Vingegaard dethroned

It’s done! Pogacar finalizes 3rd overall Tour victory

Tadej Pogacar

(Bild: Associated Press)

Tadej Pogacar is and remains the best cyclist of the moment! Just a few months after the Giro d'Italia, the Slovenian also won the Tour de France in superior style - and in France for the third time at the age of just 25. With the double of victories in the two biggest tours in one calendar year, which has rarely been achieved in over 100 years of history, the exceptional rider, who is always in attack mode, made his mark in the annals of cycling.

After his latest Tour coup, the top star from Klanec near Komenda, who is engaged to cyclist Urska Zigart, still has other big goals. He could achieve one of them with Olympic gold in the next few weeks. The World Championship title and the Vuelta a Espana are also still missing from his already very long list of successes. However, Pogacar and those close to him rule out the possibility that he will also contest this year's Tour of Spain in order to attempt the historic triple.

Pogacar dominated the Tour, as he did the Giro in May, with six stage wins. The third overall victory in the Tour of France after 2020 and 2021, celebrated in Nice not far from his adopted home of Monaco, will probably not be his last. If Pogacar remains at his current level and is spared crash injuries, he seems difficult to stop in the long term.

In the past three weeks, there was no stopping him. Neither a corona infection that he overcame shortly before the Tour nor the competition, led by defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, were able to stop the Slovenian. Three months after his serious crash with broken bones and a lung injury, Vingegaard stood up to him surprisingly well, but in the decisive moments Pogacar struck several times in the mountains in an irresistible manner.

Like many of his predecessors (often later convicted of doping) such as Lance Armstrong or Marco Pantani, Pogacar has to face many critical questions. He always tells doubters that everything is above board. His exceptional talent paired with hard work and professional coaching are the ingredients for success, the well-meaning believe. However, critics remain skeptical, not least because of the fabulous record times he set on several mountains during the Tour.

The bad reputation of his bosses in the racing team, Mauro Gianetti and Maxtin Fernandez, which is sponsored with a lot of money from the United Arab Emirates, does not help to build trust either. It is undisputed that Pogacar was not only able to rely on his own strength at the Tour, but also on the strength of his teammates. Team UAE Emirates always had the race under control with several top-class noble helpers and prepared the attacks of their highly paid captain perfectly. The fact that two of them finished in the top six of the Tour despite all the work for Pogacar speaks volumes.

His teammates, such as the Austrian Felix Großschartner, have nothing but good things to say about the top star, who always seems to be in the best of moods. With his offensive riding style and amicable manner, "Pogi" certainly won many new fans on this tour. Last but not least, the way in which he achieved his successes earned him comparisons with Eddy Merckx, who was dubbed a "cannibal".

Like the legendary Belgian in the 1960s and 70s, Pogacar is successful not only as a gifted climber and time trialist in tours, but also on all terrains. In addition to his four Grand Tour successes, he has also won numerous one-week tours and several major one-day classics such as the Tour of Flanders (1 x), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2 x) and the Tour of Lombardy (3 x).

The result of the 21st stage:
1st Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE 45:24 min.
2nd Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma +1:03 min.
3rd Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal +1:14
Further:
68. Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +6:20
103rd Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +7:31
131st Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull +8:51

The final standings in the overall standings:
1st Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE 83:38:56 hrs.
2nd Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma +6:17 min.
3rd Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal +9:18
4th Joao Almeida (POR) UAE +19:03
5th Mikel Landa (ESP) Soudal +20:06
6th Adam Yates (GBR) UAE +24:07
Further:
14. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +46:12
56th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +3:40:17 hrs.
85th Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull +4:26:52