before the pandemic in 2019. Starting as a wildcard for UAE Team Emirates, expectations were fairly low for his maiden voyage in the three-week touring field.
A rainy stage win on the ninth day of racing displayed raw talent from the youngster who was just 19 years of age. Slowly but surely, he rose towards the top of the standings, nestling himself within the upper echelon of contenders. A skirmish with countryman Roglič showed signs of battles to come, culminating in a tightly contested mountaintop sprint on Stage 12 at Los Machucos.
Stage 20 proved a sign of things to come. A long-range solo effort saw Pogačar sail away from the favourites in an attempt to seal a place on the final podium ahead of the Colombians Miguel Angel López and Nairo Quintana. A lead of over one and a half minutes by the time the Slovenian reached the flamme rouge solidified his bronze medal status.
Three stage wins along the way, a stint in the green jersey and a real challenge in the general classification proved that Pogačar was the real deal. A grander GT debut you're unlikely to find.
3. Tour de France 2020
A paradigm shift came in 2020. The pandemic had pushed the Tour to a later date and the Grande Boucle responded with a star-studded lineup of former yellow jerseys and Grand Tour titleholders.
Pogačar entered the ring as a serious contender with a stage win at Laruns, outsprinting red-hot favourite Roglič and reigning champion Egan Bernal. In a quest to claim back time lost in the crosswinds of the first week, Pogačar proved aggressive in the Massif Central and the Jura, claiming a sun-drenched stage win on the Grand Colombier. A loss of time at the Col de la Loze on Stage 17 spelled the end of a legitimate chance of victory we thought, as Jumbo-Visma booked the champagne for the afterparty in Paris.
Of course, the essence of this race can be distilled down to an hour-long ride through the Vosges on Stage 20. Pogačar's grand siege on Roglič’s Tour de France dream. Wout van Aert and Tom Dumoulin could only watch as Pogačar sailed through every time split minutes ahead, the greatest Tour de France comeback in the 21st century was being written amid the most uncertain of times.
A first Tour de France title for Slovenia and a first Grand Tour in the palmarès of Tadej Pogačar – firsts of many to come.
2. Tour de France 2021
After the dramaturgy of La Planche the autumn prior, Pogačar had to prove his mitre against the new Grand Tour titans of Jumbo-Visma. A tense Breton Grand Départ saw Pog and Rog renew their civil war, with Pogačar placing a killer blow on Stage 5’s time-trial around Laval, though Roglič's revenge was rocked by crashes early on.
On Stage 8 to Le Grand Bornand, Pogačar put in a splintering attack, leaving behind all competitors in his white jersey wake. He looked at ease in the rain while he gained an unassailable lead of four minutes by the time the race reached the first rest day in the Alps.
For the rest of the Tour, UAE tightened their grip on the race. Despite an ominous chink in the armour on Mont Ventoux, Pogačar remained in the driving seat as the race rolled into the Pyrénées. A Bastille Day victory in the maillot jaune added to the pomp of his sophomore Tour title. Not even the newly ignited Jonas Vingegaard could come close to chasing down the Slovenian in the final mountain stages.
No amount of squeezy lemons can quantify how easy Pogačar made this Tour de France look. His Merckxian summer would only continue as he flew to Tokyo only the week after to claim an Olympic medal.
1. Giro d'Italia 2024
Through every Dolomite valley and Alpine switchback, Tadej Pogačar was truly unrivalled. Jhonatan Narváez denied Pog the chance to lead from start to finish, but that isn’t to take away from his display of raw strength. A lack of fear from his opponents fuelled a wild opening week of attacking and controlling by Pogačar and his UAE team.
The Slovenian’s six-stage wins speak for themselves. Whether that be a time-trial, on the descent of Monte Grappa, or at the top of the Oropa Sanctuary. All corners of the Italian republic were Pogified this May. No place more than Livigno, where he bridged a three-minute gap to the fuga’s Nairo Quintana. The race was wrapped up already, there was no need for the final day tensions like at previous Tours de France.
While he was exempt from the white jersey for the first time in his Grand Tour career, the boy prince added the maglia azzurra to his evergrowing trophy cabinet. A stark reminder of this man’s domination, even in the face of the hopeful escapees prying on their one chance to make the podium in Rome.
As we digest this barnstorming performance, we scratch our collective beards and wonder: ‘Is this the best Pogačar we have ever seen?’ Perhaps it is. The watts per kilo nerds smashed their calculators emphatically, declaring biblical performances to the world. Even in the face of a weak field of competitors, the Slovenian wasn’t afraid to stretch his legs. Be prepared for another exhibition at the Tour de France. Maybe his third yellow jersey is waiting in Nice’s Place Masséna at the end of July.
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