“Tadej Pogacar has reached his ceiling” – But Spanish cycling legend still gives Vingegaard & Evenepoel little chance of closing the gap

If Tadej Pogacar has already reached the very best version of himself, then the uncomfortable truth for everyone else is that it may not matter.

That is the verdict from Spanish cycling legend Pedro Delgado, speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Marca, where he argued that Pogacar has already hit his absolute top level, but that this level is still so high it keeps him comfortably ahead of his closest rivals.

When asked directly whether Pogacar has already reached his ceiling, Delgado did not hesitate. “I think so, that he reached it last year.”

For Delgado, that does not mean decline. It means Pogacar has reached the highest possible version of himself, and can now simply remain there. “With my experience, he can maintain that ceiling for three years without a problem.”

In Delgado’s view, the current version of Pogacar is not about to fade away. “This year he’ll continue to be untouchable and in 27 as well.” Only later, he suggests, might something other than the legs become the real test. “In the last Tour de France he looked different, not as natural as always.”

Even then, Delgado is careful to separate physical limits from mental ones. “Physically, right now he has two more years at that level: 26 and 27. In 28, we’ll see.”

If Pogacar is no longer improving, the natural assumption is that rivals might finally be able to catch him. Delgado does not really buy into that.

For him, the story of modern cycling is not always about stars falling, but about others rising. “Sometimes it’s not that you go down, it’s that others go up.”

But even framed that way, he still places Pogacar in a different category. “Pogacar is two steps above the good riders.”

That hierarchy, in Delgado’s mind, still leaves Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel chasing something that remains out of reach. “Vingegaard is one step below him, but one above others like Evenepoel.”

In other words, even if Pogacar has already peaked, Delgado believes that peak is still high enough to control the sport for the next couple of seasons. His ceiling is not a warning sign, but a benchmark that no one else has yet reached.

The only space Delgado sees for genuine movement is among the next layer of challengers. “I’d like to see the development of Lipowitz, to see if he takes another step up.”

But until that happens, Delgado’s message is stark. Tadej Pogacar may already be the best version of himself, but that version is still good enough to keep Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and everyone else looking up for some time yet.