By: Sandy Wang

After two consecutive Tour de France wins in 2020 and 2021, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia fell down to second place for the next two years as Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark became the champion. However, no one expected the remarkable comeback Pogacar made this year when he won the Tour de France for the third time, becoming sixth ranked in Tour wins.

Every year, 176 cyclists from all around the world gather in France to participate in the Tour de France that takes place during July. The all-men race consists of 21 stages, one day per stage, in which cyclists bike from one place to the next, with rest days in between.

“After two hard years in the Tour de France, always some mistakes,” Pogacar said. “This year — everything to perfection. I am super happy to win here.” Indeed, everything worked “to perfection” this year. Before the last two stages, Pogacar was already in the lead by a total of three minutes and eleven seconds. The only possible way to pull ahead of him was if he had a meltdown during the Alpine climbs. Instead of having a meltdown, Pogacar extended his lead so much that he passed Vingegaard, and then proceeded to take down Matteo Jorgenson of the United States the next day, winning his fourth stage in the race and adding nearly two whole minutes to his lead, making him nearly impossible to beat.

Vingegaard, suffering from ribs and a collarbone that were broken during a crash in April, realized that there was no longer any point in attempting to beat Pogacar and rather, on Saturday, started focusing on beating Remco Evenepoel of Belgium to second place.

On Sunday, the last day of the race, Pogacar was already in the lead by 5 minutes and 14 seconds. He and Vingegaard raced towards the finish line, leaving all of the other bikers far behind them. Yet, as Vingegaard grew increasingly tired, Pogacar only cycled faster and faster in the last few hundred yards, eventually crossing the finish line and winning the Tour de France. Pleased with his performance, Pogacar said, “This is the first one I was totally confident every day. Even in the Giro I had one bad day — I won’t tell which one.”

However, without a doubt, Pogacar and Vingegaard will continue rivaling for first place in the next few years as the world looks on.

Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/sports/cycling/pogacar-tour-de-france.html

Image Credit: https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiedosto:Tadej_Pogacar_in_the_descent_of_Tourmalet_pass_during_stage_14_of_TDF_24.jpg