Pogačar Reaches 100 Wins at the Tour de France

In the second “superstar sprint” of this young Tour, the UAE Team Emirates–XRG leader turned the tables on his conqueror in stage 2, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and beat him to the line. The fast-onrushing Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) again finished third. “To win at the Tour is incredible, and in this jersey even more, and to have a 100th victory is amazing,” Pogačar said afterwards.

He went on to say it was the kind of stage and finish he enjoyed riding in. “With so many good riders in the final, you are always a bit on edge and nervous about what is going to happen, and you never know until the final,” he said. “Like today, you get this adrenaline, and it’s pure racing, and I enjoy it.”

The win would have been even better if he’d managed to snatch the yellow jersey off van der Poel’s back. The two are now tied in time, with Vingegaard in third, only 8 seconds adrift. But Pogačar should take the race lead after Wednesday’s ITT, a discipline he excels in.

“The TT is the real test, but to have already won a stage in this [world champion’s] jersey, for me, it’s enough,” he said. “I will go in tomorrow [Wednesday] to enjoy this race. Of course, we aim for the yellow, but we will see.”

It was Pogačar who sparked the thrilling finale when he set off on a trademark explosive attack 5.3 km from the finish, on the last, and steepest, climb of the 174.2 km course from Amiens Métropole to Rouen, the Rampe St. Hilaire (800 m @ 9.1% with ramps up to 15%). Vingegaard was the only rider able to keep up with him, and the two crested the summit together. However, they were eventually caught by van der Poel and a group of GC favourites. Matteo Jorgenson made the first break for the finish with 1 km to go and had a decent gap before he was caught by the favourites. At 400 m, van der Poel attacked, but was caught by Pogačar about 20 m from the line.

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“I hoped to sprint for the win, but I already felt I was on the limit. When I launched, my legs just didn’t want to continue anymore. He was the strongest today,” the race leader said. “I was a little bit disappointed crossing the finish because I really would have loved to win in the yellow jersey. But I think it’s not a shame to lose to Tadej on this parcours. If the legs are full of lactate, there’s nothing else you can do, of course.”

GC co-favourites Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) lost more time in the GC, with Evenepoel now trailing Pogačar by 58 seconds and Roglič now a whopping 1:27 behind.

But the story of the day was Pogačar’s century of wins, a remarkable achievement at only 26. He will probably not reach the record tally of 279 career victories by Eddy Merckx, but if he remains healthy, he should be able to pass Mark Cavendish’s 165 wins and have the number 2 spot all to himself.

Of his 100 wins, 18 were Tour de France stages; he also won six stages and the GC in the Giro d’Italia last year. His victories also include four wins in Il Lombardia, three in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Strade Bianche, two in the Tour of Flanders and La Flèche Wallonne and last year’s world road race championship. It is a remarkable record that has only one equal, that of Merckx, who is almost universally considered the greatest rider of all time. That may be true in terms of sheer numbers, but Pogačar matches him with regard to how he dominates his era in all aspects of road racing.

But there is one record that Pogačar can still achieve and which would make a strong argument for his being the GOAT (greatest of all time), and that is to win the Tour de France six times. Only four riders – Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain – have won the Tour five times. Realistically, Pogačar could ride competitively in the Tour until he is at least 31 years old, depending on the strength of his current and future rivals. This year, he seems to have only one real contender to worry about, Vingegaard, who looks stronger and friskier than he has been in a while. But the real tests lie ahead, in week three.

In the meantime, congratulations, Pogi. And keep on keeping on.