Tadej PogaÃÂar (born 21 September 1998), nicknamed "Pogi", is a Slovenian professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His victories include four Tours de France (2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025), the 2024 Giro d'Italia, and eleven one-day Monuments (MilanâÂÂSan Remo once, Tour of Flanders twice, LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège three times and Giro di Lombardia five times), as well as the World Championship Road Race twice. Comfortable in time-trialing, one-day classic riding and grand-tour climbing, he has been compared to all-round cyclists such as Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. He is considered one of the greatest cyclists of all time.
In 2024 he became only the third male cyclist, after Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987, to achieve the Triple Crown of Cycling, winning the Giro, the Tour, and the World Championships in the same year. He is the only rider in history who took the Triple Crown and two monuments (LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège and Giro di Lombardia) in the same year. In 2025, he became the first male cyclist to win both the Tour de France and the UCI Road World Championship Road Race in two successive years (2024 and 2025).
Born in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia (and grew up in Klanec), PogaÃÂar was a successful junior rider, winning the 2018 Tour de l'Avenir. Aged 20 in 2019, he became the youngest cyclist to win a UCI World Tour race at the Tour of California, and won three stages of the Vuelta a España en route to an overall third-place finish and the young rider title. In both his 2020 debut at the Tour de France and the following year, he won three stages and the race overall, as well as the mountains and young-rider classifications, becoming the only rider to win these three classifications simultaneously. 2021 also saw PogaÃÂar's first successes in the major Monument one-day races, at the Giro di Lombardia and LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège. Subsequent seasons saw further wins in these, with the Tour of Flanders also added to his palmarès in 2023. Meanwhile, in the Grand Tours, PogaÃÂar had consecutive 2nd-place finishes in the Tour de France to Jonas Vingegaard, with whom his rivalry is considered to be one of the greatest of all time. This run ended in 2024 when he completed the first Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double since 1998, winning 12 stages across both races.
PogaÃÂar has been praised for his attacking riding style, an approach which PogaÃÂar himself has jokingly referred to as a "stupid instinct" during a time when many others have ridden more conservatively to manage energy levels. His aim to be competitive across both the Monuments and Grand Tours has been labelled as a return to "classic" bike racing of the 1960sâÂÂ1980s, and this success across multiple fronts has led to him being the UCI road racing world No.1 for a record total number of weeks and record number of consecutive weeks.
PogaÃÂar followed his older brother Tilen in joining the Rog Ljubljana club at the age of nine. In 2011 he came to the attention of Road World Championship medalist Andrej Hauptman, who later became his coach, and head coach & selector for the Slovenian national cycling team. Hauptman watched PogaÃÂar pursuing a group of much older teenagers from 100 meters behind. Thinking that PogaÃÂar was struggling to keep up with the older riders, he told the race organisers that they should provide some assistance to PogaÃÂar: the organisers explained that the younger rider was in fact about to lap the group he was chasing. Hauptman subsequently managed PogaÃÂar as an under-23 rider with the team, before joining UAE Team Emirates as a directeur sportif in May 2019, after PogaÃÂar joined the team.
In 2018, PogaÃÂar won the Tour de l'Avenir (an under-23 race similar to the Tour de France), riding for the Slovenian national team.
In August 2018, announced they had signed PogaÃÂar for the 2019 season, describing him as a "very talented young Slovenian cyclist". In 2019, PogaÃÂar made his debut for the team at the Tour Down Under, where he finished 13th overall. He went on to win the Volta ao Algarve, taking the race lead after winning the second stage. He also placed sixth at the Tour of the Basque Country. In May 2019, he won the Tour of California, becoming the youngest rider to win a UCI WorldTour stage race. He took the race lead after winning the queen stage to Mount Baldy on stage 6. In June, PogaÃÂar won the Slovenian national time trial championship after beating Matej MohoriÃÂ by 29 seconds.
In August, PogaÃÂar was named in the team's start list for the Vuelta a España, his debut in a Grand Tour. In the first week, he performed strongly, placing himself in the top ten on GC (General Classification) before winning his first Grand Tour stage on the rain-soaked stage to Cortals d'Encamp. The win allowed him to move inside the top five on GC. On stage 13, which finished on the steep climb of Los Machucos, he was the only rider to stay with the race leader and his compatriot, Primoà ¾ RogliÃÂ. PogaÃÂar ended up winning his second stage to move up to third overall, where he stayed heading into the second rest day. After losing time on stage 18, he dropped down to fifth on GC. On the penultimate stage, with one last chance to move up the standings, PogaÃÂar launched an attack, going on an almost solo breakaway. He eventually took his third stage win, winning by more than a minute and a half over the rest of the contenders. The win allowed him to finish the Vuelta in third overall, the final podium position, and giving him the victory in the young rider classification.
