Today is Tadej Pogacar's 26th birthday and he is in the midst of preparing for one of the few goals he has ahead of him in his already incredible career: the World Championships. He has the opportunity next week to win one of the few big events he hasn't yet in pro cycling; but it is possible to look back at the past 5 years and acknowledge some of the Slovenian's main victories.
1. His presentation in top ranks was a win in Cortals d'Encamp at the 2019 Vuelta a España ahead of Nairo Quintana and Primoz Roglic.
2. Warns Primoz Roglic on the ninth stage of the 2020 Tour de France by beating him on the sprint in Laruns.
3. Takes a surprise win over Roglic on the Planche des Belles Filles time-trial to secure his first Tour de France in 2020.
4. He amazes everyone by winning the sprint against Julian Alaphilippe and Alejandro Valverde in the 2021 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, thus winning his first Monument.
5. He wins his second Tour de France (2021) ahead of what will become his great rival, Jonas Vingegaard.
6. He wins his second Monument, Il Lombardia 2021, winning the final sprint over Fausto Masnada.
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7. Starts 2022 with authority by winning the Strade Bianche (his first) ahead of Alejandro Valverde.
8. Warns in Spring 2022: Fifth in Milano-Sanremo and fourth at the Tour of Flanders (his first cobbled monument).
9. Second in the 2022 Tour after Jumbo-Visma's beastly tactic: takes 3 stage wins.
10. Second victory at Il Lombardia, third Monument of his career in 2022.
11. Starts the year winning the Jaén Paraíso Interior 2023 with a tremendous exhibition.
12. Destroys Jonas Vingegaard in Paris-Nice 2023, taking three stage wins and the yellow jersey in the process.
13. Spring 2023 Merckx style: 4th Sanremo, 3rd at E3, 1st Tour of Flanders (fourth Monument), 1st Amstel, 1st Flèche and crash in Liège.
14. Arrives unprepared at the Tour de France 2023, can't beat Vingegaard, but finishes second and takes 2 stages.
15. Wins Il Lombardia again in 2023: fifth Monument.
16. He starts the year again with a sterrato sweep, winning his second Strade Bianche in 2024.
17. He gets his second Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2024: sixth Monument.
18. At the Santuario di Oropa he obtains his first stage victory in the Giro d'Italia.
19. He wins the Giro d'Italia 2024 alongside six stage wins.
20. Wins his third Tour de France and another 6 stages; becoming the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to do the double.
21. Wins the Montréal GP 2024 with a scary exhibition before the World Championships in Zurich.
22. Reaches the 26th birthday with a total of 85 pro wins already.
23. In 2024, Pogacar has taken 12 Grand Tour stage wins. That is 28% of all stages in the two Grand Tours he raced.
24. With races such as the World Championships, Il Lombardia and others still remaining; Pogacar has won already 22 World Tour races this year. This is more than any other pro team.
25. Pogacar currently has 11.393 points in the UCI Rankings. This is more than double of his closest competitor Remco Evenepoel.
26. Pogacar is the pro rider with the highest salary in the peloton currently, estimated to be around €6 million per season, with a contract running until 2027 with UAE Team Emirates.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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