Last Sunday, at the Cycling World Championships in Rwanda, Tadej Pogacar added a new page to his already impressive career. With this victory, the Slovenian cyclist joined an exclusive group of cycling legends who have managed to conquer the road race rainbow jersey multiple times in a row. This triumph, which reinforces his status as one of the most complete and dominant cyclists of the modern era, was also a new milestone in the history of the sport.
Pogacar became the sixth male cyclist in history to win the world title in two consecutive editions, joining a list of champions that includes Georges Ronsse (1928 and 1929), Rik Van Steenbergen (1956 and 1957), Rik Van Looy (1960 and 1961), Gianni Bugno (1991 and 1992), Paolo Bettini (2006 and 2007) and Julian Alaphilippe (2020 and 2021).
What puts his achievement even more into perspective, however, is that only one cyclist in history has ever achieved anything further: winning three consecutive world titles. That honor goes to Peter Sagan, who was crowned world champion in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Although the Slovenian has not yet achieved that feat, many point to the fact that he could do so in the next few years, especially with the announcement of the route for the 2026 World Championships in Montreal, which is a copy of the annual GP Montréal which Pogacar won twice in the past, finishing second this year after he allowed teammate Pavel Sivakov to have this victory.
Pogacar's dominance in elite cycling is not just limited to the World Championships. In 2024, the Slovenian became one of the very few cyclists to win two Monuments and the World Championship in the same year. This feat alone is not unprecedented, as the previous year Mathieu van der Poel had also achieved the same, joining an exclusive list of names such as Tom Boonen, Rik Van Looy and the legendary Eddy Merckx.
Eddy Merckx remains the greatest cyclist in history, although Tadej Pogacar is still closing in.
In fact, Merckx took things to another level back in 1971 when achieved the feat of winning three Monuments in one season alongside a rainbow jersey and Tour title. To this day unrepeated, Pogacar could match this achievement in two week's time if he goes on to win his fifth consecutive Il Lombardia.
These types of victories have positioned him not only as a specialist in one-day grand tours, but as a true competitive monster who is capable of dominating both one-day races and three-week events.
The impact of his victory in Rwanda
The most surprising thing about this whole context is that Pogacar achieved it at the 2025 World Championships held in Rwanda, a country that until a few years ago, was not known for being a regular venue for competitions of this caliber. But with the honor of first-ever rainbow race in Africa, and the settled Tour du Rwanda, the African nation will be always commemorated in relation to the Slovenian's stunning victory.
With the titles he has accumulated in his short but impressive career, Pogacar has no intention of stopping. At 27, his career is in its prime, and all indications are that he still has many years of success ahead of him.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026 - Indeed! A reluctant gift maybe. Even more reluctant gift from Roglic! Tho I can’t see that Rog would have beaten Ving anyway.Lozza14-11-2026
- That really nasty crash in 2022 Liege must have played a big part - broken ribs, pneumothorax. You only have to look at his points tallies pre and post.Lozza14-11-2026
- Yeah, good luck getting tv and race organisers like ASO etc to part with their cash!Lozza14-11-2026
- 36 and Ineos have bought a rider on the downward slope. Bring back Dave and Rob who could manage the team. How are Ineos going to win a grand tour with people past their sell by date.paultryan200214-11-2026
- Mmmm would he be making these comments when he was on the richest team when riding. I think not i suspect. If we want money put into the sport we need sponsors who are prepared to put the money in. No disrespect but his team are 2nd or 3rd div in football terms with riders over the hill or 2nd string riders. If i was a sponsor i would be looking at what publicity am i getting back and Tudor really are just making up the numbers really.paultryan200214-11-2026
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
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