“With Tadej, you never know,” Marc Soler commented after Friday’s stage of the Tour de France when asked about whether his team would allow a breakaway to win the following day. UAE Team Emirates have been criticised by some in this race for their ruthlessness – it’s customary in cycling for general classification teams to allow a breakaway leeway in some mountain stages to fight it out for the win, but as Pogačar has proven with the five victories he has to his name in this Tour alone, he’s not especially bothered by these unwritten rules.
For a change, however, it seemed at the start of stage 20 that Pogačar genuinely wasn’t interested in taking the victory. It wasn’t his UAE Team Emirates squad driving the pace on the front of the peloton throughout, but Soudal-Quick-Step with the aim of improving Remco Evenepoel’s third place position on the general classification. Pogačar sat behind the Belgian rider’s train as they pulled on the front and the gap to the break began to tick down.
“It didn’t go as we planned. We tried to take it easy to bring as many guys as possible to the final climb but Soudal decided to try and take some time on Jonas [Vingegaard] which played into my hands,” Pogačar said after the stage.
Image: A.S.O/Billy Ceusters
When the time came for Evenepoel to capitalise on the hard work of his team by attacking, the Belgian rider couldn’t create a gap between him and his two rivals. Instead, he was victim to a snappy counter-attack from Vingegaard which caused the Soudal-Quick-Step rider to be distanced from his two competitors. Then, it was Pogačar and Vingegaard out front together alone, as it has been for the last four editions of the Tour de France. The Danish rider pulled on the front as Pogačar sat behind him, not contributing to the work to bring back Richard Carapaz who was the final survivor of the day’s break.
Eventually, though, the EF Education-EasyPost rider came into view and had his heart broken by the duo who have crushed the dreams of so many opportunistic attackers. When the finish line approached, Pogačar sprinted with what looked like ease. It only took a few powerful pedal strokes for the gap to open up and the Slovenian rider crossed the line alone, his arms aloft for the fifth time in this race.
“If you'd told me this before the Tour I would not believe it. It’s out of this world. I'm so happy and hope I can share this victory with my teammates today and tomorrow,” Pogačar commented after the stage. “One stage win would be enough, the yellow jersey would be enough, but it is what it is, You don’t brake in cycling.”
With his performance today, Pogačar has almost closed the circle of a Tour de France that can be described in one word: dominance. The Slovenian rider has proven himself time and time again as the best rider in the world and he’s merciless with it. It wasn’t the plan for him to try and win today, but the opportunity was there and so he took it. There were no gifts or niceties, because Pogačar is a born champion. He rides a bike like he was born to do so, making it look easy while others falter behind him.
Image: Getty
There is no doubt that Pogačar’s performances evoke a sense of true amazement. By watching what he can do on a bicycle, we’re witnessing a slice of history. Pogačar will be remembered as the best cyclist of this generation for a long time to come. The question still remains, however: does his dominance make for good entertainment? Other teams tried all they could to beat him in the mountains of the Tour this year – it’s difficult to criticise any of their tactics or strategies. Pogačar is, simply, the very best. So much so that he wins when he doesn’t even mean to.
“I didn’t want to work with Jonas, I wanted to recover on his wheel, and maybe let a chance for Carapaz and Mas to go for the victory,” Pogačar added after the stage. “We gave the breakaway enough time today. They had big chances. They had chances a lot of times.
"It’s a sport where you want to win, you need to win, and you’re paid to win. It’s a pressure, and you need to deliver, otherwise it’s not good for you. You alway need to go for the victory if you can.”
Cover image: A.S.O/Charly Lopez
