OPINION | Has this Giro d’Italia proved that Tadej Pogacar makes races boring? Vote now!

There’s a line that’s emerged among a certain group of cycling fans over the last year: Tadej Pogacar makes racing boring.

If you had asked me two weeks, I would have told you it’s an odd claim, especially when you take a moment to look at what the Slovenian has actually achieved. In the past 12 months, Pogacar has done things most riders can only dream of.

Pogacar has decimated WorldTour fields on every kind of terrain: mountains, time trials, cobbles. He’s won Monuments and Grand Tours in the same season. He’s now donning the rainbow stripes. He’s reclaimed the yellow jersey from Jonas Vingegaard. He’s outgunned Mathieu van der Poel on the cobbles of Flanders not once, but twice now. He even beat Remco Evenepoel, the time trial world champion, in a stage 21 race against the clock at the Tour de France.

So when people argued with me that Pogacar’s dominance is “bad for the sport” or “makes races predictable,” I told them to take a step back. Are we really watching the same rider? And more importantly, are we really seeing boring racing?

As we edge towards the end of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, it’s worth testing that idea, and I will admit that my opinion has changed as the race has gone on. This is how I felt after week 1: for all the talk that this year’s edition has been more open or more competitive, you could argue, that it’s been missing something. Or rather, someone.

Of course, the first week was still a solid start to the race. Mads Pedersen won three stages early on (and four in total) and had a spell in pink. The Danish star was unbeatable in the reduced sprints and has shown himself to be one of the truly elite riders in the world, he really has been sensational this Giro.

Other than Pedersen, the first week was, in my view, was…fine. There were good moments, yes, but it was by no means as exciting as the first weeks of recent editions of the Tour de France. That’s why, after week 1, I felt that whilst the race had been solid, it was proving that it is not Tadej Pogacar who makes races boring, and that we had gotten to used to his excellence.

Things changed on stage 9, the gravel mini Strade Bianche stage. Now this, was one of the greatest grand tour stages I have witnessed in my time watching professional cycling. To begin with, I thought it was going to be Tom Pidcock’s day. Then, he and Primoz Roglic crashed, and suddenly it was the INEOS Grenadiers, namely the returning Egan Bernal, who started lighting up the race.

Even though Bernal eventually cracked, just seeing him back to his best is a highlight for me. Overall, the true story of stage 9 was Wout van Aert’s emotional win in Siena, and boy was it good to see the Belgian back winning races.

Of course, the Tour had its own gravel stage in 2024, where both Evenepoel and Pogacar attacked and Vingegaard managed to survive despite a puncture. Exciting? Yes. But better than the Giro gravel stage? Absolutely not!

Still, if you asked me after stage 9 was the race ‘better’ without Pogacar, as well as Vingegaard and Evenepoel, I would have said no. But, perhaps we are looking at things the wrong way. Races with those three present are entirely different to races without them, and both are incredibly exciting in their own right.

Firstly, let’s go with the view that racing is better with Pogacar and co at the start line.

Let’s rewind to 2024. Pogacar won that Giro, and won it by a mile. Six stage wins, and nearly ten minutes of advantage in the general classification. He secured the maglia rosa on stage two and never relinquished it, and he never showed even a moment of weakness. For a lot of fans, that level of dominance killed the suspense. And yes, from a pure “who’s going to win this race?” perspective, the answer was clear early on.

But even if the GC was over, the racing itself was anything but dull. Pogacar didn’t just win, he won with style, reeling in breakaways on his own with ridiculous long range attacks. Whether it was blowing away rivals on the queen stage to Livigno, putting time into climbers and breakaway specialists alike, or launching long-range attacks that belonged more to the legends of the past than the power-metre-obsessed present, Pogacar truly lit up the race.

And that matters. Not all racing is created equal. A tactically neutralised race between a bunch of evenly matched GC contenders doesn’t automatically make for entertainment, even if they are separated by seconds. In fact, it can lead to the kind of deadlock we saw during many editions of the Tour in the Team Sky era, controlled, calculated, and dull as dishwater. Riders like Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas were brilliant athletes, but their style of racing, sitting behind domestiques, watching power numbers, minimising risks, rarely thrilled the neutral fan the same way Pogacar’s attacks do.

Pogacar is different. He rides like he’s unaware that racing has been professionalised to within an inch of its life. Not since the era of Merckx have we seen a GC man take the fight to the bigger, heavier classics men on the cobbles, and we should appreciate that instead of calling it boring.

In an interview earlier this month with EFE, riders Luis Ángel Maté and Andrey Amador voiced their frustration. “I'm sick of running with Pogacar and having the same guy win every time. You see the watts they move and you know the result,” said Mate. “These demonstrations take cycling away from its origins.”

It’s a fair comment, especially coming from the peloton, as Pogacar’s dominance can be demoralising for those trying to race against him. But let’s not confuse professional frustration with a lack of entertainment. Pogacar wins a lot, yes. In fact, he won 25 races in 2024 out of just 58 race days, that’s absurd, and he’s already won seven times in 2025.

But ask yourself: do you remember how he won them? The solo attacks, the relentless pace on the climbs, the fact that he does it all while smiling?

