Tadej Pogacar won his third Tour de France on Sunday July 21 with a new stage victory, his sixth in this 111th edition, during the final time trial between Monaco and Nice.
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” I am super happy with this victory which comes after two difficult years on the Tour de France where I always made mistakes. This year, everything went perfectly “, said Tadej Pogacar. This is the first Grand Tour where I was completely confident every day, adds the one who flew over the test. Even at the Giro, I had a bad day. This was just perfect. »
Already the winner in 2020 and 2021, the Slovenian, who beat the Dane Jonas Vingegaard by 1 minute 3 seconds in the time trial, becomes the first rider to achieve the Giro-Tour de France double in the same year since the Italian Marco Pantani in 1998. To achieve the double is incredible, says the 25-year-old Slovenian happily.. When I won the Giro, some people said it would be a safety net if I didn’t win the Tour. Winning the Tour is a level above. And winning both is a level above that. »
In the final general classification, he is ahead of Jonas Vingegaard by 6:17 and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel by 9:18, after having made the difference in the Pyrenees and hammered the nail in the Alps. We are living in the golden age of cycling. The rivalry with Remco [Evenepoel]Jonas [Vingegaard]Primoz [Roglic] is just amazing. We have to enjoy this moment ” exclaimed the Slovenian.
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The top three overall also finished in that order in the top three places in the time trial on Sunday, with Evenepoel, the world champion in the speciality, finishing 1:14 behind the yellow jersey.
Pogacar’s domination of this 111th edition has been total during the three weeks since the start in Florence, Italy. The leader of the UAE team took the yellow jersey on the fourth day and never let it go, quickly killing the suspense, to finish with six stage victories. This supremacy reaches levels unmatched for fifty years and the triumphs of an Eddy Merckx or a Bernard Hinault.
With this third title won at the age of 25, he joins three riders on the Tour de France list of winners, Louison Bobet, Greg Lemond and Philippe Thys. The record of five victories is shared by four champions, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain.
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