Tadej Pogačar dominated Strade Bianche for the second time

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogarčar started this season as he ended the last one. With a win. In his first WorldTour appearance of the year, he responded decisively to his biggest rival Jonas Vingeggard by showing that he was back at full strength.

History repeated itself

Tadej Pogačar truffled at this year’s Strade Bianche much like he did two years ago. The two-time Tour de France winner broke away from the UAE Emirates lead group on the climb to Monte Sante Marie with about 81km to go and rode his way to victory.

In 2022, he pulled off a similar feat at this race with about 50km to go. 

the 25-year-old Slovenian has plans to ride two Grand Tours this year, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. The last time Marc Pantano managed to conquer both of those races in the same year. The famous Italian did it in 1998.

Since then, a number of cyclists have attempted it, including Alberto Contador, Tom Dumoulin and Chris Froome. But no one has done it since Pantano. The Slovenian has matured to an age where he no longer races so much and doesn’t race at all costs. He doesn’t waste his energy as much as in the past years.

Let’s remember the last two Tours, where he literally burned out on a tough climb each time. And then the Dane Vingeggard controlled the overall victory. In the last race, he proved again that only Vingeggard is currently his match in the hills.

However, if Pogačar does not “dance” again and ride hundreds of kilometres more than the Dane, who prefers to ride fewer races and concentrate his preparation and form exclusively on the Tour de France. As Lance Armstrong used to do, so as not to waste his energy, Pogačar may finally beat Vingeggard after two years.

Tadej Pogačar is still a very young rider. At 25 years old, he is celebrating his 64th victory in the professional peloton, which is something incredible since we are not talking about a sprinter. Last year, he ended the season by winning the Tour of Lombardy.

Pogačar crossed the finish line nearly three minutes ahead of Latvian Toms Skujins. Third place went to Belgian Maxim Van Gils and the fourth place went to last year’s defending champion, Briton Thomas Pidcock. Two Czech cyclists Mathias Vacek and Josef Černý also took part in the race. But neither of them made it to the finish line.

Strade Bianche (WorldTour) -215 km

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 5:19:45
2. Toms Skujins (Lot./Lidl-Trek) -2:44
3. Maxim Van Gils (Belgian/Lotto Dstny) -2:47
4. Thomas Pidcock (Brit./Ineos Grenadiers) -3:50

Source: UCI, Strade Bianche