Tadej Pogacar hails ‘golden age’ after third Tour de France title
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Yellow jersey and Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates carries his bike onto the podium on July 21.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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NICE – Tadej Pogacar hailed a new “golden age” for cycling after securing a third Tour de France title on July 21 to add to his 2020 and 2021 triumphs.
The 25-year-old Slovenian won the final day’s time-trial, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard coming second at 1min 3sec to seal second overall ahead of Remco Evenepoel, third on the day and also third overall.
Victory also gave him the first Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
“It was an amazing journey. What a battle with Jonas and Remco. So much happened,” said the champion, who finished 6:17 ahead of Dane Vingegaard in the final standings. Belgian Evenepoel was 9:18 off the pace.
“We are living in the golden age of cycling. The rivalry with Remco (Evenepoel), Jonas (Vingegaard), Primoz (Roglic) is just incredible. We have to take advantage of this moment.”
Astonishingly, Pogacar won six stages on this edition of the Tour, just as he did when winning the Giro earlier in the season.
“To achieve the double is incredible,” added Pogacar, who had been runner-up to Vingegaard for the last two years.
“When I won the Giro, some people said that it would serve as a safety net for me if I didn’t win the Tour.
“Winning the Tour still represents the level above and winning the two is the next level.”
The world’s greatest bike race, broadcast across the globe, featured a novelty finale on the French Riviera because of the Olympic Games in Paris.
Instead of the last day race around the Champs-Elysees, the Tour avoided the Olympic Games sites altogether.
With five stage wins already under his belt, Pogacar stormed out of his adopted home town of Monaco and up the coast to Nice where he leapt into the arms of his teammates on the celebrated Promenade des Anglais.
He took the overall lead on a downhill on day four as the race arrived in France from Italy via the Alps.
By the time the race returned to the Alps, Pogacar was three minutes clear and Vingegaard was starting to flag as he still had not fully recovered from a major crash in March.
After claiming stage 19 on July 19, Pogacar knew he had won and the Dane switched his attention to finishing second.
Vingegaard crashed heavily earlier in 2024 and was praised for even making it to the start line.
“Under normal circumstances, I would have been disappointed. This is such a wonderful race, the yellow jersey is the most beautiful of all.
“I’ll be back to try for a third one next year,” said the 27-year-old, who will not be competing at the Vuelta a Espana due to “exhaustion”.
Although he started well, as has often been the case in this Tour, he was a distant second best. He did, however, beat pre-race favourite Evenepoel, who cried at the finish line.
Evenepoel may not have won the final day time-trial, but he captured the first time-trial in week two. He also won the white jersey for best young rider.
“Tadej is on another planet, I have a gap to bridge between me, Tadej and Jonas, but this was a good Tour, a good test for me,” said the 24-year-old Belgian.
Other stars emerged along the way as Eritrean rider Biniam Girmay won three stages, the sprint points green jersey and national hero status in his homeland.
Riding a green bike and also decked out from head to toe in the colour, Girmay was seen off by a clutch of his countrymen in Monaco.
“It’s astonishing. The feelings, the emotions, I want to share them with the people from my country,” the Eritrean said.
Olympic road race champion Richard Carapaz won a stage, took the yellow jersey for a day and came close to other victories. The Ecuadorean raced on July 20 in the polka dot best climber’s jersey.
Mark Cavendish also took the headlines, claiming a record 35th stage win and was given a special podium presentation for his career achievement.
Greeted by his family in Nice, there were no tears from the “Manx Missile”.
“There are a hundred and seventy-odd cyclists in this race, and most of them finish a Tour winning nothing,” Cavendish said after his podium award.
When asked if this was his last Tour, the 39-year-old replied: “Yes, 100 per cent.” AFP, REUTERS
