Tadej Pogacar: "To be here is still incredible, even if I am not standing on the top of the podium"

Tadej Pogacar has done everything he could in an attempt to overturn the lead of Jonas Vingegaard ever since he lost it on stage 11, however has found a rival he could not defeat. The UAE Team Emirates leader rode into second place in Paris, after putting on an intense spectacle throughout the whole Tour de France.

"It has been a exciting Tour de France for me. To be here is still incredible, even if I am not standing on the top of the podium," Pogacar said in a post-race interview. "If I hadn’t won the Tour before, this would be the happiest day of my life. Not winning doesn’t make much difference for me. Of course it means I have even more motivation for next year," he promises.

After a year where he found little competition, 2022 saw a whole different story as Jumbo-Visma returned stronger and with a leader on a superior level. Jonas Vingegaard bent but did not break under Pogacar's intense offensive since stage 12, and managed to overturn the Slovenian to take his first Grand Tour win. "We have a really good couple of years of TV ahead of us with the duels between Jonas and myself," he said.

Pogacar rode a race with little flaws, but a crucial meltdown on the Col du Granon where the Dutch team's tactics took the best of him. Throughout the rest of the race Pogacar was aggressive, taking three stage wins, still winning the under-25 classification and finishing in second place besides several days in yellow. It was by no means an unsuccessful Tour, but one where someone managed to ride the mountains more quickly.

He still attacked on the final day with just under 10 kilometers to go, however with little expectations, as he then crossed the line calmly through the peloton. Former teammate and close friend Jasper Philipsen took the stage win, to which he commented: "Jasper Philipsen is a very good friend of mine. I wish we still were on the same team. I’m very happy to see him win here in Paris".

Pogacar has hinted that he will make a return in 2023 to chase the yellow jersey once again, but before he does he will be riding the Vuelta a España where he made his Grand Tour debut back in 2019.