With his natural grin, Tadej Pogačar was quick to dismiss the idea that 2022 could bear any disappointment for him, on Saturday. The young Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates had just won Il Lombardia for the second year in a row, outsprinting Enric Mas (Movistar Team) on the shores of Lake Como while Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) finished 3rd a few seconds later. “Pogi” was “very happy about it” – and about his year as a whole.
“I would say 2022 was almost perfect,” Pogačar assured right after his 16th win of the season. “It’s really amazing to pull it off in the last race of the season. It’s an important win for me and for all the riders of my team who work so hard all year.”
On the roads of Lombardy, Tadej Pogačar was notably assisted by João Almeida, another of the hottest young talents of the peloton, who upped the ante a long way out from the finish to reel in the early breakaway and set the stage for his Slovenian leader’s attack on the final ascents of the day.
“I found today’s course different from last year’s because Civiglio is steeper,” the winner explained. “I was confident in my sprint but you never know after such a long and hard race. I was really tired but seeing the finishing line, I forgot the pain.”
He also left behind him his defeat against Enric Mas a week earlier in Giro dell’Emilia (2nd up San Luca) to double up on his victory in Tre Valli Varesine on Tuesday. “In Emilia, I was coming straight from [the UCI Road World Championships in] Australia,” said Pogačar. “I’ve felt better every day since then and I felt great in the Tre Valli, so I was sure I would have good legs today.”
From the Emirates to Lombardy, history has been written again
Strong legs have been a steady feature in the young star’s career and it was no exception in 2022.
“I was already in great shape for the beginning of the season at the UAE Tour,” he recalled. Back in February, he took his first success of the season in the Emirates. He went on to claim more victories in Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of Slovenia, the Tour de France (3 stages), the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and a couple more in Italy last week. Strade Bianche and Il Lombardia were probably his “best days on the bike,” he says.
🇮🇹 La forza di Tadej. Attacca a 50 km dall'arrivo e fa sua la Strade Bianche @eolo_it 2022.
— Strade Bianche (@StradeBianche) March 5, 2022
🇬🇧 Tadej’s strenght. A long distance attack to conquer the 2022 Strade Bianche #EOLO.#StradeBianche pic.twitter.com/zMjq3EM4O5
That makes for an excellent season and that also looks impressive in broader regards with the history of cycling. In over a century of Grand Tours and Monuments, Pogačar is the only rider to have claimed two victories in the Tour de France and as many in Il Lombardia before turning 25. He beat the record set at the end of 1970s by Bernard Hinault with two Tours and a first Il Lombardia a month before his 25th birthday.
Adding his success in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2021, the Slovenian also has three Monument victories under his belt. Mathieu Van der Poel is the only other rider with multiple Monument wins since we’ve entered the 2020s. The Dutchman narrowly edged Pogačar this spring to take a second success in the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
“You could say that I was close to winning but I was with Mathieu, so I was very far,” Pogačar smiles again. He only acknowledges one relative disappointment, the UCI Worlds, where he wanted to make differences towards the end of what he hoped to be a “harder race”. He eventually finished 19th, in the same group as the silver medallist Christophe Laporte.
At only 24 years old, the Slovenian should have many more opportunities to take the rainbow jersey. “I hope to continue my career this way, being competitive all year with good periods of rest in between the races,” he explains.
Now is the time for him to enjoy “a little reset”. He will notably head to Colombia, for Rigoberto Urán’s Gran Fondo, and to the Emirates, to start preparing for the 2023 season. Expect him to smile and win.