Tadej Pogačar: Epic triumph at the 2024 Tour de France, stage by stage

With an unparalleled performance, the Slovenian-born champion won his third Tour de France, following victories in 2020 and 2021. He gave the impression of dominating the race from the first stage, right to the last stage. Pogačar proved once again that he is the strongest cyclist in the world, leaving behind top-level rivals such as Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, achieving a historic Giro-Tour double that has not happened since 1998.

In the very first stages, Pogačar made his intentions clear. He took fourth place in the opening stage, Florence-Rimini, behind Van Aert and only a few metres behind the winner Bardet, who was dragged by his teammate Van Den Broeck to a historic yellow jersey in his final year as a professional cyclist.
In the third stage, finishing in Bologna, Pogačar immediately put the condition of his rivals to the test, repeatedly sprinting up the ramps of San Luca, the launch pad for the Giro dell'Emilia. Both Vingegaard and Evenepoel were forced into a very difficult chase to catch up with the UAE champion: the former was ready to get into his slipstream as soon as possible, the latter more progressive, catching him practically at the finish line.

In the first alpine stage, Pogačar put on a show, winning the hard race on the Col du Galibier thanks to the fast pace set by his team-mates João Almeida and Adam Yates, who launched him perfectly before the top of the climb. Thanks to a masterful descent, the Slovenian reached Valloire with a good haul of seconds over Evenepoel and Vingegaard, his direct rivals for the Tour, wearing the yellow jersey.
The Tour then got into full swing with the first 25km time trial, won by Belgian world champion Remco Evenepoel. The Slovenian kept the gap down to just 12 seconds, very little considering the very fast course, which closed at an average speed of over 52 km/h.
It took until stage 11, with the uphill finish at Le Lioran, for another blast, where Vingegaard showed that he was at the Tour as a protagonist by catching the breakaway rider Pogačar and then beating him in a very tight sprint.

In the following stages, Pogačar managed his advantage with intelligence and tactics. He controlled the attacks of his rivals, never giving ground and demonstrating the maturity of a true champion, capable of impetuous and instinctive gestures but also of tactics of waiting and punctual attacks. Pogačar took the victory again in the spectacular stage number 14 with the finish in Pla d'Adet, distancing his direct rival Vingegaard by a good 39 seconds.
But the masterpiece came at Plateau de Beille, where he emerged the overall winner from the tug-of-war with his Danish rival, adding a further 69 seconds to his lead in the classification, thus consolidating his domination.

The 2024 Tour de France ended in an explosion of emotion and adrenaline, with Tadej Pogačar dominating the last three stages. At Isola 2000 he put the final seal on the race, beating rivals Vingegaard and Evenepoel by 1 minute 42 seconds. At the top of the Col de la Couillole he first controlled and then beat his Danish rival, finally putting an end to the duel and taking a further minute from Belgian champion Evenepoel.
The final stage, an individual time trial from Monaco to Nice, was the icing on the cake for Pogačar. He dominated this stage as well, breaking Eddie Merckx's record for the most stage victories (12) in a combined Giro and Tour season.

Pogačar's victory in the 2024 Tour de France was truly special. He proved that he is a complete cyclist, capable of excelling in all types of stages. His strength, technique and tactical intelligence make him one of the greatest cyclists of all time. At only 25 years of age, Pogačar has already written cycling history and still has many years ahead of him to continue impressing the world. To close, his team – UAE Team Emirates – took the overall victory as best team ahead of Visma-Lease a Bike and Soudal Quick-Step