'I don’t know': Not even Tadej Pogačar could explain his incredible Strade Bianche attack

The Slovenian was so dominant on Saturday that everything seems hyperbolic

Tadej Pogačar
(Image credit: Getty Images)

81km to go. 81km to go. Not an attack with 50km to go, as he did in 2022, but 81km to go. That’s how far Tadej Pogačar attacked from to win Strade Bianche on Saturday, an almost unbelievable distance to attack from. Two hours of riding alone, in one of the toughest professional bike races, to take the win. In his first race of 2024, to boot. This isn’t how cycling is supposed to happen, surely, it is not meant to look this easy for one rider.

One reads about rides like Bernard Hinault's at a snowy Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1980, or Eddy Merckx's repeated long-distance attacks, like at the Tour of Flanders in 1969, and it feels too good to be true, but history was made in Tuscany in 2024. Just like Chris Froome's escape to win the 2018 Giro d'Italia, Pogačar's ride will be remembered.

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