Slovenian cycling phenom Tadej Pogačar is gearing up for an audacious challenge in 2024, aiming for a rare Giro-Tour double, alongside a potential tilt at the Road Race World Championship and Olympic gold.
Short Summary:
- Pogačar plans to compete in both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in 2024.
- The ambitious double hasn’t been achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998.
- His team, UAE Team Emirates, is fully backing his grand ambitions with strong rosters for both tours.
Tadej Pogačar, the talented Slovenian cyclist, is embarking on one of the most ambitious endeavors in professional cycling by planning to compete in both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in 2024. This feat, which hasn’t been achieved since Marco Pantani’s impressive double in 1998, serves as a testament to Pogačar’s immense talent and insatiable hunger for victory. The 25-year-old rider, often compared to the legendary Eddy Merckx, aims to secure his place among the sport’s greats.
Throughout his career, Pogačar has garnered significant accolades including two Tour de France victories in 2020 and 2021. Despite his impressive resume, in recent years, he’s missed out on further Grand Tour victories and World Championships, finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard in the last two Tours. “Podium finishes don’t create legends,” Pogačar remarked, “and anyone who has seen me race knows that I always race to win and am never satisfied with second place.”
“I think everybody wants to do the double and it is one of the hardest things to achieve,” Pogačar said at the UAE Team Emirates training camp in Spain. “I could feel the team would also want me to try something else, not to repeat every year the same story… and to try new challenges.”
Indeed, the quest for the Giro-Tour double holds a near-mythical status in the world of professional cycling. The list of cycling legends who have accomplished this includes Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Stephen Roche, and Merckx, the only one to do it twice. For Pogačar, the allure is irresistible, especially because it offers a chance to reaffirm his status as the world’s top cyclist after a couple of years without a Tour win.
Another layer to his 2024 quest includes a “Triple Crown” opportunity—the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and the Road Race World Championships. Only Merckx, Roche, and Annemiek van Vleuten have achieved this prestigious accolade. Pogačar’s ambition matches the scale of this monumental task.
“I always wanted to do the Giro. It is one of my favorite races because it is close to Slovenia and as a kid, I loved to go to the stages of the Giro. I had one of the nicest memories from the Giro when Luka Mezgec won a stage in Trieste and I was there,” Pogačar shared.
In terms of preparation, Pogačar’s 2024 schedule is notably different and less demanding before the Giro, allowing him ample recovery and training time. He’ll participate in Strade Bianche, Milan-Sanremo, and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya in March, and only Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April before taking on the Giro, avoiding any racing between the Giro and the Tour to maintain peak condition.
His team, UAE Team Emirates, offers unwavering support. Key riders like Rafal Majka, Jay Vine, and Felix Großschartner will assist him in the mountains of the Giro, while a strong lineup featuring Pavel Sivakov, Adam Yates, Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, Marc Soler, Nils Politt, and Tim Wellens will back him in the Tour de France.
In his pursuit of the Giro-Tour double, Pogačar acknowledged the necessity of peak performance at both Tours due to the sequential nature of these events and their significant physical demands. He noted, “I think I know myself pretty much now that if nothing goes wrong in my head, I can do even all three Grand Tours if I want. But to race 100 percent mentally focused is a little bit different, and you don’t know until you try.”
The 2024 Tour de France, set to commence from Florence, Italy, teases a thrilling contest between Pogačar and two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, who has been recovering from substantial injuries sustained in March. The Tour route is designed to maximize competition, with seven mountain stages and a final individual time trial that promises to keep the race open until the very end. Notably, sprinter Mark Cavendish is also expected to chase a record 35th stage win.
For the first time, the Tour will conclude not in Paris, but with a breathtaking 34.5-kilometer time trial along the French Riviera from Monaco to Nice. This final stage is reminiscent of the 1989 Tour when American Greg LeMond famously overturned a 50-second deficit to win by eight seconds.
Pogačar’s 2023 Spring schedule was a testament to his capabilities. Despite a wrist fracture at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he managed a stellar performance at the Tour de Suisse. Reflecting on his preparation for the 2024 season, Pogačar intends to skip the Tour of Flanders, a race he won in 2023. “I hope I don’t have a long training ride that day so that I can watch almost all of the race on TV. It will be a different view for me this time,” he said.
As the Slovenian cycling star approaches his 2024 campaign, his focus is unwavering. He prioritizes the Giro and Tour while leaving space for potential successes in the Road World Championships and the Olympics. “World Championships are a big goal,” Pogačar stated, noting the unpredictability of competing in both the Olympics and the Worlds in a single season. His overall goal is clear—to conquer new heights and reaffirm his status as the premier cyclist of his generation.
Pogačar’s approach to racing is driven by not just winning but constant learning and adaptation. “Training, experience, and learning new stuff, developing my body, growing older—but slowly progression is stopping as a body, but there is always improvement in the head and other aspects,” he acknowledges. He plans to continually evolve, focusing on aspects like time trials, where he admits he could still make significant gains.
Ultimately, Pogačar’s bid for the Giro-Tour double in 2024 reflects a broader ambition—to test his limits and push the boundaries of what is possible in professional cycling. His fans and the cycling community at large will undoubtedly watch with bated breath as he takes on this formidable challenge.
References:
- “Those were heady days for the now 25-year-old UAE Team Emirates leader when he was widely regarded as the second coming of the legendary Eddy Merckx…”
- “It has not been accomplished since Marco Pantani did it in 1998. The list of the riders who have achieved it over the years reads like a Who’s Who of cycling legends…”
- “The Tour de France 2024 embarks from Florence, Italy, next Saturday and is billed as a four-way struggle, spearheaded by bitter rivals Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard…”
- “Pogačar said racing the Giro d’Italia means that he will have a different type of preparation ahead of the Tour de France, but said he believes there is enough time to recover between the two events.”