Tadej Pogačar won 25 times in the 2025 season, with all but two - the World Championships road race and the Giro dell'Emilia - at World Tour level. To put that into context, Visma-Lease a Bike, the team with the second-most wins at World Tour level this year, have won 18 WT races.
The Slovenian phenomenon stormed to victory at II Lombardia last weekend, becoming the first male rider ever to win two Grand Tours (the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia), two Monuments (LiègeBastogne-Liège and Lombardia), and the Worlds in the same season.
The win in Italy was very much to type for the UAE Team Emirates rider this season; a long-range attack, unable to be shut down, and the inevitable victory. Pogačar went solo with 48.4km to go, small fry compared to his efforts at the World Championships and Strade Bianche, but still impressive.
What was different about this win, though, was the margin of victory. Secondplaced Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) was 3:16 behind, with Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) another 1:15 further back. It marked the biggest-ever victory for Pogačar at a one-day race, perhaps a suggestion that his rivals had given up even the idea of the chase. Why bother trying to follow Pogačar when it's very likely to only end one way?
This story is from the October 17, 2024 edition of Cycling Weekly.
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This story is from the October 17, 2024 edition of Cycling Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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