POGACAR. Winner of the 6th stage of the Tour de France 2022, Tadej Pogacar took the opportunity to take the yellow jersey of leader of the general classification. Can the Slovenian keep the tunic until the last stage?
Winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, Tadej Pogacar is on track to achieve the treble. White jersey until the sixth stage on Thursday July 7, the Slovenian took advantage of the failure of Wout Van Aert to make a decisive attack on the final ascent and cross the finish line first. Double blow for the leader of the UAE Emirates team who took the yellow jersey at the same time. New stage this Friday July 8 with a mythical and symbolic arrival for Tadej Pogacar at the Super Planche des Belles Filles, an ascent where he took the yellow jersey from his compatriot Primoz Roglic during the last time trial in 2020.
The Slovenian has the opportunity to increase his dominance on the Grande Boucle. The Super Planche des Belles Filles is a finish that suits him perfectly: a selective climb as he likes. If his first runner-up, Neilson Powless is only four seconds away, his main rival, Jonas Vingegaard is 31 seconds away. For Primoz Roglic, the Tour de France is almost over: the leader of the Jumbo-Visma formation is 28th at 2’27”. Tadej Pogacar, who has everything to achieve the treble this year, said he would defend his yellow jersey: “The goal was not to take the yellow jersey today, we will see for the future. I will do everything to defend the yellow jersey.”
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Biography Tadej Pogacar. Tadej Pogacar was born on September 21, 1998 in Komanda, municipality of Klanec in Solvenia. Son of a mother, a French teacher and a father, an industrial designer, he was interested in football before enrolling at the age of eight at the Rog Ljubljana Cycling Club where he imitated his older brother Tilen, already member of the cycling club. The youngest winner of the Tour de France since 1904, Tadej Pogacar is today the new star of world cycling. But before he got there, the Slovenian had a late growth in his teens where he remained for years smaller than other runners his age, a size that earned him a nickname: “Tamau Pogi” (“small Pogi” in French). His short stature allowed him to have a higher willpower than other cyclists his age. If since his youngest years, Tadej Pogacar has grown well, he has also progressed well.
After winning a few junior races such as the Giro della Lunigiana in 2016 or the Slovenian junior time trial championship, Tadej Pogacar left the category in 2019 and signed with the continental team Rog-Ljubljana where he notably won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2018. The following year, he signed with the World Tour UAE Emirates team where he won the Tour of the Algarve and the Tour of California. In 2020, the Slovenian won the Tour de France, a performance he repeated in 2021 where he also won Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of Slovenia and the Tour of Lombardy. Tadej Pogacar has already won the Tour of the United Arab Emirates and Strade Bianche in 2022.
The youngest winner of the Tour de France in 2020 since 1904, Tadej Pogacar is a cyclist shaped to win general classifications of stage victories. In 2021, the Slovenian did the double crushing all the competition over the stages to fly away to the final victory and put on for a second consecutive year, the yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysées.
Companion of Tadej Pogacar, the Slovenian Urska Zigart embodies, like her companion, the future of world cycling. The two riders who first met in 2017, settled in Monaco where they have been living and training since 2020.
In 2021, Tadej Pogacar extended his contract until 2027 at UAE Emirates, becoming at the same time the highest paid cyclist on the world circuit with six million euros.
Mocked for his small size during his adolescence, earning him the nickname “little Pogi”, Tadej Pogacar is now 1m76 tall for 66 kilos. On average, the height of a cyclist on the world circuit is 1m81 for 69 kilos.