What do Eddy Merckx, Fausto Coppi and Bernard Hinault all have in frequent? Apart from their joint standing as biking greats, they excelled not solely in Grand Excursions but additionally within the sport’s most prestigious one-day race, sooner or later turning into World Champions and incomes the fitting to the coveted rainbow jersey.
Because the 2010s wore on, Chris Froome and different GC-focused riders started to specialise extra in pursuit of the Tour, Giro and Vuelta, making it more and more unlikely anybody in males’s biking would as soon as once more match the exploits of Merckx and co when it comes to their versatility.
That was till a sure Tadej Pogačar rose to prominence on the flip of the last decade and, after profitable his first Tour de France in 2020, went one higher a 12 months later to dominate the Tour and declare two Monuments, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia in a single season. It was a feat not seen for 49 years, since Eddy Merckx in 1972, with Coppi being the one different rider to take action in 1949.
Pogačar has continued to emulate the greats in his illustrious however nonetheless not too long ago began profession, typically making historical past each time he is clipped into the pedals, the latest feat being the first completion of a Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
With 4 Grand Excursions and 6 Monuments already on his palmarès, his place among the many all-time greats is well-established, even at simply 26. One race victory does elude him, although, and retains him separated for now from these talked about above – the elite World Championships highway race. Nevertheless, with the Zürich Worlds simply across the nook, Pogačar’s greatest alternative but to set the file straight is rapidly approaching.
“The prospect is there… It is all the time been there. Final 12 months I used to be third place on a parcours that did not go well with me probably the most and this 12 months is a significantly better parcours in Zürich so the possibilities are greater,” mentioned Pogačar after storming solo to victory within the GP Montréal final Sunday.
“In elite World Championships, that is the most effective that fits me up to now, that’s why I’m extra excited than ever earlier than. However World Championships are World Championships and if every little thing does not go to perfection, it is exhausting to win.”
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Pogačar will make up a part of a star-studded Slovenian crew alongside Primož Roglič and 5 different high riders that may tackle the 273.9km course in and round Zürich with practically 4500m of elevation achieve – a real climbers’ problem. However he’ll little doubt be the chief, competing with the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel and an entire host of the game’s greatest for glory.
“With Tadej [Pogačar] in Zürich, we’re going there with one clear goal. I’ll do my greatest to do my half. I feel Tadej deserves this,” mentioned compatriot Matej Mohorič to Cyclingnews earlier than racing him in Québec.
“I feel there could be some extent sooner or later when he can do the identical for an additional rider from the nationwide crew, so I feel it is necessary that we stick collectively and attempt to win the World Championships, which has by no means occurred earlier than for Slovenia.”
Slovenia’s earlier greatest end within the Worlds highway race is third within the elite males’s occasion, because of Pogačar in Glasgow final 12 months and Andrej Hauptman in 2001, a DS at Pogačar’s UAE Workforce Emirates. Pogačar is trying to write extra historical past over the important thing Zürichbergstrasse and Witikon climbs that punctuate the largely city Swiss course.
‘All people is aware of he is the most effective rider on the planet’
His presence additionally makes it easy for his teammates, understanding that they’re required simply to wind issues up for him to launch his inevitable leg-breaking assault, even when the mission is much simpler mentioned than accomplished. Nevertheless, this additionally signifies that when the highway race rolls round on September 29, everybody is aware of Pogačar will go on the rampage: it is only a matter of when and whether or not you will get forward of him earlier than he does.
“The crew is all the time completely different when Tadej is there, you’re feeling it, not solely within the riders but additionally the workers. All people is aware of Tadej is the most effective rider on the planet, and when he is there on the race, you’re feeling that everyone goes 120% as an alternative of 100%,” mentioned UAE teammate and soon-to-be Belgian rival Tim Wellens to Cyclingnews earlier than the Canadian races.
“For me, it is tremendous good but additionally for all of his teammates as a result of when Tadej is there, every little thing is obvious. It isn’t that different races should not clear, however you may need two or three leaders and you then see what occurs.”
“However when Tadej is there, all people is aware of he is the chief. All people is aware of what their job is. It is also good that more often than not Tadej finishes it off.”
Mohorič and Wellens had contrasting roles in Pogačar’s final race earlier than Worlds in Montréal. The previous was a part of those that tried to get away solo earlier than Pogačar’s inevitable profitable assault on the penultimate lap. The latter was a part of a UAE practice that brutally ramped up the tempo earlier than the brutal burst of energy that noticed Pogačar trip 23km alone en path to victory.
The Belgian could also be set to swap his service out for Evenepoel’s ambitions come the highway race however what they share is a typical opinion of Pogačar’s nature, as an extrovert, a joker and somebody who does not take himself or biking too critically, regardless of being the most effective male rider for the reason that nice Merckx.
“We practice collectively rather a lot in Monaco. So I might say we’re good associates. He is tremendous extroverted, so he’s truly the way in which he reveals up on social media,” mentioned Mohorič, who is ready to be a part of the Slovenian crew in Zürich.
“He is tremendous open, easygoing, nearly too relaxed at instances. He simply lives his greatest life. He enjoys each second.”
“He is precisely such as you suppose he’s like. He does not take biking, like, 200% critically, and he actually enjoys doing it.” agreed Wellens. “I imply, he is not afraid to solely cease for a espresso to eat chocolate cake or issues like that.”
A way of inevitability
Nevertheless, he is most actually been taking these World Championships critically – having made it one in all his key targets of the 2024 season. If Pogačar can handle the win it’s going to affirm him as solely the third-ever ‘Triple Crown’ winner behind Merckx and Stephen Roche, whereas there might be an equally as formidable set of riders able to deny him in Switzerland.
“Remco [Evenepoel] for certain, Van der Poel can do it additionally. It will’ve been the proper parcours for Wout van Aert. France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain can do actually massive issues. We must be cautious,” mentioned Pogačar.
“I feel there’s gonna be numerous nations which can be coming robust however I feel I simply have to do my very own race and be good on the day. It’s gonna be rather a lot relying on my crew and the opposite groups, how they’ll race as a result of it ought to be actually open in Zuirch, There may be actually long-range assaults or simply pure energy strikes on the shorter climbs however there are numerous riders which can be suited to this parcours.”
The previous few Worlds programs have primarily been extra tailored to the punchy, Classics-style stars. That did not cease Pogačar from chancing his hand most memorably within the 2020 Imola race and the brutal Glasgow metropolis circuit battle, in the end dropping out to Julian Alaphilippe and Van der Poel in programs extra tailored to their talents.
With Zürich being adopted by Kigali in 2025, Montréal in 2026 after which Haute-Savoie as the subsequent ‘Tremendous Worlds’, Pogačar ought to have 4 possibilities at claiming the rainbow bands, making it nearly appear inevitable that he’ll turn into World Champion.
“The objective is in Zürich, the want is there, the dream too, however now for just a few years, it’s going to be a extremely powerful parcours, possibly even higher than this one,” Pogačar mentioned. “However let’s all concentrate on Zürich for now and if it doesn’t occur, there are nonetheless some possibilities. The earlier you do it, although, the higher it’s.”
There are, after all, all-time biking greats who’ve gone an entire profession with out turning into highway race World Champions, notably Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and one of many most interesting one-day racers that ever lived, Sean Kelly. Nevertheless, given each his skills on the bike and his capacity to dwell as much as no matter history-making job he is required to finish, that does not look to be the long run that awaits Tadej Pogačar.
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