Tadej Pogacar has ended his season this weekend with a third Il Lombardia victory. It is an incredible career that which the Slovenian is building, and Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport have written a piece calling for Pogacar's presence at the Giro d'Italia.
"At the age of 25, he has already taken a place among the greats. As Eddy Merckx once said: Besides the Tour de France, there are also other legendary climbs. Like the big climbs in Italy, for example... To write history, you also need the Giro," it wrote. The UAE Team Emirates rider made his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a Espana in 2019, and his immense quality led the team to take him to the Tour de France every year since.
Two victories and two second places later, he has consolidated himself as one of the sport's best in recent years. Also because of his versatility, not only conquering Lombardia on three occasions, but multiple other races including the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. His quality in the spring classics made the calendar choice obvious, however a debut at the Giro d'Italia is a matter of time. It is unclear of course if that will be the case in 2024.
The Italians would love that to be the case however - with Wout van Aert also recently mentioned as a possible presence next year. "If you experience it up close, you can only define the greatness of the man who is the leader of a generation of phenomena. Because, unlike Van der Poel and Van Aert, he also wins Grand Tours and because he is now five Monuments ahead of Vingegaard. Pogacar is a champion of the old type, because he never slows down and always takes responsibility. He attacks and always finds a way to win. And whoever wins Lombardy can win any other race."
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