Before the season started, PogaÃÂar announced that he was making his debut at the Tour de France, where he planned on riding in support of Fabio Aru. He made his season debut at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, where he won two stages on his way to winning the race. At the curtailed UAE Tour, he won the fifth stage, which finished atop the Jebel Hafeet, and finishing second to Adam Yates on GC. In March, cycling events were among those postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. When the season resumed, he took fourth overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné. In the Slovenian national championships, he finished second to Primoà ¾ Rogliàin the road race before defeating him in the time trial, defending his title.
In the Tour de France, PogaÃÂar quickly demonstrated that he was in better form than Aru, his team's initial leader, after finishing second to Rogliàon stage four, which finished atop the climb of Orcières-Merlette. He lost almost a minute and a half on stage 7, which was affected by crosswinds. The next day, he began to claw back time when he attacked on the Col de Peyresourde, gaining back 38 seconds over the rest of the contenders. After Aru withdrew on stage 9, PogaÃÂar won the stage to Laruns, his first Tour stage win, by outsprinting Egan Bernal and RogliÃÂ, who took the maillot jaune, as well as Marc Hirschi, who had been on an solo breakaway. On stage 13, which finished atop the steep climb of Puy Mary, he was the only rider to stay with Rogliàand moving up to second overall at 44 seconds down. He also took the lead in the young rider classification in the process. Two days later, he outsprinted Rogliàat the top of the Col du Grand Colombier to take his second stage of the race.
At the beginning of the third week, PogaÃÂar sat in second overall at 40 seconds behind RogliÃÂ. On stage 17, the queen stage, which finished atop the Col de la Loze, he struggled to follow RogliÃÂ, eventually losing 17 seconds. Ahead of the penultimate stage, a time trial finishing at La Planche des Belles Filles, PogaÃÂar faced a 57-second deficit to RogliÃÂ. He began to claw back time from his compatriot, and he headed into the final climb with a lead of 36 seconds in the stage and a deficit of 21 seconds on the virtual GC. PogaÃÂar gained time on the climb before going into the virtual maillot jaune with left. He took the stage victory, his third of the race, almost a minute and a half ahead of Tom Dumoulin while RogliÃÂ finished almost two minutes down. The result meant he took the maillot jaune with a lead of 59 seconds on RogliÃÂ and the lead in the mountain classification. The next day, he finished safely in the peloton to officially win the Tour, becoming the first Slovenian winner of the race. At the age of 21, he also became the second youngest winner of the Tour, just behind Henri Cornet, who won the Tour in 1904 at the age of 19. In addition to winning the Tour, he also won the young rider classification as well as the mountains classification. The previous rider to win three jerseys was Eddy Merckx in 1972. He became the twelfth rider to win the Tour de France on his first attempt, and the first since 1983.
After the Tour, PogaÃÂar competed in the men's road race at the World Championships, where he supported RogliÃÂ, who finished in sixth place. Three days later, he competed at La Flèche Wallonne where he finished in ninth place. He ended his season at LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège, where he originally finished in fourth place before moving up to third following Julian Alaphilippe's relegation.
PogaÃÂar started the 2021 season by winning the UAE Tour, TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico, LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège â his first win in a monument and the Tour of Slovenia.
PogaÃÂar began the 2021 Tour de France as one of the pre-race favorites along with Primoà ¾ RogliÃÂ, Geraint Thomas and Richard Carapaz. On stage one he finished with the group of favorites eight seconds behind stage winner Julian Alaphilippe and took the lead in the white jersey classification. PogaÃÂar won the fifth stage, the race's first time trial, finishing 18 seconds ahead of Stefan Küng and taking significant time out of his GC rivals. On stage eight he launched an attack, from more than six minutes behind the breakaway, taking over the yellow jersey with a lead of over four and a half minutes on those considered to be contenders for the overall victory. PogaÃÂar extended his GC lead on the ninth stage to Tignes, responding to an attack by Carapaz on the final climb from the finish and dropping his rivals in the main group, emerging with an overall lead of over two minutes over second placed Ben O'Connor, who had moved up the order after winning the stage from the breakaway.
