Tadej Pogačar: Difference between revisions

On April 21, Pogačar secured his second victory at [[2024 Liège–Bastogne–Liège|Liège–Bastogne–Liège]] with a solo attack from 35 kilometers out, winning his 6th career monument at just 25 years of age. He crossed the finish line with a lead of 1 minute and 39 seconds, the largest winning margin since 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://olympics.com/en/news/liege-bastogne-liege-2024-pogacar-powers-to-second-victory|title=Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2024: Tadej Pogacar powers to second victory|website=Olympics.com|access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref>

 

Pogačar began the [[2024 Giro d'Italia|Giro d'Italia]] as the heavy favorite to win the overall general classification.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-d-italia-2024/stage-1/results/|title=Giro d'Italia: Jhonatan Narváez holds off Tadej Pogačar in lighting-fast stage 1 finish|website=CyclingNews|date=4 May 2024 |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref> On stage 2, he launched a solo attack on the steep climb to Santuario di Oropa, winning the stage, taking the pink jersey, and securing a 45 second advantage over [[Geraint Thomas]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/may/05/giro-ditalia-cycling-stage-two-report-tadej-pogacar|title=Tadej Pogacar goes solo to win Giro d'Italia stage two and take pink jersey|website=The Guardian|date=5 May 2024 |access-date=8 May 2024}}</ref> Pogačar won the [[individual time trial]] on stage 7 ahead of two-time [[UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial|ITT world champion]] and stage favourite [[Filippo Ganna]], after turning a 44 second deficit at the bottom of the final climb into a 17 second advantage on the finish line. Furthermore, Pogačar extended his lead in the general classification to a gap of 2' 36" ahead of nearest GC rival [[Daniel Martínez (cyclist)|Daniel Martínez]].<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Laura Weislo |date=2024-05-10 |title=Giro d'Italia: Tadej Pogačar dominates GC as he beats Ganna to striking time trial victory |url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-d-italia-2024/stage-7/results/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=cyclingnews.com |language=en}}</ref> The next day, Pogačar won stage 8 by managing the race from the front and winning the final uphill sprint.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-d-italia-2024/stage-8/results/|title=Pogacar extends dominance with stage 8 victory at Giro d'Italia|website=CyclingNews|access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref> In the third and final week of the race, he added back-to-back wins. First with a stunning solo attack on stage 15, the queen- and hardest stage of the Giro, by closing a gap of almost 3 minutes to the breakaway, including [[Nairo Quintana]], on the final climb before dropping the 2014 winner of the race. Then again after the rest day, he won on the summit finish of the shortened stage 16.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/articles/c6pp45e4engo|title=Pogacar extends Giro lead with stunning solo win on stage 15|website=BBC Sport|access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-d-italia-2024/stage-16/results/|title=Pogacar secures fifth Giro d'Italia stage win on summit finish at Santa Cristina Valgardena|website=CyclingNews|access-date=29 April 2024}}</ref> By the start of stage 20, the Slovenian already had a massive lead in the GC of 7' 42".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Giro d'Italia 2024 Stage 19 results |url=https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/giro-d-italia/2024/stage-19-gc |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=www.procyclingstats.com}}</ref> However, he decided that wasn't enough and put in one of his greatest career performances by attacking on the stage's second ascent of the [[Monte Grappa]], once again dropping everyone before successfully completing a 36-kilometre solo and taking 2 more minutes on the other GC contenders.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Peter Stuart |date=2024-05-25 |title=Giro d'Italia: Tadej Pogačar cements Giro d'Italia overall victory with stunning solo stage 20 win |url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/giro-d-italia-2024/stage-20/results/ |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=cyclingnews.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ozols |first=Kārlis |date=2024-05-25 |title=Pogačar Pushes Monster Watts on Monte Grappa {{!}} Giro d'Italia Stage 20 2024 |url=https://lanternerouge.com/2024/05/25/pogacar-pushes-monster-watts-on-monte-grappa-giro-ditalia-stage-20-2024/ |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Lanterne Rouge |language=en-US}}</ref> Pogačar would lead the [[2024 Giro d'Italia]] into Rome with an enormous margin of nearly 10 minutes, 6 stage wins and the mountains classification.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Giro d'Italia stage 20 results: Tadej Pogačar wins sixth stage and all but seals overall victory |url=https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/racing/results/giro-ditalia-stage-20-results-tadej-pogacar-wins-sixth-stage-and-all-but-seals-overall-victory |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=Global Cycling Network |language=en}}</ref> Such a dominant Grand Tour victory hadn't been seen in a very long time, however the general impression of Pogačar's performance was that he "held back", despite his incredible results. This was because he did not look overly spent or tired, and still had a [[Tour de France]] title to reclaim, after placing second to [[Jonas Vingegaard]] for the last two editions while winning the race in 2020 and 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cash |first=Dane |date=2024-05-25 |title=Is this what taking it easy looks like for Tadej Pogačar? |url=https://escapecollective.com/is-this-what-taking-it-easy-looks-like-for-tadej-pogacar/ |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=Escape Collective |language=en-US}}</ref> After stage 20, he claimed his 6th stage win was a "final test" for the Tour de France, his main goal of the season.<ref>{{Cite web |title= <!-- Citation bot no --> 'Just another test' – Tadej Pogacar on finishing Giro d'Italia with 'good mentality' ahead of Tour de France bid|url=https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-d-italia/2024/just-another-test-tadej-pogacar-on-finishing-giro-d-italia-with-good-mentality-ahead-of-tour-de-france-bid_vid2145513/video.shtml |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=www.eurosport.com}}</ref> With just five weeks to recover and train for the Tour, Pogačar would do another altitude camp before starting as one of the main favorites in [[Florence]].<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Barry Ryan |date=2024-05-27 |title='We wanted Tadej to win, but with no exaggeration' – The next steps in Pogačar's Giro-Tour double plan |url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/we-wanted-tadej-to-win-but-with-no-exaggeration-the-next-steps-in-pogacars-giro-tour-double-plan/ |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=cyclingnews.com |language=en}}</ref>