Pogacar secures third Tour de France title with stage 21 victory

PARIS, France, July 22 – Tadej Pogacar has completed a sensational one-two victory in the Tour de France-Giro d’Italia by winning the time trial on stage 21 to Nice.

The UAE Team Emirates rider closed out the Tour with a sixth stage win and became the first man to win cycling’s two biggest races in the same year since Italy’s Marco Pantani in 1998.

The Tour’s finale was held outside Paris for the first time since 1903, as the French capital prepared for the Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old Slovenian Pogacar, who wore the yellow jersey, finished the stage with a lead of 63 seconds over number two Jonas Vingegaard.

With this victory he secured his third Tour de France title and extended his lead over his nearest rival and two-time winner Vingegaard of Visma–Lease a Bike to six minutes and 17 seconds.

“I can’t describe how happy I am,” Pogacar said.

“After two tough years in the Tour de France, everything went perfectly this year.”

Tour debutant Remco Evenepoel, riding for Soudal–Quick-Step, finished third in the stage and completed the podium in the general classification, nine minutes and 18 seconds behind Pogacar.

The 2024 edition will also be remembered for Mark Cavendish’s 35th stage win in Saint Vulbas in the opening week.

Probably last race

After the final stage, the legendary British sprinter said this year’s Tour was likely to be his last race.

Pogacar dominated this year’s Tour de France, becoming the first rider to win six stages in one edition since Cavendish in 2009.

He also wore the yellow jersey for 19 days, only wearing it in the fourth stage.

This year’s Tour was likely won on stage 15, when Pogacar, who had already built up a lead of almost two minutes, took victory on a tough climb to the Plateau de Beille, extending his lead over Vingegaard by a further 69 seconds.

Four days later he had secured overall victory and headed to Isola 2000, where he was another minute and 42 seconds faster than his closest rivals.

The Slovenian seemed to be a level above Vingegaard, behind whom he finished second in the last two editions. The Dane is still recovering from a broken collarbone and ribs he suffered in April.

But even a fully fit Vingegaard would have struggled to keep up with Pogacar’s pace.

His dominance in the Tour de France is similar to his performance in this year’s Giro d’Italia, where he outsprinted the competition by nine minutes and 56 seconds to win.

“It would have been an incredible year already, but winning the Tour de France is a whole other level,” Pogacar added.

“If you win both at the same time, that’s another level up.”

In July, Pogacar said he was “99% sure” he would not compete in this year’s Vuelta a Espana, where he could become the first rider ever to win all three Grand Tours in the same calendar year.

He will represent Slovenia in the men’s road race at the Olympic Games in Paris on August 3.

Girmay from Eritrea makes history

By finishing safely in Nice, sprinter Biniam Girmay made history: he became the first black African winner of the Tour de France points classification.

He had a sensational race. On day three he became the first Eritrean to win a stage in the Tour, and then he took two more victories – on stage eight and stage 12.

The 24-year-old green jersey winner was one of only six black African riders in the top WorldTour peloton of 534 riders in 2023, the year he made his Tour de France debut.

The ‘African king’ has struggled with visa problems and loneliness since moving to Europe six years ago.

The mountain classification was won by Richard Carapaz, while 24-year-old Belgian Evenepoel claimed the white jersey as best rider in the general classification under 25.