Following stage eleven, which included a double ascent of Mont Ventoux, the closest rivals to PogaÃÂar included Rigoberto Urán, Jonas Vingegaard and Carapaz, but all them remained more than five minutes behind. PogaÃÂar had temporarily lost some time to Vingegaard on the final ascent of Ventoux before catching him on the descent to the finish alongside Carapaz and Uran. PogaÃÂar extended his lead further with wins on stages 17 (to the Col de Portet) and 18 (in Luz Ardiden), by which point he had a lead of 5' 45" over Vingegaard and an unassailable lead in the polka dot jersey classification. On the penultimate 20th stage, a time trial between Libourne and Saint-ÃÂmilion, PogaÃÂar conceded half a minute to Vingegaard but retained a lead of over five minutes going into the final stage to Champs-ÃÂlysées in Paris.
PogaÃÂar's win made him the youngest cyclist to win consecutive Tours. This was also the second year in a row that he won three distinctive jerseys. Both during and at the end of the Tour there were accusations of doping on social media and in the press due to the dominance PogaÃÂar displayed. When asked about it he answered, "For sure I am not angry about it. They are uncomfortable questions because the [cycling] history was really bad. I totally understand why there are all of these questions."
Jonathan Vaughters, the directeur sportif of one of the teams who had a GC rider competing against PogaÃÂar, Team , offered an explanation for how PogaÃÂar was able to be so successful on stage eight. He explained that the twin factors of uncharacteristic weather conditions and chaotic, uncontrolled racing dynamics played a part. In addition to this in previous years there was usually a dominant team who would contain the attacks of any riders considered a threat for victory, whether it was Team Ineos, Team Jumbo-Visma or Movistar Team. During the 2021 Tour teams Ineos and Jumbo had both suffered from the first week crashes and Movistar was not as strong as they had been in years past. As such by the time PogaÃÂar launched his attack late in the stage, there were no teams remaining who were strong enough to keep him in check. Vaughters also stated, "Simply put, the race was so aggressive all day long, along with really the race as a whole on the flats, that basically by the time the peloton was taking in the climbs, they were cooked. This was further exacerbated by the wet conditions."
After the Tour de France, PogaÃÂar won the bronze medal in the men's road race at the Olympic Games after finishing behind Wout van Aert in the sprint for the silver medal. At the end of July, UAE Team Emirates announced that they had agreed a one-year extension to his contract, committing him to the team up to the end of 2027. PogaÃÂar took a break from racing following the Olympics, returning to competition at the Bretagne Classic OuestâÂÂFrance at the end of August, where he initially managed to follow an attack by Alaphilippe on a gravelled climb 60 km from the finish along with Mikkel Frølich Honoré and Benoît Cosnefroy, but was dropped by the other escapees who went on to take the podium places.
In September he competed at the European Road Championships in Trentino: in the road race, after a number of breakaways had emerged and been caught by the peloton, he followed an attack by Matteo Trentin to form part of a lead group which expanded to include ten riders. He did not keep pace with a further attack from this group 23 km from the end of the race, with a three-man selection of Remco Evenepoel, Sonny Colbrelli and Cosnefroy dropping their rivals and securing the medals. At the Road World Championships in Flanders later that month, PogaÃÂar finished 37th in the road race. He then moved on to Italy in October to compete in the autumn classics held there: although he failed to finish the Giro dell'Emilia, he made an impression at Tre Valli Varesine, animating the race with a long-race attack from 120 km: although he lost contact with the head of the race due to a puncture he won the sprint in the chase group to finish third. At MilanoâÂÂTorino, PogaÃÂar managed to keep pace with the other favourites for most of the day, emerging from the peloton's fragmentation in crosswinds 65 km from the end as part of a front group which absorbed the day's early breakaway, and remaining in contention for the win until losing contact with Adam Yates and Rogliàin the closing kilometres of the final climb up Superga: he subsequently lost the two-up sprint for third place to João Almeida.
A few days later, PogaÃÂar won his second monument at Il Lombardia, responding to an attack by Vincenzo Nibali by dropping the Italian and the rest of the lead group 30 km from the finish: although he was subsequently joined at the front of the race by Fausto Masnada, PogaÃÂar won the resulting two-man sprint at the finish line. He became the third rider after Fausto Coppi and Eddy Merckx to win two monuments and the Tour in the same year and just fourth rider to win the Tour de France and the Tour of Lombardy in the same season, after Coppi, Merckx and Bernard Hinault, and the first to do so in 42 years.
