Dressed in pink, he charmed Italy, in yellow he confirmed his dominance in France, and then he ended a year to remember, for history, in a shirt of rainbow colors...
Tadej Pogacar, an incredible cyclist from Slovenia, did something that only two people had done before him - in the same year he won the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and now became the world champion in the road race in Zurich.
- Unbelievable, that's really the only word that could describe what happened this year. It's no secret that the rainbow colored T-shirt has long been our great desire - I hope I will wear it proudly - said Pogačar after the race in Zurich, as reported by RTV Slovenia.
A feat of legend
The greatest of all time Eddie Merckx 1974, well Steven Rouč 1987, and then almost four decades had to pass before someone connected the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship again in the same year. Only three people in the long history of cycling - all this perhaps best describes what a feat Pogačar did in just a few months.
- This was a dream year and it will certainly be difficult to repeat it in 2024... Now my goal is to enjoy the year 2025 - added Pogačar, a 26-year-old sports prodigy from Slovenia.
The triple crown is here after 37 years, and already this year "Pogi" reached another result that doesn't happen very often - more precisely, he became only the eighth in history to celebrate at the Giro and Tour, and the first since the legendary Mark Pantani 1998.
Attack at 100 km before the finish line
Pogačar dominated through Italy and France, and then, in the style of the greatest champions, he wanted the story in Zurich to be epic, to be retold... Still 100 kilometers before the finish line, the Slovenian legend started to attack, to write history.
He had a key attack on the biggest climb in the street named "Ciriško brdo", at 77 kilometers to the finish line he was followed by only Pavel Shivakov, and he drove the last fifty alone at the head...
- Not everything went according to plan, but everything turned out as it should. I improvised a bit, but I had a good day - said Pogačar.
About the attack at 100 kilometers before the end, he says...
- There was no special plan for me to start then, but somehow it happened - I surrendered to the race... When I started there was no more giving up, I had to go to the end. I threw all my cards on the table and went hard until the last kilometer - Pogačar described his race.
The silver medalist at the World Championship was an Australian I am O'Konor (second place also at the recent Vuelta), while the bronze medal was won by last year's champion Mat of der Pul from the Netherlands.
The end of perhaps the most successful year of Slovenian sports was officially put to rest - Pogačar brought trophies from the Giro, the Tour and the World Championship to the Alpine country, and his idol Primoz Roglic trophy sa Vuelta a Espanje.
Bonus video:
