OPINION | Strade Bianche showed the only weakness of Tadej Pogacar

This Saturday, Tadej Pogacar made history once again. The Slovenian became the first cyclist of all time to win the Strade Bianche as reigning world champion. In addition, he was also the first to win two in a row, defending the previous year's title. But this time it wasn't as easy as 2024.

Last year, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG star took the race with a solo attack with 81 kilometers to go. In 2025, the Slovenian has shown his only weakness that can give his rivals victories: falling. That's the reality. To win Pogacar you depend almost exclusively on luck. That's what happened in 2023 with his crash in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which saw him arrive at the Tour de France not at his best.

Pogacar suffered a harsh crash with 52 kilometers to go in this year's Strade Bianche. He did so while leading alongside Tom Pidcock and Connor Swift. Despite visible injuries and abrasions all over his body, the Slovenian returned to the race. And not only that, but he ended up winning with an attack with 19 kilometers to go, as if nothing had even happened an hour earlier.

That's why the conclusion to be drawn from the Strade Bianche is that you depend on luck to beat Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian's main rival is himself. It's his crashes that show his weakest version - and he can still win races full of abrasions.

So, in races where he's a favorite and you want to beat him, as has already been said, you're going to have to rely on luck. Pogacar has grown so much as a cyclist that to come to the conclusion that his only "weakness" is crashing shows that is has almost reached invincible status in the races where he fights for victory.