PogaÃÂar started the season off by defending his title at the UAE Tour, winning both mountaintop finishes in the process. Afterward, he went to Italy for a block of racing, starting with the Strade Bianche. Despite getting involved in a crash with around 100 kilometres to go, PogaÃÂar attacked on the longest sector of the race, the Monte Santa Marie, with around 50 kilometres remaining. PogaÃÂar gradually built his advantage to more than a minute, holding off the chasers to win the race solo. Two days later, PogaÃÂar started his title defense at Tirreno-Adriatico. He won the uphill finish on stage four before dominating the queen stage. PogaÃÂar won the general classification by almost two minutes over Jonas Vingegaard as well as winning the points and young rider classifications. A week later, PogaÃÂar rode Milan-San Remo, where he attacked several times on the Poggio before finishing in fifth.
A few days later, PogaÃÂar rode his first cobbled classic, the Dwars door Vlaanderen. He was unable to join the winning breakaway from the peloton, and after multiple attempts to bridge the gap, finished tenth. Afterward, he rode the Tour of Flanders, his debut at a cobbled Monument. PogaÃÂar attacked on the second ascent of Oude Kwaremont and the Koppenberg to pull ahead of the peloton with a select group of riders. He accelerated twice more on the final ascent of Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg and only Mathieu van der Poel was able to go with him. The duo rode slowly inside the final kilometre as they prepared for the sprint but this action allowed Dylan van Baarle and Valentin Madouas to come back in the final few hundred metres. PogaÃÂar ended up getting boxed in during the sprint, causing him to finish fourth as van der Poel took the win. Following the race, PogaÃÂar shifted his focus to the Ardennes classics starting with the Flèche Wallonne, where he finished twelfth. PogaÃÂar was scheduled to defend his title at LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège but he skipped it after the death of the mother of his fiancée, Urà ¡ka à ½igart. PogaÃÂar returned to competition at the Tour of Slovenia, his final race before the Tour. He and teammate Rafaà  Majka dominated the race, winning two stages each with PogaÃÂar winning the general classification ahead of Majka.
PogaÃÂar started the Tour with a third place in the first stage's short individual time trial, gaining time on his rivals for the general classification. On stage 5, which featured cobbles as part of the route, PogaÃÂar rode an aggressive race to gain 13 seconds on the rest of the favorites. The following day, PogaÃÂar won the uphill sprint to Longwy to move into the yellow jersey. On stage 7, which featured the race's first summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles, PogaÃÂar attacked inside the final kilometre. In the final few hundred metres, Jonas Vingegaard put in an acceleration that was only followed by the Slovenian. PogaÃÂar moved past Vingegaard near the line to win his second successive stage, extending his lead to 35 seconds over the Dane. The next stage, PogaÃÂar finished third in another uphill sprint to gain four more bonus seconds, extending his lead to 39 seconds over Vingegaard.
On stage 11, the race headed to the high mountains with a stage featuring the Télégraphe-Galibier combo before a summit finish at Col du Granon. On the Col du Télégraphe and on the lower slopes of Col du Galibier, Primoà ¾ Rogliàand Vingegaard began to repeatedly attack PogaÃÂar but the Slovenian was able to respond each time. PogaÃÂar responded by attacking toward the top of Galibier, bringing only Vingegaard with him. After the rest of the reduced peloton caught the duo on the descent, Vingegaard attacked on the Col du Granon with four kilometres left. PogaÃÂar was unable to respond as he cracked on the climb, losing three minutes and the yellow jersey to Vingegaard, who won the stage. Over the next five stages, PogaÃÂar repeatedly attacked Vingegaard but the Dane was able to respond each time. The race headed to the Pyrenees with PogaÃÂar facing a deficit of almost two and a half minutes to Vingegaard.
The seventeenth stage featured four climbs including a summit finish at Peyragudes. Mikkel Bjerg set a fast pace on the second climb before Brandon McNulty set a furious pace on the third climb, dropping everyone but PogaÃÂar and Vingegaard. On the final climb to Peyragudes, McNulty continued to set the pace before the top two on GC battled it out in a sprint. PogaÃÂar was able to outsprint Vingegaard to win his third stage in the race but the Dane still retained a lead of 2' 18" at the end of the day. The next stage, the race's final mountain stage to Hautacam, PogaÃÂar attacked multiple times on the penultimate climb, the Col du Spandelles, but Vingegaard was able to respond each time. On the descent of the Spandelles, PogaÃÂar crashed but he was able to quickly get back up. Vingegaard waited for PogaÃÂar, with the two shaking hands once PogaÃÂar had caught up. On the final climb to Hautacam, PogaÃÂar was dropped by Vingegaard, with the help of Wout van Aert who was in the breakaway. PogaÃÂar lost more than a minute to Vingegaard, who won the stage to consolidate his yellow jersey. On the penultimate day individual time trial, PogaÃÂar finished third to consolidate his second place on GC before the final stage to Champs-ÃÂlysées. PogaÃÂar finished the stage safely to officially finish second on GC as well as taking the young rider classification.
