Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar admitted that he was satisfied with second place before the decisive time trial at the Tour de France. However, he took advantage of a great day and in the time trial with the goal of the Beautiful Girls Plan, he unexpectedly liquidated the almost minute loss to the leader Primož Roglič and secured the overall victory at the “Old Lady”.
Pogachar’s reversal will go down in history as one of the greatest sensations in the history of the Tour. Still a 21-year-old member of the UAE Team Emirates, he surprised not only fans, experts and other cyclists, but also himself with his dominant performance in the time trial.
“It’s unbelievable. In the morning I was satisfied that I was second, but then I had a really good day and I’m starting to realize that I’m in the yellow,” Pogačar told the press conference, who drove the current leader Roglič almost two minutes and leads in front of him by 59 seconds.
Unless something extraordinary happens, Pogačar will become the youngest winner of the Tour since 1904 on Sunday. “I didn’t mean the yellow jersey because this is the biggest race in the world. But the team trusted me and we were well prepared. They knew I could do it. , “said a Slovenian cyclist who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Monday.
He won three stages on his debut Tour and, in addition to the yellow jersey, he will also receive a polka dot jersey for the best mountaineer and white for the best young rider. “After Wednesday at the Col de la Loze, I was only thinking about second place. It would be a nice result and I wanted to keep it,” Pogačar returned to the royal stage, in which he lost 15 seconds to Roglič.
“I’m in the third week of the Grand Tour and I’m still feeling good. Some days are a little worse and some better. I think I have good genes. I should probably thank my parents,” said the young cyclist, who completed the first three-week race last year and near Roglič victory on the Vuelta ended third.
Pogachar’s turn today was reminiscent of the 1989 Tour, when American Greg LeMond eliminated a 50-second loss in the final time trial and won the race just eight seconds ahead of Frenchman Laurent Fignon.
At that time, Pogachar was not yet born. “I started watching the Tour around 2009, 2010. I cheered for (Albert) Contador, (Andy) Schleck, these riders. I trained and then I was watching TV for the rest of the day. And now I’m here and I’m excited to be in the yellow , “Pogačar said before the expected triumphant arrival in Paris.
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