It was born for these days. He is a cyclist dedicated to the epic, all spectacle, and in the queen stage of the Giro d’Italia, with a gradient of 5,400 and with ascent to five climbs, including the legendary Mortirolo, Tadej Pogacar did not miss his date with history. The Slovenian won his fourth stage in this edition with an exhibition, the umpteenth of his career at 25 years old, and destroyed all of his rivals for the final victory in the Italian round.
Geraint Thomas, his main pursuer, is already 6m41s behind. He was not needed, his victory in the general classification was practically sealed before stage 15, but the leader of the UAE is not made to maintain advantages and calculate efforts. It’s all momentum. It’s bravery. It’s ambition. It’s insatiable. It is pure cycling.
“It has been one of the best days of my career. The tour has been beautiful and the team’s work incredible. I’m very happy. When the wind came in favor I attacked,” explained the man from Komenda after reaching the finish line alone in Livigno, after facing some very tough last meters with slopes of up to 19%.
The Slovenian did what he wanted when he wanted with the invaluable help of his team. He waited for the right moment, with 15 km to go, to launch a devastating attack, without any response from his opponents for the pink jersey. He reduced the 3-minute gap with the escapees with astonishing ease and perfectly controlled the assault on his last obstacle for the victory, a Nairo Quintana whom he overtook with 2 km remaining to the finish line. “When Froome and Quintana were there I was angry with Quintana because he didn’t attack, but today he has done a great job,” the Slovenian recalled the fights between the British and the Colombian when he saw them on television.
The Movistar cyclist was the last survivor of a massive escape that was consolidated very soon, before facing the first climb when there were still close to 200 km to go. More than 70 runners jumped out of a peloton that knew how to keep their distance from the escapees. The UAE let things happen until the moment of truth arrived.
Christian Scaroni will have the satisfaction of having climbed the Mortirolo first and in the ascent to Passo di Foscagno, penultimate of the day, the escapee Steinhauser, with a constant pace, dreamed of victory after a solo attack. They followed the German Valter, Storer and ultimately a Quintana who at times recalled the cyclist who won the Giro a decade ago, in 2014. The Colombian reached Steinhauser’s wheel and released him in search of victory.
But that was when the spotlight turned radically towards the peloton. Rafal Majka, who was leading the pace of the large group, began to show signs of fatigue and behind him Pogacar was talking on the earpiece with the team. He could have said “now the exhibition begins” because just a few meters later a storm broke out.
The Slovenian launched an attack that only obtained a minimal response, just a few seconds, from Daniel Martínez, third overall. The Bora player immediately ruled out following the rhythm of a pink jersey that began to devour rivals without any hint of fatigue.
Riding the big plate, Pogacar made visual contact with Quintana before reaching the top of Passo di Foscagno. The UAE rider cautiously negotiated the descent and broke down the resistance of the Movistar climber before facing a very demanding final kilometer of gravel, surrounded by the snow that decorated the top of Livigno. Perhaps to prove that he is human, Pogacar twisted in the last meters. With his last breath he celebrated his victory by raising his index finger, perhaps to signal that he is, without a doubt, the best cyclist in the Giro and probably the most spectacular in the world.
1. Tadej Pogacar (ESL) UAE Team Emirates 6:11:43
2. Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar Team 29
3. Georg Steinhauser (ALE) EF Education – EasyPost 2:32
4. Romain Bardet (FRA) Team dsm-firmenich – 2:47
5. Daniel Martínez (COL) BORA – hansgrohe 2:50
1. Tadej Pogacar (ESL) UAE Team Emirates 56:11:46
2. Geraint Thomas (GBR) INEOS Grenadiers 6:41
3. Daniel Martínez (COL) BORA – hansgrohe 6:56
4. Ben O’Connor (AUS) Decathlon – AG2R 7:43
5. Antonio Tiberi (ITA) Bahrain Victorious 9:27