After the Tour, PogaÃÂar elected to skip the 2022 Vuelta a España. PogaÃÂar returned to racing at the Clásica de San Sebastián, where he was unable to keep up with the pace before climbing off. After a one-month break, PogaÃÂar rode at the Bretagne Classic and GP Québec, but was unable to battle for the win in either race. At the GP Montréal, PogaÃÂar was part of the five-man lead group that contested for the win. At the finish, PogaÃÂar outsprinted van Aert to take his fourteenth win of the season. Afterward, he travelled to Australia to compete at the World Championships. PogaÃÂar finished sixth in the individual time trial before crossing the line in 19th at the road race.
To finish the season, PogaÃÂar went to Italy for the autumn classics. At the Giro dell'Emilia, PogaÃÂar finished second after he was dropped by Enric Mas on the final climb of San Luca. As his final preparation for his title defense at Il Lombardia, PogaÃÂar rode at the Tre Valli Varesine, where he outsprinted the lead group to win the race, his fifteenth of the season. PogaÃÂar ended his season at the Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the year. After his team controlled the majority of the race, PogaÃÂar attacked on the climb of Civiglio with around 20 kilometres left. The only ones who were able to follow his move were Mas and Mikel Landa. On the final climb, the San Fermo della Battaglia, PogaÃÂar and Mas dropped Landa before contesting the win in a two-up sprint. At the line, PogaÃÂar outsprinted Mas to successfully defend his Il Lombardia title. With 16 wins, PogaÃÂar led the men's peloton with the most wins in the 2022 season.
PogaÃÂar started off the 2023 season with a win at the Jaén Paraiso Interior, before winning the overall in the Vuelta a AndalucÃÂa, as well as taking three stage victories and the points classification. PogaÃÂar's next race was Paris-Nice, where he again won the overall and three stages, defeating his rival Jonas Vingegaard in their first stage race head-to-head since the 2022 Tour de France.
PogaÃÂar continued his dominant start to the season with a podium finish at E3 Saxo Classic, before claiming victory at the 2023 Tour of Flanders, dropping defending champion Mathieu van der Poel on the Kwaremont and riding solo for the final 19 km. This made PogaÃÂar only the third male cyclist to win both the Tour de France and Tour of Flanders, after Louison Bobet and Eddy Merckx. Next, PogaÃÂar won the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, completing the Ardennes triple after winning LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège in 2021.
At the start of the 2023 LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège on 23 April, PogaÃÂar crashed with Mikkel Honore, which left him with a fractured wrist, bringing an end to his race. His wrist was successfully operated on and PogaÃÂar was able to return to training on the indoor bike a few weeks after, before joining his team at their training camp in Sierra Nevada. This injury occurred only months away from the Tour de France, casting doubts on whether he would be fit to race or be in the form he needed to compete in the General Classification and he had only two race days to get in shape before the Tour de France. PogaÃÂar won Stage 6 of the Tour de France 2023 from Tarbes to Cauterets-Cambasque, and Stage 20 from Belfort to Le Markstein. He came second overall in the general classification and has won the white jersey a record fourth time. He also set the record of days in white jersey at 75 days in total.
In August, PogaÃÂar attended the UCI World Championships, where he took bronze in the road race behind Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. To finish his season, PogaÃÂar won the 2023 Il Lombardia, his third consecutive victory at the race.
PogaÃÂar announced a challenging racing schedule for 2024, aiming for a Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double, alongside competing at the Summer Olympics and UCI World Championships. This program placed him in contention for the Triple Crown of Cycling, the feat of winning the Giro, Tour, and world championship road race in a single year, which has been called "cycling's most elite club". The Giro-Tour double alone, last completed by Marco Pantani in 1998, was considered "near-impossible" by cycling commentators.
On 2 March, PogaÃÂar opened his season by winning Strade Bianche. He attacked with to the finish, riding solo and winning by over two minutes ahead of second-place Toms Skujià Âà ¡. At Milan-San Remo, PogaÃÂar set a record time up the Poggio climb but failed to distance the field, finishing third in a bunch sprint. PogaÃÂar's next race was the Volta a Catalunya, where he won the general, points, and mountain classifications. He won four of the seven stages, finishing the race nearly four minutes ahead of runner-up Mikel Landa.
