One On One With TADEJ POGACAR
AS MUCH AS IT SHOCKED SOME, HIS TOUR WINNING DISPLAY OF sheer brilliance was no fluke. The 21-year old Slovenian UAE Team Emirates rider Tadej Pogačar had already won the Tour of California, the Volta ao Algarve, taken 3 Vuelta a’ Espana stages and finished 3rd overall in that same race during the 2019 season – which was also his first year as a pro. Signs of greatness were clearly there
However, to win the Tour de France at your first crack, and at such a young age, well, it’s unheard of in modern cycling terms. That unwritten protocol that comes embedded with the jaded and fabled traditions of pro road racing unclearly dictates that a rider, any rider, no matter how brilliant he may be, serves his apprenticeship and climbs the well-trodden ladder to greatness. After all, apart from Merckx and a couple of other notables this is just how it works, or rather how it did work.
When the world went into lockdown during the spring of 2020 things looked pretty well as they have done for many years in Procycling. Ineos would dominate the grand tours with sheer high-octane big budget firepower, and one of their many chief charge hands would reign supreme, and well – it would all be drearily predictable.
