"Tadej Pogacar is the best in history" - Joxean Matxin runs out of superlatives for UAE Team Emirates leader after display of dominance at Tour de France

Cycling
Friday, 19 July 2024 at 17:33
tadejpogacar
Tadej Pogacar made cycling history with his victory atop Isola 2000 on stage 19 of the 2024 Tour de France. The Slovenian has all but officially sealed his third Maillot Jaune after an incredible performance on the final climb, leaving Jonas Vingegaard 5 minutes behind in the overall standings with only two stages to go.
The UAE Team Emirates leader didn't hesitate, and with 9 km to go he accelerated the pace to the point that Vingegaard took the white flag in surrender. Moreover, Pogacar also had enough gas to catch a Matteo Jorgenson who was around three minutes clear at the head of the race when the Slovenian made his move. As a result, he took the stage victory, the 4th of this edition and the 15th of his entire career.
After the stage, Joxeán Matxín, head of UAE Team Emirates, could do nothing but praise the figure of Tadej Pogacar. The Spaniard was bowled over by the talent of his rider, of whom he said the following: "He's the best Pogacar I've seen so far, and the best rider in history!"

2024 Tour de France stage 19 results:

1POGACAR TadejUAE Team Emirates21004:04:03
2JORGENSON MatteoTeam Visma | Lease a Bike150+ 21
3YATES SimonTeam Jayco-AlUla110+ 40
4CARAPAZ RichardEF Education-EasyPost90+ 01:11
5EVENEPOEL RemcoSoudal Quick-Step70+ 01:42
6VINGEGAARD JonasTeam Visma | Lease a Bike55+ 01:42
7ALMEIDA JoaoUAE Team Emirates45+ 02:00
8LANDA MikelSoudal Quick-Step40+ 02:00
9KELDERMAN WilcoTeam Visma | Lease a Bike35+ 02:52
10GEE DerekIsrael-Premier Tech30+ 03:27
claps 2visitors 2
12 Comments
Ride1974 20 July 2024 at 11:21+ 387

I wish someone would come up with Merckx's achievements at Pogacar's current age. How would they compare? That would bring proper perspective to this subject.

mij 22 July 2024 at 05:06+ 1034

I’ve looked. he holds up well actually. number of monuments. number of GTs. i think the only thing Tadej is missing is a world championship. by number of wins Eddy surpasses him. but he rode a lot of track races and crits. but by quality of wins Tadej is right there.

BikeMike 20 July 2024 at 02:48+ 67

Best in history? C'mon... he's good, even great, but BEST IN HISTORY? Not at all. Not yet. Maybe never.

SteelFrame 20 July 2024 at 02:54+ 1149

With the exception of Eddy Merckx, who was better?

RidesHills 20 July 2024 at 11:21+ 864

Hinault. Pogacar will never reach Merckx because nobody can, but maybe he can reach the palmares of Hinault. He’s already passed him on the Monuments.

BikeMike 20 July 2024 at 04:03+ 67

Merckx and Hinault for sure. They were all arounders who could dominate grand tours and classics. And then as far as stage racers go, anyone who won 4 Tours...

SteelFrame 23 August 2024 at 03:33+ 1149

Pogacar is doing tons of stuff that Hinault never did. Winning Flanders being one of the most noteworthy.

SteelFrame 20 July 2024 at 11:21+ 1149

Agreed. I think Pog has the potential to surpass Hinault.

OCexile 20 July 2024 at 22:57+ 632

specialization didn’t exist in the merckx era to anywhere near the degree it does now, largely because there was next to no money in the sport comparatively so trying to make a living if you were JUST a great sprinter or JUST a great TT racer would have been an insane thought. merckx would never have had to face a mark cavendish type because those athletes didn’t become professional road cyclists.

Ride1974 20 July 2024 at 11:22+ 387

POGAČAR is 25 now. What all did Merckx achieve up to that same age?

Ben 20 July 2024 at 05:46+ 495

Whenever I see this insanity, I'm reminded of Lance Armstrong sticking up 7 fingers and a glass of champagne.

User Avatar
ScottG 19 July 2024 at 21:03+ 1020

POG is amazing, no doubt but c'mon - Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault, etc....

Just in

Popular news

Latest comments