POGACAR. Present on the Tour de France 2022, Tadej Pogacar is aiming for a third consecutive coronation on the Grande Boucle.
He has the “sign”. Author once again of a good season with in particular the final victory at Tirreno Adriatico, the Italian Paris Nice and the Tour of Slovenia a few days ago, Tadej Pogacar is aiming for a 3rd consecutive coronation on the Tour de France like a certain Christopher Froome a few years ago. A comparison put forward by a former winner of the Tour de France, the Briton Bradley Wiggins. “Tadej Pogacar, he is very similar to what Chris Froome was in 2012, in terms of his acceleration in the mountains.
Asked a few days ago about this Tour de France 2022, the Slovenian confides in the most difficult stages. “That of Alpe d’Huez. And that of Hautacam too, in the Pyrenees. These are two long stages, with a lot of climbs, three very long and very hard high passes, and in particular the last one.” Also asked about his rivals Roglic and Vingegaard, the Slovenian wants to be cautious. “They were very strong. Primoz (Roglic) and Jonas (Vingegaard) were impressive in the passes. They are references, but I’m not surprised, it was expected. We watched them, and they’re going to do it the same with us on the Tour of Slovenia. They are competitors. But the Tour will be a whole different story.”
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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.