Thomas Voeckler, speaking last December, expressed similar doubts. “When he starts so far from the finish, behind it’s thrilling, but it’s just for second place,” he said, comparing Pogacar’s dominance to Mathieu van der Poel’s commanding ride at Paris-Roubaix. “Magnificent,” yes, but perhaps lacking tension.

And still, I’d argue that the spectacle is the point. Yes, it may be “just for second place,” but how many riders in history have consistently forced the rest of the race to recalibrate around them? How many make second place feel like victory? Eddy Merckx did. Fausto Coppi did. And Tadej Pogacar does.

Think about other sports, sometimes you have to simply appreciate greatness. What Max Verstappen can do in a dominant Red Bull could be seen as boring, but really it is the perfect example of a truly special talent at the peak of his powers. Or what about prime Barcelona, knocking it around Manchester Untied in the Champions League final like they were amateurs? No contest, yes, but no less enjoyable.

Would it really be better without the rider who redefines what’s possible? Or is it simply that we, as fans, are still adjusting to greatness?

So there’s the point of view that Pogacar makes races better. Now, I will play devil’s advocate, and I will admit my opinion has changed as the race has gone on. At the start of week two, the storyline appeared simple enough: Primoz Roglic vs. Juan Ayuso, just like the bookies and most analysts had predicted. But over the course of the past ten days, that narrative has completely disintegrated.

Roglic, who has now crashed multiple times during this Giro, never looked quite right. He was there, then he wasn’t. A crack on stage 15 suggested the beginning of the end, and stage 16 confirmed it. Another crash. Another withdrawal. It’s become a sad but familiar pattern for Roglic, one of the most decorated and entertaining riders of his generation, yet someone who now seems to carry bad luck like a shadow.

Ayuso’s fall from contention has been more insidious. Since a crash on the gravel roads of stage 9, he's steadily leaked time. UAE Team Emirates – XRG insisted he was fine, but the gaps kept opening. That presented a dilemma for the team: stick with the plan and back Ayuso, or pivot to the rising force that is Isaac del Toro?

Of course, we now know that Juan Ayuso was forced to abandon, but that dilemma became the defining storyline of week two. Del Toro, youthful and audacious, was climbing with calmness and courage, even as Ayuso’s body language slowly turned grim. Yet UAE, ever cautious with their hierarchy, refused to fully commit to the 21 year old. Their faith in Ayuso’s ‘experience’ over Del Toro’s untested endurance was evident, and perhaps costly.

Then came stage 16, one of the most dramatic of the race so far. Roglic crashed out, and then Ayuso cracked completely on the penultimate climb and never looked interested in chasing back. Suddenly, the team’s problem had seemingly solved itself: Ayuso was gone, and Del Toro was now the undisputed leader.

Only, that illusion didn’t last long.

Del Toro, who had started the day with over a minute on Simon Yates and more than two on Richard Carapaz, cracked himself on the final climb to San Valentino. Not just a few seconds lost, a proper crack. Carapaz attacked and disappeared up the road, Yates followed, and Del Toro could only grimace and survive.

By the summit, the GC picture had been completely rewritten. Del Toro still wears the pink jersey, but his lead after stage 16 was now just 26 seconds over Simon Yates, and 31 over Carapaz. The three of them are in a virtual dead heat. Behind them, Derek Gee and Egan Bernal, neither of whom were really considered potential pre-race winners, have been superb throughout the race.

And this, right here, is what makes the 2025 Giro d’Italia so beautifully wild. This is a race that’s completely off-script. There’s no stranglehold. No predictability. No Jonas Vingegaard marking every move. No Tadej Pogacar ripping the race apart and turning every mountain stage into a personal highlight reel.

Without them, the race has been allowed to breathe. To unfold in unexpected ways. And yes, that means there have been cracks, crashes, collapses, but also storylines. Bernal, once broken, now at the sharp end once again. Gee, the perpetual underdog, still standing tall. Yates, resurgent. Carapaz, patient and pouncing. Del Toro, vulnerable but superb nonetheless.

And we still don't know who will win after stage 19!

Last year, Tadej Pogacar won the pink jersey by nearly 10 minutes. It was a joke. Brilliant, but an absolute joke, given how far ahead he was over the rest. After 16 stages, that margin covers 16 riders, all the way down to Tom Pidcock.

Perhaps I am suffering from recency bias. Right now, if you asked me, I would tell you that racing IS better without Pogacar, and the genuine uncertainty about who is going to wear the Maglia rosa in Rome is brilliant.

But, come July, perhaps my opinion will change again. We know that the race, barring crashes, will won by either Tadej Pogacar or Jonas Vingegaard (only Remco Evenepoel has an outside chance), but too many that is a more exciting prospect than the unpredictability of the Giro. Let’s face it, it is unlikely that we will ever see a more exciting stage than the 2022 Col du Granon stage, where Vingegaard finally cracked Pogacar.

Now, I pose the question to you. Does Pogacar make racing more or less exciting? Is there a definite answer? Should this even be a debate in the first place? Vote in the poll below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section too!