Strade Bianche – Off-road, Tadej Pogacar is one of the favorites with Julian Alaphilippe

Tadej Pogacar does not like world championships. Often at the service of others, Primoz Roglic in this case, he never shines there. However, it has also proven that it can be as lethal in a day as in one or three weeks. Go find out why, the Worlds, he can’t do it. Since his advent in September 2020, the Slovenian has completed 12 one-day races. Only of them of them saw him finish beyond the Top 15. Yes we are talking about the 2020 (33rd) and 2021 (37th) Worlds here. For the rest, his successes in Liège and in Lombardy prove his immense value in the field.

If the majority of the media noise at the approach of the biggest one-day races, of which the Strade Bianche are a part despite their “youth” (2007), is most often made around the trio Van Aert, van der Poel, Alaphilippe , it is worth remembering that none of these three men has more than one success on Monuments. Another figure, in the current peloton, they are only three to do better than Pogacar on the five biggest classics of the calendar: Gilbert, Valverde (4) and Nibali (3). The fact that this trio has an average age of 39 says it all about the difficulty of stringing together major victories in these races. It also recalls the exceptional precocity of the Slovenian champion.

But Tadej Pogacar is unique in many ways. If the names of Remco Evenepoel and Egan Bernal are attached to him when it comes to evoking these young great champions, the Slovenian places himself in a category of his own. “In cycling, if you want to be competitive on the Grand Tours, you have to be good at many types of races, including one-day races.he explained after his victory in Lombardy at the end of 2021. Anything can happen on a Grand Tour and you use all your experiences, it helps you. This is what cycling has become.”

No coincidence, therefore, if Pogacar never seems caught off guard, if he has many different weapons to win. When at the same time, journalists had asked him about his objectives for 2022, Pogacar had not drawn up a list: “My dream is to enjoy the bike as much as possible. When I’m no longer enjoying it, I’ll look for other goals“, he had replied. Terrible, however, the Strade Bianche correspond to the description. The runners take great pleasure in the magnificent landscapes and in an often unbridled race.

Pogacar did cyclo-cross this winter

As Cyclingnews reminds us, Tadej Pogacar competed in a few cyclo-crosses this winter, even winning a round of the Slovenian cup just after Christmas. Being skilful on your bike is obviously a sine qua non for victory on the white roads of Tuscany. 30th in 2019, 13th in 2020 and 7th in 2021, “Pogi” is getting closer to the top of the basket, year after year. Yet Pogacar rarely waits that long to tame a race.

It was his first participation in the Tour de France and in Lombardy and only the third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The Slovenian glutton learns very quickly and there is no doubt that he is now feared everywhere. If we asked Julian Alaphilippe to draw up the list of favorites for this Saturday, Pogacar’s name would probably not be far from first place. This is proof of the path covered in an extremely short time by the double winner of the Tour de France.

Obviously an excellent climber, just as good a rider, Pogacar has, like Roglic, a punch to make the majority of the riders in the peloton pale. It is no coincidence that his track record already has 33 successes. As the years progress, learning continues (yes, yes), the leader of UAE-Emirates will undoubtedly become ever more worrying in one-day races. With Liège and Lombardy, he seriously raised the quality of a prize list which was not lacking. The Strade Bianche, which some consider, a little hastily perhaps, as the sixth Monument, would not make a mark in the decor. Far from there.