A defeated peloton reacts to Tadej Pogačar's latest exhibition: 'No-one can compete with him. I have never seen anything like this'
Rivals and former teammates of the Slovenian champion describe how bike racing is now a race for second
![Tadej Pogacar](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ZyJdfdPds39U9pqzAofxZR-415-80.jpg)
There are two sides to Tadej Pogačar’s utter domination in both one day and stage races this spring.
On one hand, there is total admiration for the way in which the Slovenian is not just winning races but annihilating them. Whether it’s his 80km escape at Strade Bianche or his complete supremacy at the Volta a Catalunya, it is a sequence of back-to-back historic, where-were-you moments.
The other side to the coin is one of a weary, tiring peloton, one that is defeated. They’re turning up to races, spot that he’s on the startlist, and wave goodbye to their chance of winning before they’ve even rolled out of the start town.
“I know people hate the defeatist attitude, but the race is for second now,” experienced pro George Bennett of Israel-PremierTech told Cycling Weekly before stage six of the Volta a Catalunya, a stage Pogačar went on to win, his third of the week.
“If he buggers off on [Coll de] Pradell [60km from the finish] then people will say, ‘OK, he’s gone, but we didn’t really care about him, we weren’t trying to beat him but the guy who is in front of us.’ It’s just the nature of it after getting a hammering in the mountain stages. You think, ‘well, what’s left?’”
Guillaume Martin of Cofidis said that Pogačar’s performances in northern Spain and Italy this March have been “really impressive” and that “you really feel that he is there and the rest of the bunch is somewhere else.
“For sure I cannot compete,” he went on, “and I don’t think any rider here can compete with him. Something happened in the last two years and the gap has increased further.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
“I remember 2020, just after Covid, and I could still compete with these guys but they have grown up and I have stayed at my level. I have never seen anything like this in my career.
“Before I always used to ride races to win, but now to be perfectly honest I don’t see how it could be possible when you are racing against a rider like that.”
Catalunya has been a rare stage race in which Visma-Lease a Bike look like finishing outside of a podium spot, and one of their climbing domestiques, Attila Valter, commented that Pogačar “looks untouchable.”
He added: “So far in this race, if he wanted to, he could have had a chance to win in every stage. That’s pretty scary, but what can you do if someone is in their own league? He is one extra zone above us.”
The reason behind Pogačar’s superiority is easily explained, according to Bennett. “Everyone is doing everything they can: we’re all going to altitude, all riding fast bikes, all getting aero testing, all fuelling well, so it’s not that he works harder than us - there is no way - but he’s got better genes. It’s as simple as that.
“At some point someone gets ultimate genetics. It’s a lottery of evolution. I know some guys who have worked harder than me but they don’t have the genes to reach this level.
“Right now it’s the best I’ve ever seen him. For sure. Definitely. He's definitely better than last year already. I know he’s made some changes in the off season and he’s on a different level. He was already pretty good but now he’s very good.”
Valter concurred: “He is playing with us and the bunch. It’s true what [Mikel] Landa said: it’s not that he’s training more or doing anything better, but everyone lives from their own talent and he’s just way more talented than the rest of us.”
Thank God, both the peloton and the wider sport are saying, that he has got a rival who can not only match him but beat him - Jonas Vingegaard, a man who has also started the season in scintillating form. “Luckily there are two of them - if there was only one it would be even worse,” Frenchman Martin added.
“But the way they ride is that they want to win everything. I can understand that it can be a bit boring for the spectators, but we try everything to win as well. It’s just they don’t let us win anything.”
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and long reads across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013. In 2024 he released a seven-part podcast documentary, Ghost in the Machine, about motor doping in cycling.
Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains. He lives in Valencia, Spain.
-
How to watch the Olympic cycling time trial at Paris 2024
Get all the information you need to watch the action of the men's and women's Olympic cycling time trial at Paris 2024
By Cat Glowinski Published
-
Ribble Cycles looking to capitalise on 'big summer of sport' with 30% off highly-rated models
Direct-to-consumer Ribble Cycles has always been rated highly among the Cycling Weekly tech team. This is our pick of the best Road, Gravel and E-bikes from their 'Summer Sale'
By Matt Ischt-Barnard Published
-
Tadej Pogačar broke 288 Strava KOMs during Tour de France victory
Slovenian won his third Tour title in Nice last weekend, and picked up a host of new trophies on Strava
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Tadej Pogačar to skip Olympics road race
Tour de France champion was originally selected as part of four-man Slovenia team
By Adam Becket Published
-
'Even if I never come back to the Tour de France I will be satisfied': Tadej Pogačar revels in third victory
Three Tour de France wins before turning 26, the Giro-Tour double, the suggestion of a triple crown. Records tumble for the Slovenian
By Adam Becket Published
-
Tadej Pogačar: 'There will always be doubts... but cycling is the cleanest sport'
Tour de France champion addresses critics, saying it would be "super stupid" to dope
By Adam Becket Published
-
How Tadej Pogačar created history and won the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double
A journey that was supposedly fraught with risk and uncertainty was anything but for Giro d'Italia and Tour de France victor Tadej Pogačar
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
'You always need to go for the victory if you can' - Insatiable Tadej Pogačar won't stop winning at Tour de France
The Slovenian says that he was "at the limit" on the final climb of stage 20
By Adam Becket Published
-
'The best rider I've ever seen': Even UAE Team Emirates are astounded by Tadej Pogačar's Tour de France brilliance
The Slovenian is just two days away from becoming one of only eight men to win the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same year
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
Remco Evenepoel on Tadej Pogačar: He's not the same as us
Belgian was unable to follow Tadej Pogačar's attack on the climb to Isola 2000 on Friday
By Adam Becket Published