Pogacar drinks from his cup on the UAE team bus in Romandía. / UAE EMIRATES TEAM
Like a steamroller, a superhuman on a bike capable of mass destruction of rivals, Tadej Pogacar claimed victory this Sunday at the Tour de Romandía, one of the few top-tier WorldTour races missing from his palmarès. He will now rest until the Tour de Suisse, a race he is expected to win in June unless a meteorite strikes (an event never wished for). Then comes the Tour de France.
Pogacar’s statistics can barely fit on a computer’s hard drive. He is a predator turned cyclist and an innate worker who would never be caught slacking off—whether sitting at a table staring at a screen or shirking work. If there’s a stage, he aims to win it, regardless of whether it’s in Switzerland, as now; in Belgium, as happened last Sunday; or in Italy, where he began the year by consecutively triumphing at Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo.
Only beaten by Van Aert
He has won every race he has entered this year, except for one rare, exceptional, different event where instead of Tourmalets, Anglirus, or Mortirolos, cobblestones sprout like thorns or nettles that irritate the skin. That was because he faced another glorious rider on a bike, Wout van Aert, who denied him not only victory at Paris-Roubaix but also the chance to become the first rider in the modern era to win all five monuments (which would be four if he wins Lombardy, as common as eating, drinking, or sleeping).
Pogacar, surrounded by his teammates, on the team bus. / UAE EMIRATES TEAM
Pogacar’s worst result so far this year is second place at Roubaix, as he has added every other race he has entered to his trophy collection. From Lombardy to Tuesday through Sunday, on the French-speaking Swiss roads, he has crushed everything like Attila, of whom it was said that no grass grew where his horse trod.
Four stage wins
Out of six scheduled stages (a prologue time trial and five road stages), Pogacar has won four times, even delighting in winning a sprint as if he were Mark Cavendish himself. He has triumphed in breakaways or by attacking from the final kilometer, as happened this Sunday against Florian Lipowitz, who is making a name for himself ahead of the Tour (third last year) and has the audacity to attack Pogacar, even if it means dying sportingly in the attempt. There is nothing to be done. It is surely easier to control inflation than the elusive wheel of the Slovenian phenomenon.
Final classification. / TOUR DE ROMANDÍA
Perhaps slightly tired from the effort at Liège, he started on Tuesday, like the rest of the Romandía participants, in a short prologue time trial of just over three kilometers—a long sprint where he could only manage sixth, the worst symbolic position of the year so far. He then won the second and third stages, was fourth in the sprint that decided the fourth, and finished by winning the closing two stages of the Swiss race.
Some cyclists complained on Saturday, saying he used the draft of motorcycles to attack. Even if the criticism is dubious, Pogacar doesn’t need motorcycles or any tricks to win. He is simply the best, a legendary rider. It is always better to enjoy his feats than to criticize him as he continues to increase his trophy list.
