Tadej Pogacar on Sunday hailed a new “golden age” for cycling after securing a third Tour de France title to add to his 2020 and 2021 triumphs.
The 25-year-old won the final day’s time-trial with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard finishing second at 1 minute, 3 seconds on the day to seal second overall ahead of Remco Evenepoel, third on the day and also third overall.
Victory also gave Pogacar the first Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
Photo: AFP
“It was an amazing journey. What a battle with Jonas and Remco. So much happened,” said the champion, who finished 6 minutes, 17 seconds ahead of Vingegaard in the final standings.
Evenepoel was 9 minutes, 18 seconds off the pace.
“We are living in the golden age of cycling. The rivalry with Remco, Jonas, Primoz [Roglic] is just incredible. We have to take advantage of this moment,” Pogacar said.
Pogacar won six stages on this edition of the Tour, just as he did when winning the Giro earlier in the season.
“To achieve the double is incredible,” said Pogacar, who had been runner-up to Vingegaard for the past two years. “When I won the Giro, some people said that it would serve as a safety net for me if I didn’t win the Tour. Winning the Tour still represents the level above and winning the two is the next level.”
The world’s greatest bike race, broadcast across the globe, featured a novelty finale on the French Riviera because of the Olympic Games in Paris.
Instead of the last day race around the Champs-Elysees, the Tour avoided the Olympic Games sites altogether.
With five stage wins already under his belt, Pogacar stormed out of his adopted hometown of Monaco and up the coast to Nice where he leapt into the arms of his teammates on the celebrated Promenade des Anglais.
Evenepoel might not have won the final day time-trial, but he captured the first time-trial in week two. He also came third in the overall standings and won the white jersey for best young rider.
“Tadej is on another planet, I have a gap to bridge between me, Tadej and Jonas, but this was a good Tour, a good test for me,” the 24-year-old Belgian said.
Other stars emerged along the way, including Eritrean rider Biniam Girmay, who won three stages, the sprint points green jersey and national hero status in his homeland.
Riding a green bike and also decked out from head to toe in the color, Girmay was seen off by a clutch of his countrymen in Monaco.
“It’s astonishing,” the Eritrean said. “The feelings, the emotions, I want to share them with the people from my country.”
The 24-year-old became the first black African to win a Tour stage when he claimed victory on day three this year.
In 2022, he was also the first black African to clinch a Grand Tour stage victory at the Giro d’Italia.
“It was a long time to just get a victory in the Tour de France,” Girmay told reporters after finishing his second Tour de France.
“Now it’s totally different. To win the jersey is something you cannot dream of. I remember a couple of months ago I didn’t think about it, it’s unreal,” he added.
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