Leon Marchand, Eliud Kipchoge and now Tadej Pogacar! French triathlete completes dream tattoo hat-trick with help from cycling world champion

A French triathlete has completed a rather extraordinary sporting tattoo collection — and the final piece came courtesy of none other than the back-to-back world road race champion Tadej Pogacar.

After having previously secured permanent ink tributes from French swimming superstar Leon Marchand and marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, Thibault Escaich has now added cycling royalty to the trilogy, completing the triathlon hat-trick of swimming, cycling and running.

Escaich met Pogacar during the BeKing criterium in Monaco, where the Slovenian finished behind Jonathan Milan. Amid the post-race buzz, the Frenchman approached the world champion with a simple request: write a short message on a piece of paper — a message he would then immediately have tattooed on his arm.

Pogacar obliged, penning the words “Life is awesome”. True to his word, Escaich headed straight to a tattoo studio, filming the whole process for his Instagram account.

Far from a spontaneous one-off, this has become Escaich’s personal tradition. His body already carried the handwritten messages of Marchand and Kipchoge, creating a remarkable collection spanning three of the most dominant athletes in modern endurance sport.

Each inscription — swimmer, runner and now cyclist — represents a different side of the triathlon world he admires. With Pogacar’s addition, Escaich has effectively completed the set, linking together three disciplines through three elite champions.

For Pogacar, it was a brief interaction during a busy off-season schedule that has already included early-winter training and even a go-karting session with UAE Emirates - XRG teammates. For Escaich, though, it was the chance to immortalise a message from the rider he considers one of the greatest in the world.

A world champion’s handwriting, a fan’s dedication and a tattoo that ties together the icons of three sports — it’s a hat-trick he won’t be forgetting.