Pogačar the Romantic
It was 1985 and a full field sprint was charging into the West Flanders town of Harelbeke towards the finish of the GP E3. The Panasonic team was at its peak, with star sprinter Eric Vanderaerden sharing leadership duties with the great Australian Phil Andersen. Phil and Eric were sprinting on opposite sides of the road, when, with 50-meters to go, the Belgian suddenly seemed to back off allowing his teammate the win. It was pretty clear that a debt was being paid, or a downpayment made for future collaboration – Phil went on to win the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse that year, so he was a massive force needing be harnessed. I clearly remember Eddy Merck’s reaction to the gesture: it was almost violently angry.
“Vanderaerden is a great champion and Anderson is just a good racer (this was before Phil’s stage race rampage later that spring). A champion never ever gives anything away, it is their duty to crush everything in front of them!” I’m paraphrasing here – it was a long time ago- but that was the general gist. I remember that it took Eddy a long time to calm down on the matter, so aggrieved was he that a big race would be given away like that, teammate or not.
“Pas de cadeaux dans la course!” That is one of the first racing phrases one learns in France: No presents given in a race. Whether in a breakaway, a bridge or at the finish, you never ever give anything away. So where is all this handwringing over Tadej Pogačar’s victory of the Queen Stage of yesterday coming from? Especially from people who should know better. The Visma/Lease a Bike and UAE teams are in a blood fight, one that has been going on since the Slovenian wunderkind crushed their hopes in 2020 to win that Tour and announce himself to the world. The Visma humiliated him in 2022 and 2023 – there was no kind and tender going on then – and now Pogačar is extracting his revenge and asserting himself as one of the greats of all time.
Cycling is, and always has been, a professional sport. Which means it is a business, an entertainment business that, like boxing, thrives on super champions who inspire awe. As did Coppi, Anquetil, Joe Louis, Ali, Merckx and now, because he belongs there, Tadej Pogačar. It is his duty, to his sponsors, to his fans and especially to his hard-working teammates, to win. That’s the job: win the biggest bicycle races in the world. It’s one thing to let a breakaway go on a “transition stage” (stage of lesser importance linking the Alps and Pyrenees) but the Queen Stage, one that takes in the historic climbs of the Col de Vars (18.8-kilometers at 5.7% topping out at 2100-meters) and especially the Cima de la Bonnette (22.9-k at 6.9%) the highest paved road in France at a nosebleed 2800-meters high, is not a trinket to be passed around. To win that race is a major accomplishment, one that would rank at the top of any champion’s palmarés.
I find Pogačar to be a romantic, one in love with his sport and deeply aware of its history. Some of this might have come from Slovenia’s border with Italy and the centuries of Italian influence and occupation of the tiny country – Italy seems to be important to him and I’m sure he’s delighted to be racing on Colnago, that most historic Italian machine and direct link to the glory, full-on Cannibal days of Eddy Merckx. Team UAE is the latest iteration of the Colnago teams that boasted Merckx, Giuseppe Saronni, Tony Rominger among others. There is deep racing knowledge in that UAE team and the Yellow Jersey hears all the stories, I’m sure. Tadej Pogačar wants to become the greatest of all time. The pathway to achieving that goal begins with winning races and not ever giving anything away. Pas de cadeaux dans la course.