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:
1 | POGACAR Tadej | UAE Team Emirates | 210 | 04:04:03 |
2 | JORGENSON Matteo | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 150 | + 21 |
3 | YATES Simon | Team Jayco-AlUla | 110 | + 40 |
4 | CARAPAZ Richard | EF Education-EasyPost | 90 | + 01:11 |
5 | EVENEPOEL Remco | Soudal Quick-Step | 70 | + 01:42 |
6 | VINGEGAARD Jonas | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 55 | + 01:42 |
7 | ALMEIDA Joao | UAE Team Emirates | 45 | + 02:00 |
8 | LANDA Mikel | Soudal Quick-Step | 40 | + 02:00 |
9 | KELDERMAN Wilco | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 35 | + 02:52 |
10 | GEE Derek | Israel-Premier Tech | 30 | + 03:27 |
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.
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.
Best in history? C'mon... he's good, even great, but BEST IN HISTORY? Not at all. Not yet. Maybe never.
With the exception of Eddy Merckx, who was better?
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.
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...
Pogacar is doing tons of stuff that Hinault never did. Winning Flanders being one of the most noteworthy.
Agreed. I think Pog has the potential to surpass Hinault.
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.
POGAČAR is 25 now. What all did Merckx achieve up to that same age?
Whenever I see this insanity, I'm reminded of Lance Armstrong sticking up 7 fingers and a glass of champagne.
POG is amazing, no doubt but c'mon - Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault, etc....