"Tadej Pogacar is impossible to follow" - Samuel Sanchez struggles to see anyone stopping all-conquering Slovenian

Samuel Sanchez is a rider who knows Il Lombardia well. During his career, he finished second twice and once third in the monument. Having just watched Tadej Pogacar dominate the 2024 edition though, the Spaniard was left in disbelief.

In 2006, Sanchez finished 8" behind Paolo Bettini, beating Fabian Wegmann in the final sprint. In 2007, he crossed the finish line 10" behind Italians Damiano Cunego and Riccardo Riccò, beating Andy Schleck, Davide Rebellin, Cadel Evans, Luca Mazzanti and Thomas Dekker at the finish. In 2009, he challenged Philippe Gilbert for the victory but couldn't beat him. And in 2012, Joaquim Rodríguez came in 10 seconds ahead of the chasing group, which was led by Samu ahead of Rigoberto Urán, Mauro Santambrogio, Sergio Henao, Ryder Hesjedal, Bauke Mollema, Oliver Zaugg, Alberto Contador, Fredrik Kessiakoff, Nairo Quintana and Franco Pellizotti.

In this 2024 edition, Tadej Pogacar won for the fourth straight year, equalling the great Fausto Coppi's record of consecutive wins, putting him one behind him in the total and putting him on a par with Learco Guerra's four victories. He did it with a gap of 3:15 over Remco Evenepoel, something not seen since Eddy Merckx in 1971, when he took 3:31 over Franco Bitossi. Since that year, the biggest gap was Tony Rominger's 2:33 over Gilles Delion in 1989.

To see an even bigger gap, you have to go back to 1948, when Coppi himself took 4:45 to Adolfo Leoni. For Pogi, it is also the seventh monument in his palmares. He thus equals Gino Bartali, Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara, leaving behind the six of Henri Pélissier, Alfredo Binda, Fred De Bruyne, Francesco Moser, Moreno Argentin, Johan Museeuw and Mathieu van der Poel. It is also the second year in a row that he has won two in the same season.

After the race, Samu Sanchez wanted to leave his impressions on the umpteenth exhibition of the UAE Team Emirates superstar, who left him practically speechless: "Pogacar is off the charts. What an exhibition. This Pogacar is impossible to follow, and then he has a team that makes his opponents arrive with very little energy to his attack of grace. They are able to carry a very high tempo that benefits the Slovenian, since he has a point more than the others. There is no shortage of adjectives and adjectives to describe the Slovenian star".