Tadej Pogačar is back to dominating races already: Is this what we have to look forward to at the Classics?

Tadej Pogačar is back to dominating races already: Is this what we have to look forward to at the Classics?

The Slovenian rider breezed to a seemingly effortless solo victory at the Jaén Paraiso Interior. While his performances are impressive, are they still entertaining?


Is bike riding just easier for Tadej Pogačar? It certainly looked that way at the Slovenian rider’s first race of the season in Spain as he embarked on a solo mission of over an hour to take victory. His winning attack was almost casual. Maybe once we would have been surprised by the audacity of the UAE Team Emirates rider to think that he had a chance to stay away alone to the finish for the next 40 kilometres of racing, but these days, it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before.

Take Strade Bianche last year for example, Pogačar won the race with a 50km solo exhibition on the white roads of Tuscany. He took victory by nearly 40 seconds in the end. Everyone else was suffering in the wild winds, haggard and defeated by the crashes that had marred a brutal race. Pogačar had the scars of battle visible on his ripped jersey, but barely seemed bothered by his earlier date with the gravel.

“I made my best effort on the Santa Maria and nobody followed,” Pogačar matter of factly said after that race. It’s quite simple when he puts it like that, isn’t it? I was the strongest rider so I decided to attack, no one else was strong enough to come with me, so I went on to win the race.

Read more: 'I’ve got a new appreciation of hurt' - Meet Luke Plapp, Ineos Grenadiers' Aussie champion on a voyage of discovery

But cycling isn’t meant to be a simple sport. The thought, tactics and nuances in races are what makes them so intriguing. There’s nothing quite like the tension building as riders watch each other like hawks during the anticipation of who will attack and when, some of them burning their matches too early, others playing their cards perfectly so that they use their power exactly when the time is right. It’s hard to match the excitement of a close-run sprint to the line that is won by a whisker, a couple of watts, a final lunge that turns the tables. When a rider does what Pogačar can do, calmly and quietly dropping, his rivals, practically deciding the race long before it has reached its full distance, it risks removing the entertainment out of watching.

There’s no denying that Pogačar’s solo missions are an impressive feat of physical strength and superb bike handling abilities – few people can hurl it down gravel descents and finesse risky corners like he can – but there comes a point when these performances just get predictable. It’s true that we don’t see a generational talent like Pogačar come round too often, and maybe we should just be happy that we’re getting to witness such greatness, but is it really engaging for the average spectator?

The 24-year-old’s performance at the Jaén Paraiso Interior was almost a carbon copy of what he did at Strade Bianche last year, and what he’ll likely try to do at Strade Bianche again this year. He’ll probably try similar moves at the other Classics, too – he’s already confirmed to be riding Milan-San Remo, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders, as well as Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

We have hope in these races, though, that Pogačar’s dominance will be quashed by the likes of Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock, Remco Evenepoel and others. The field in the Jaén Paraiso Interior wasn’t of the quality that we’ll see in the biggest Classics coming up, so a closer fought race is more likely. Perhaps one stinging Pogačar attack won’t be enough for him to solo away to victory.

Here’s hoping, anyway. Impressive solo breakaways lose their magic over time, it’s no fun knowing the winner of the race when there’s still over an hour left to stare at the TV and watch the same rider turning the pedals over and over with only the motorbike cameraman for company, somehow managing to hold the gap on the chasing group behind. Pogačar has every chance of winning against the aforementioned big name Classics stars over the next couple of months, and I’d be as happy as anyone to see him do that, but let’s keep our fingers crossed for a close fought, exciting race to decide if that happens.


READ MORE

Three Mountains: The Pyrenean summit finishes of the 2025 Tour de France

Three Mountains: The Pyrenean summit finishes of the 2025 Tour de France

The 2025 Tour de France will see three consecutive summit finishes in the Pyrenees: at Hautacam, Peyragudes and Superbagnères. Rouleur goes to explore the culture...

Read more
The ties that bind: a day of temporary and fast-changing alliances

The ties that bind: a day of temporary and fast-changing alliances

Stage 11 was defined by the temporary alliances formed over the course of the stage, and the fight between two groups of five riders, working...

Read more
Victor Campenaerts

From breakaway specialist to domestique deluxe: Campenaerts reinvents himself at the 2025 Tour de France

Victor Campenaerts has long been renowned as a rider who thinks creatively in the pursuit of gains. But he also understands when the situation needs a bit of...

Read more
Tadej Pogacar

‘It’s fair play’ - Cycling and the complexity of the gentleman’s agreement

After his crash in the closing five kilometres of stage 11, Tadej Pogačar’s rivals waited for him to return to the peloton in the name...

Read more
Ben Healy

‘A crazy, crazy day’ - Professional cycling no longer has any rules

Stage 11 of the 2025 Tour de France was one of the wildest ever with non-stop attacks – this is bike racing in 2025

Read more
Tour de France 2025

Tour de France 2025 stage 12 preview: The first summit finish

The first mountain-top finish of the Tour to Hautacam looms

Read more

READ RIDE REPEAT

JOIN ROULEUR TODAY

Get closer to the sport than ever before.

Enjoy a digital subscription to Rouleur for just £4 per month and get access to our award-winning magazines.

SUBSCRIBE