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Tadej Pogacar secured his third Tour de France title on Sunday, July 21, after his wins in 2020 and 2021. With the win, he became the first rider to achieve the Giro d’Italia/Tour de France double since 1998. Pogacar won the final day’s time trial while defending champion Jonas Vingegaard came second by clocking a time of 1 minute and 03 seconds on the day with Remco Evenepoel coming third on the day as well as third, overall.
The 25-year-old, who finished 6 minutes 17 seconds ahead of Vingegaard in the final standings, said, “It was an amazing journey. What a battle with Jonas and Remco. So much happened. We are living in the golden age of cycling. The rivalry with Remco (Evenepoel), Jonas (Vingegaard), and Primoz (Roglic) is just incredible. We have to take advantage of this moment.”
He added, “When I won the Giro, some people said it would serve as a safety net for me if I didn’t win the Tour. Winning the Tour represents the level above and winning the two is the next level.” Notably, Evenepoel was 9 minutes and 18 seconds off the pace. Talking about Pogacar, he won six stages of this edition of the Tour similar to how he won the Giro earlier this season.
Vingegaard said, “Under normal circumstances I would have been disappointed. This is such a wonderful race, the yellow jersey is the most beautiful of all. I’ll be back to try for a third one next year.”
