Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar: plain boy in questionable company – Tour de France



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There was a strange calm about him Elysian Fieldswhen Tadej Pogacar took the big yellow podium in Paris. Usually, hundreds of thousands of spectators cheer for the winner of the Tour de France to. But due to the crown pandemic, the authorities on this occasion only allowed 10,000 people access to the magnificent boulevard of the French capital, who were now listening to Pogacar’s victory speech. The microphone, with which he spoke constantly, he hardly needed it. “Being here is great”says Pogacar, who does not seem prone to exuberance. He took note of his Tour de France victory almost without emotion.

Mountain time trial unleashed from Pogacar

The subdued atmosphere of the Champs Elysees also fit in well. Because even the next day, the shock Pogacar had on Saturday with his mountain time trial unleashed continued to reverberate. Beautiful girls board especially with his compatriot Primoz Roglic and his Jumbo-Visma team. Watts were determined, cross-comparisons were made, and old results were extracted to explain what seemed inexplicable. But the bottom line was always the same: Pogacar had delivered by far the best time trial of his career; some even talked about the best time trial cycling has ever seen. And he had that Tour de France upside down.

Since the last mountain stage in the Alps had ended last Thursday with a draw between the contenders for the overall victory, the yellow jersey seemed to have been awarded to Roglic. The 30-year-old had already put a fatherly hand on the back of his younger compatriot on the way to the finish, a condescending gesture, the designated winner. Even Pogacar seemed to have come to terms with second place. “In fact, the race seemed to be over.”Pogacar said. “I just wanted to secure my second place.”

Second winner of the youngest tour in history

Then it turned out different. Pogacar converted the 57-second gap into the The Board of Beautiful Girls in a 59-second lead over Roglic, who had not shown his best, but a solid time trial. It was one of the most surprising twists and turns in the long history of the Tour de France. “I still can’t accept that in my head”Pogacar said as he sat in front of the international cycling journalists as the designated winner of the tour, strangely intact. “This press conference is too big for me”he noticed, looking a bit lost in his yellow jersey. Only his team seemed apparently ready for this moment and he had a yellow mask on his mouth and nose with the sponsor’s imprint at the ready, which Pogacar looked around with wide eyes.

At the age of 21, Pogacar went down in tour history as the second-youngest winner. It was only his second participation in an important tour of the country. the Back to Spain Pogacar finished third last fall. His debut in the most important race now ends with the yellow jersey. Pogacar lives up to the legends of its sport. Eddie Merckx, for example, who arrived in Paris as the outright winner on his first tour in 1969. “That will go down in the great history of the tour, that’s for sure”Merckx reported on the victory of the Slovenian striker.

Part of the strength lies in the rest

Pogacar surpassed these three weeks almost alone Tour de France He climbed to the top step of the podium in Paris and also got the mountain jersey and the white jersey of the best young rider. The most important helpers of your UAE Emirates team, the two Italians Davide formolo and Fabio Aru, had to leave the race early. The team also did not help when the crosswind in the Massif Central destroyed the field in the first week. Pogacar lost 1:21 minutes on Roglic, but that didn’t seem to make one nervous. “He was very calm. He said, ‘I’ll forget this. It won’t help me to think about it every day.’said sporting director Andrej Hauptman.

Part of Pogacar’s strength seems to reside in this calm. “Killer kitty”, called it the French sports newspaper “The team“Because of this discrepancy between the phlegm away from the bike and the savage aggressiveness on his sports gear. No matter how harrowing and exhausting a stage is during the Tour de France It could also have been that the young Slovenian returned to the team bus in great serenity, according to his team. His main concern was calling his girlfriend Urska Zigart to tell her he was fine. Before the time trial, he sat in a corner and hummed to himself, Hauptman reported to “The team“.

Environment with a relevant past

“I am a simple boy from Slovenia who enjoys the little things in life”Pogacar said Saturday. He grew up the son of an industrial designer and a French teacher along with two sisters and a brother in Komenda, north of the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. Meanwhile, like so many professional cyclists, he lives in Monaco far from home. But with the rest and the little things, for now it should end either way.

As the winner of the world’s largest bicycle race, Pogacar is now at the center of his sport. And because you have a history of extraordinary accomplishments, you will also have to endure critical questions about other possible sources of your strength. Pogacar himself has not stood out so far in terms of doping, but he operates in an environment with a relevant past. Its sporting director Hauptman, for example, was barred from the tour in 2000 with an excessive hematocrit value, suggesting possible blood doping.

Teamchef Gianetti galt as persona non grata

Like Pogacar in the Beautiful girls board his hit was also successful Mauro gianetti Totally excited, as revealed by a video posted on social networks. Ginanetti he’s a busy swiss who does that UAE Emirates team directs. For a time he was considered a persona non grata on the tour. The ex-professional is “a man of a bad reputation” and “no model of virtue”, angry tour director Christian prudhomme in the year 2008.

At that time it had to be from Gianetti guided Equipment Saunier duval he Tour de France leave after Riccardo ricco after absurd mountain sprints and two stage victories of the EPO-He was convicted of doping. His companions too Leonardo Piepoli and Juan Jose Cobo they were later exposed as fraudsters. Gianetti He has always claimed that he knew nothing of the machinations of the professionals.

These stories date from a time when Pogacar was just getting started with cycling. His first memory of the Tour de France is the duel of Alberto counter with Andy Schleck 2010. At the time, he would sit in front of the television every day after training, Pogacar said. “The dream was to start the tour. Now I’ve won it. It’s amazing.” He was not alone with this feeling.


Position: 20.09.2020, 20:29

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