[ad_1]
In this cycle, we tend to almost always talk to calipers. And it’s not our fault, it’s yours, and you must forgive us, but it still is. Because many of us have seen a bit of everything in the Tour, from cyclists expelled in the middle of the race, cyclists who disappeared in the middle of the race, to the hero, the greatest of all time, after all he was a scoundrel , all confessed. talk show American, to our shame, we who exchanged countless afternoons at the beach to see Captain America up the mountain, him and his story of overcoming.
Do you know what a betrayal is? This is a betrayal and cycling has already betrayed us a few times.
We are burned, like a scalded cat, we are afraid that one day we will watch the news and once again put our hands to our faces, ashamed that we have believed again. But, never forget, in every cycling lover there is a romantic and so it goes: what Tadej Pogacar did on Saturday, in that time trial between Lure and La Planche des Belles Filles, is not one of the sporting achievements of the year. It is one of the sporting feats of the century, one of the great moments in the recent history of the centenary Tour.
In 36.2 kilometers, a 21-year-old boy, with less appearance, ate the 57 seconds that he was late to the leader and the anticipated winner Primoz Roglic, gave him another 59, to become the youngest winner of the Tour since 1904 , when a Henri Cornet, a few days after turning 20, won the second edition of the race. All this in the penultimate stage, at the last moment, in a Tour de France in which he did not even leave as the absolute leader of the United Arab Emirates, where he is a companion of Rui Costa and the twins Rui and Ivo Oliveira. On a Tour where on stage 7 he unexpectedly lost more than a minute due to a change in wind direction, which fragmented the squad and left the Slovenian alone, without the protection of a team he could rarely count on – the alleged leader, Fabio Aru, without rhythm, gave up early, and Davide Formolo fell and had to leave.
After this misfortune, Pogacar never stopped: in the next stage he attacked and made up some of the lost time. And he won at Laruns and the Grand Colombier, before the stratospheric triumph in the last time trial, which catapulted him to the top of the general classification. And beyond his yellow jersey, he still goes home as youth leader and king of the mountain, a feat only Eddie Merckx accomplished in his day, when also on his Tour debut in 1969, he won three. rankings, general, points and mountain – also would have won the youth if it existed at that time.
The Slovenian in yellow in Paris
ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / Getty
It’s easier to see the enormity of Tadej Pogacar’s feat when you visit the official website of this boy, born 21 years ago (turns 22 on Monday) near Komenda, a town in central Slovenia. The first thing we see is his war phrase: “Never stop trying and never give up.” Even with the race compromised, Pogacar would have been the only one who had never stopped believing that it was possible to beat his more experienced compatriot Primoz Roglic, with a super-team behind him, No. 1 favorite from start to Tour victory, who in a short time it seemed possible to escape. Until that last time trial.
From Pogacar it cannot be said that victory is a surprise. The surprise is just that it happened so early, even though we are already waiting for precocious records. At the age of 20, he became the youngest winner of a World Tour event in 2019, the Tour of California. But it was in Portugal that he shone for the first time: a few months before his victory in the United States, he won for the first time as a professional in Volta ao Algarve, which he would eventually win. He, who was not even in the UAE starting team for the Algarve race – he was called up at the last minute when the team’s sporting director realized that one of the riders was out of shape.
The good results throughout the year made the UAE team anticipate Pogacar’s call for a great lap and, right on the debut, in the 2019 Vuelta, the young man not only finished in 3rd position but won three stages and youth classification. In the first participation in the Tour, where he arrived without pressure and only with the idea of learning and gaining experience, he managed to do even better.
Soccer as the first passion
The son of a furniture designer and a French teacher, Tadej Pogacar’s first passion wasn’t even cycling. He himself says in a short biography on his official website that soccer was the first sport he played. “When I was in elementary school, I started training for the Komenda football team. I think I also had a lot of talent for football and I still enjoy playing it,” says the Slovenian prodigy.
Cycling came when his older brother Tilen started racing for a team in the capital Ljubljana. Tadej immediately wanted to follow his brother, but the team did not have bikes to suit his small frame. At the age of 9, he finally started training on both wheels and was soon impressing. Speaking to Procycling magazine, Andrej Hauptman, a Slovenian who won a bronze medal at the 2001 World Cup and is now one of Pogacar’s coaches, revealed how he met the now Tour de France winner. “It was a youth race and I was a little late. The first thing I saw was a large group of teenagers leading and then a boy, much smaller than the others, about 100 meters behind, trying to catch them. organizers who were supposed to do something to get the boy back to the group and they said, ‘No, you’re making a mess. He is ahead, he has already turned everyone around. ‘ That boy was Tadej. ”
Pogacar, champion of the Volta ao Algarve in 2019, his first victory as a professional
Tim de Waele / Getty
Since then, Hauptman has been one of his mentors and was instrumental in signing for the United Arab Emirates. Anyone who knows him says he is calm and intelligent, brave and confident, despite being shy. A born leader, despite his young age.
“I think one of my strengths is knowing how to read the race. I don’t like being too enthusiastic and attacking pointlessly. I prefer to see what others are doing and then go with the flow,” Pogacar said in an interview with “Cyclist” magazine. . .
In the same publication, Neil Stephens, Director of UAE Emirates, underlines the intelligence and natural intuition of the young Slovenian. “Sometimes I think about what I’m going to tell him to do in the radio career and usually he has already made a decision and it is the right decision,” he explains. Stephens also says he is surprised by Pogacar’s maturity: “It is not normal. He is very calm, independent and reflects a lot. But he also knows how to listen, follow advice and orders. He knows how to do it without ever losing the initiative.”
In a form where top form often does not come before the age of 30, Tadej Pogacar is one of a phenomenal young generation who promises to dominate cycling for years to come. As the Tour winner Egan Bernal, a 23-year-old Colombian who ended up surrendering on this Tour, he will surely have duels with Remco Evanepoel, a 20-year-old Belgian, winner of this year’s Volta ao Algarve, now recovering from a serious accident. on the Volta a Lombardia.
And this tour was also the youth tour. It was not only the Tour de Pogacar, but also the Tour de Wout van Aert, winner of two stages and who turned 25 during the race. The Tour of Lennard Kamna, 24-year-old German, winner of a stage and one of the great entertainers on the trails. Marc Hirschi, 22, also a stage winner and the super combative of this edition of the Tour de France.
The future looks promising. And we, romantics that we are, want to believe him.
