Tadej Pogacar eyes Mathieu van der Poel's worlds rainbow jersey after Tour de France win - 'I want to take it'

Published 21/07/2024 at 19:30 GMT

Tadej Pogacar sent a warning signal to world champion Mathieu van der Poel as he celebrated winning his third Tour de France title, sealing the deal with another dominant victory in the Stage 21 time trial to knock his rivals for six. The Slovenian cruised through the Giro d'Italia in May and now, after securing both pink and yellow this year, has his eyes on the world champion's rainbow stripes.

Pogacar clinches Tour de France title with stunning sixth victory in Nice

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) sealed a dominant Tour de France success - his third in five years - with a stunning individual time trial victory on the final stage, his sixth stage win in the race to add to his six at the Giro d'Italia, which he also won in spectacular fashion.

Just over halfway through a stunning season that has seen him break records and make history, the Slovenian made it clear he has his eyes on even bigger prizes.

Victory in Sunday's time trial from Monaco to Nice saw him seal the prestigious Giro-Tour double, becoming the first man to do so since Marco Pantani in 1998.

Tour de France

'Taking my time to recover' – Roglic shares extent of injury suffered at Tour de France

24/07/2024 at 13:26

Pogacar now adds his name to a list of all-time greats including Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain, Fausto Coppi and Bernard Hinault to have achieved the feat.

“I’m super happy, I cannot describe how happy I am," he said afterwards.

"After two hard years in the Tour de France, always some mistakes, and this year everything to perfection. It’s incredible.

"This is the first Grand Tour where I was totally confident every day, even in the Giro I remember I had one bad day but I won’t tell which one.

"This Tour de France was amazing, I was enjoying from day one until today and I had such great support behind me. I just couldn’t let anyone down so I was enjoying it for them as well."

Next on Pogacar's list to tick off - and a result that would add to his already Hall of Fame-worthy career - is the Triple Crown of Giro, Tour, and World Championships gold.

'Incredible' - Pogacar reacts to imperious third Tour de France title

In a warning to the current champion, Pogacar said: “[Mathieu] van der Poel looks really good in the world champion’s jersey but I want to take it from him. I want one time to have the rainbow jersey on my back but I still have time for that."

This year's World Championships take place in late September in Zurich, on a parcours that is likely to suit the man dubbed as the next Merckx. So far only the Belgian great and Ireland's Stephen Roche have won the Triple Crown, last achieved by Roche in 1987, but Pogacar looks the most likely candidate to break that 37-year streak.

At the Tour, Pogacar has - at least for now - bested rival Jonas Vingegaard, with three overall titles to the Dane's two, and the two best riders in the world have shared ownership of the race for the past five years.

He acknowledged that some had met his decision to race both the Giro and Tour in the same year with raised eyebrows, believing that he was hedging his bets and did not have the confidence that he could beat Vingegaard at the third time of trying.

"Maybe for some people would think the Giro was a safety net if I don’t succeed in the Tour de France, and for sure it would be if I didn’t succeed," he conceded.

"To win the Tour de France is another level and to win both together is another level above that level. I’m really happy we did it."

Pogacar also paid tribute to his rivals, who congratulated him at the finish line in Nice.

“I think in the last two years we’ve been hearing that this is the best era of cycling, and [even] if I would not be competing myself, I think I could also say it’s the best cycling era ever, at least for GC," he said.

"This kind of competition with Remco [Evenepoel], Jonas, Primoz [Roglic] is just incredible and the young guys that are coming more and more. It’s beautiful, in my opinion.”

discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.

Tour de France