By: Serena She
As he neared the finish line of the Tour de France on July 21, 2024, Tadej Pogačar, wearing his yellow jersey symbolizing overall excellence, outstretched both his arms to embrace the cheers of a hailing crowd. After a 45-minute and 24-second ride, Pogačar came out first in the final individual time-trial stage and first overall, ahead of his opponents by over a minute.
Pogačar’s victory in the 2024 Tour de France marks his 3rd win, with previous titles earned in 2020 and 2021. Earlier this year, he also won the Giro d’Italia, which makes him among the few who have completed the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double.
This year’s Tour de France, held from June 29 to July 21, traversed several cities throughout France, Italy, San Marino, and Monaco, but notably did not end in Paris, as it usually does, due to the Paris 2024 Olympics taking place there between the end of July and beginning of August; instead, it ended with a time trial between Monaco and Nice.
In the overall standings, 2nd place winner Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark was around 6 minutes and 17 seconds behind Pogačar and 3rd place winner Remco Evenepoel, who has won the Tour twice previously, was around 9:18 behind Pogačar.
Of the 21 stages of the race, Pogačar won 6 this year, 5 of which were on mountainous terrain. His main opponent, Vingegaard, won only one. He, however, was recovering from major rib and lung injuries following a crash in the Itzulia Basque Country in April, leading to his statement, “Under normal circumstances, I would be disappointed with my Tour de France. But, after everything I’ve gone through, I can’t be disappointed.” Having won the Tour the previous two years, Vingegaard has proven to be a fierce competitor with high expectations despite his injuries.
Pogačar, however, contentedly remarked, “After two hard years in the Tour de France, always some mistakes. This year — everything to perfection.”
While Pogačar experienced one of his prime days and Vingegaard one of his toughest, they still emerged as the top two. The coming years will reveal a tight rivalry between the two.