"I get paid to win" - Tadej Pogacar silences criticism for perceived greediness at 2024 Tour de France
CyclingSaturday, 20 July 2024 at 15:00
Our colleagues from Ciclismoaldia were fortunate to hear first-hand before the start of the penultimate stage of the 2024 Tour de France, from the Maillot Jaune himself, Tadej Pogacar.
One of the topics mentioned, was the criticism of the Slovenian for his perceived greediness. Recently, some have criticized Pogacar for his seemingly unyielding thirst for victory, day after day. Before the start of stage 20, he had to explain why he tries to win whenever he can.
"It's not a party ride, it's the Tour de France, everyone comes here for that, to win stages. I've said it before, it's a luxury that I'm so good that I can win stages and wear yellow. I get paid to win, I work hard to win, the team works hard to win. When sprinters win 4 or 5 stages in the Tour nobody says anything to them, they want more and more, it's just the Tour de France," Pogacar says clearly.
The Slovenian has been the protagonist of numerous statements by different figures in the world of cycling. One of those who has pointed out his attitude has been Lance Armstrong, assuring that he is "making the biggest mistake of his career".
Others have come to the defense of the yellow jersey. For example, Thomas De Gendt on X posted the following comment, "Why do people say it's greedy when a climber takes 4 wins but not when a sprinter takes 4 wins."
Toms Skujins also seconded the sprinters' idea to come out and defend the figure and honor of Tadej Pogacar: "Imagine a sprinter not racing a sprint stage just to let someone else win."
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- what did your 5 y.o child say when you lost a Giro because lost seconds changing and adjusting a helmet, Mr G.?
maria2024202402-06-2025 - I'n not a professional and I'm not destroying a 21 boy because took a bad decision. Mr. G. over 37 y.o. LOST A GIRO in the last stage for seconds! SECONDS THAT HE LOST CHANGING AND ADJUSTING A HELMET. He is the least that could say these kinds of phrases, destroying a boy at his first leader GC experience.maria2024202402-06-2025
- How many GTs have you ridden ! My quess is a big fat 0 ! Del Toro blew it and that can't be argued!frieders302-06-2025
- Visma had a prob with tactics with Roglic in the giro a few times, & with Vingegard also in a GT.. similarly, UAE are soo used to having Pogacar 'just winning, simmering a talent to boil is learning point for both it appears...
leedorney02-06-2025 - It was a masterclass in throwing away a Grand Tour for free. Carapaz wasn’t in Pink. Del Toro was. It was his to lose, and he lost it without putting up any resistance whatsoever.AndrewK01-06-2025
- How many Giros did Mr. G win? zero. How many Giros did Mr. G lose? all. On the sofa we all are genius.maria2024202401-06-2025
- Poor Mas, an enemy in house.maria2024202401-06-2025
- Majka, without you, UAE would have been a complete disaster. Too much ego in this group, when it was possible, you put order and protect your baby-captain (same job you did with Tadej).maria2024202401-06-2025
- Ayuso to Movistarabstractengineer01-06-2025
- Carapaz doesn’t care about “preserving his second place”mobk01-06-2025
Can you imagine a top class footballer being told to stop scoring goals? I can’t.
So many crybabies these days. That's why the world is in the mess it's in. Listening to Tejay whine about it all. No gifts. Earn your wins and losses!!
TJ was just pathetic with his constant whining !
It's a race, period. If someone else wants to win they need to work harder. I think Tadej hit the nail on the head, he is paid to win. At the end of the day Tadej is an employee and he is doing his assigned job which is winning stages and winning races. As for Lance Armstrong, he is completely irrelevant, why anyone listens to that clown is beyond me. But hey, Lance and I do have one thing in common- neither one of us has ever won the TDF!
The problem with people like you is that nobody cannot convince to you hold different opinion. You overlook information, and when people are driven by strong emotions, this is what happens.
Think of your naivety. You believe Pogacar achieves all the success by himself without any assitance and anyone who crizises that is "hater". Your lack of critism and emotionality especially shows when you don't take into consideration that in Lance Armstrong's era, virtually everybody doped. What knowledge you have that Pogacar is not doping? None. So why you pretend you know?
What knowledge do you have that he is doping? You can't just presume he is just because someone else can't prove he isn't. Why do you not ask the question of Vingegaard and Evenepoel as well? They get tested every day, especially stage winners and race leaders. We all need to enjoy that we are in a golden age of cycling where we have 4 extremely good frontrunners to challenge and push each other to more greatness
I do like the comparison to the sprinters who always go for wins.
Wasn't there when Gino had his five mountain stage wins. Glad to be here for Tadej's wins.
Hope Pog goes for it again today to shut these haters off and the itt after! Americans and Visma fans be crying after yesterday ofc, Soreness is very apparent when they lose.
It was a phenomenal ride, enjoy it while it lasts !