Tadej Pogacar becomes the first rider since Annemiek van Vleuten to win the Tour, Giro, a Monument & Worlds RR in a single season 👏🌈 #Zurich2024
ANALYSIS: Why Tadej Pogacar's 2024 season is the best in cycling history
CyclingMonday, 30 September 2024 at 10:10
What we have just witnessed this Sunday, September 29, 2024, has entered the most memorable pages of cycling history. Tadej Pogacar was proclaimed world champion for the first time in his career after winning the World Championships road race in Zurich with an attack 100 kilometres from the finish line. Yes, you read that right.
The Slovenian is not racing against his rivals, he is racing against history. Every time he gets on his bike, something is going to happen. And in Zurich, what has happened is that the UAE Team Emirates superstar has completed the best season by a cyclist of all time. And he still has Il Lombardia to race.
Why is it the best season ever? With this victory, Pogacar joins a select club of 3 riders (counting him) who have managed to win in the same year, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the World Championships, along with Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche. But there is one thing in which Pogacar stands out from the other two. For that, you have to go back a few months, specifically to April 21, 2024.
On that day, Tadej Pogacar won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in a race where the UAE Team Emirates leader won with absurd ease. That day's victory is what differentiates the Slovenian's 2024 from those completed by Mercx and Roche, neither of whom were able to win any monument. In fact, only Annemiek Van Vleuten has matched it in all cycling.
So yes, Tadej Pogacar's 2024 season is the best ever completed by a cyclist in the entire history of this precious sport. What will he do at the Il Lombardia? If he wins that race as well, he would enter a totally different dimension to what he has seen so far. And best of all, it's very possible.
Read also
claps 11visitors 9838
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- What super dutch talent are we talking about?awp18-12-2024
- Yes, 25-34 are only 13% of USA Cyclings membership.awp18-12-2024
- I will take the old days when you could track your teams across 8 years. Can't imagine a new fan finding it easy.Sweep18-12-2024
- Pick better parents and/or better doping agents.
ChoppyWarburton18-12-2024 - The bike industry situation is the same as the future Dutch talent pool discussion , it’s a fakely perceived problem due to an exceptional period that’s come to an end.Mistermaumau18-12-2024
- It's all a part of the fun. Sometimes it takes a few races before you can tell who's who and what's going on.
santiagobenites18-12-2024 - Every year cycling teams force their fans to memorize the jersey colors of all the teams so you can tell which team is doing what in a race. Not like normal sports where the jersey's and numbers mostly stay the same year after year.Sweep18-12-2024
- Genetics? No, mostly PEDS. Armstrong proved that.Sweep18-12-2024
- Sadly the number of dorks is decreasing every year. In the US the vast majority are over 40 years. E-bikes are crushing the road bike market.Sweep18-12-2024
- Cycling is dying. That's obvious. All you have to do is look at the huge hits the major bike component companies are taking year over year. Then there's the loss of outlets providing coverage and the costs of streaming with those that remain. Add to that the effects of E-bikes on the younger generations. Now figure that it's a sponsor based sport instead of viewer based sport.Sweep18-12-2024