In April, PogaÃÂar won LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège with a solo attack from , his second victory at the race. He finished with a lead of one minute and 39 seconds, the largest winning margin since 1980. It was his sixth career Monument victory, tied with Mathieu van der Poel for the most by an active rider at the time.
PogaÃÂar began the Giro d'Italia as the heavy favorite to win the overall general classification. On stage 2, he attacked on the final climb to Santuario di Oropa, winning the stage solo and taking the pink jersey. PogaÃÂar won the individual time trial on stage 7 ahead of former world champion and stage favorite Filippo Ganna, before winning again the next day in an uphill sprint. PogaÃÂar again won back-to-back on stages 15 and 16: first attacking solo and closing a gap of almost three minutes to the breakaway to win the queen stage to Livigno, then winning on the summit finish of the rain-shortened stage 16. On the penultimate stage 20, he attacked on the Monte Grappa and completed a solo to win his sixth stage of the race. PogaÃÂar finished the race in Rome, winning both the mountains and general classifications. His margin of nearly 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Daniel MartÃÂnez was the largest since 1965.
In June, PogaÃÂar started the Tour de France; it was his first time riding two Grand Tours in the same year. He wore the maillot jaune after stage 2, then held it from stage 4 until the end of the race. In total, PogaÃÂar won six stages4, 14, 15, 19, 20, and 21 (ITT)including a victory on stage 15 to Plateau de Beille, where he beat Marco Pantani's climbing record by over three minutes, a feat multiple analysts called the greatest climbing performance in cycling history. PogaÃÂar himself called it the best performance of his career. By winning stages 19âÂÂ21 he became the first non-sprinter since 1938 to win three consecutive stages at the Tour. Across both Grand Tours, he wore the leader's jersey after 39 stages (20 in the Giro, 19 in the Tour), an all-time record ahead of Eddy Merckx with 37 in 1970 and Chris Froome with 34 in 2017. The day after the Tour concluded, PogaÃÂar withdrew from the Slovenia team for the Paris Olympics due to "extreme fatigue"; his decision was also swayed by the Slovenian Olympic Committee, which had not selected his fiancé Urà ¡ka à ½igart to compete at the Olympic Games â despite à ½igart being the Slovenian national champion in the road race and time trial. After media speculation he would ride three consecutive Grand Tours, PogaÃÂar also decided not to compete in the Vuelta a España.
After a nearly two-month break from racing, PogaÃÂar returned at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, where he placed 7th after attacking and being caught by the peloton in the closing kilometers. At the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, PogaÃÂar won after a solo attack, winning by a margin of 24 seconds. PogaÃÂar continued on to the UCI World Championships, where he won the road race ahead of Ben O'Connor and defending champion Mathieu van der Poel. PogaÃÂar was a heavy pre-race favorite, but the manner in which he won shocked both commentators and his fellow racers: attacking with over left in the race, and riding solo for the final 50 kilometres to his first world champion title. This made him the third male cyclist to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling, after Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987.
In October, PogaÃÂar raced the Italian autumn classics, starting with the Giro dell'Emilia. With to go, PogaÃÂar responded to an attack from Remco Evenepoel, then counterattacked and rode solo for the remainder of the race, winning by a margin of nearly two minutes. PogaÃÂar rode Tre Valli Varesine, but the race was cancelled due to bad weather after three laps. In Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the cycling calendar, PogaÃÂar attacked from out, riding solo to win by over 3 minutes ahead of runner-up Remco Evenepoel. This was the largest winning margin at the race since Eddy Merckx in 1971. It also marked PogaÃÂar's fourth Il Lombardia title, a feat not seen since Fausto Coppi over 75 years earlier.
At the end of October, announced that they had signed a contract extension with PogaÃÂar until 2030, with media reporting that the deal would net him â¬50 million over 5 years, not including bonuses. Media reported that the contract included a â¬200 million buyout clause to prevent PogaÃÂar moving to another team.
PogaÃÂar finished the 2024 season with 25 wins, 24 of them at the WorldTour level. Compatriot Primoà ¾ Rogliàfollowed in the WorldTour victories ranking with 8 wins, and Tim Merlier followed in the professional victories ranking with 16 wins. For the fourth consecutive year, PogaÃÂar finished first in the Individual UCI World Rankings with a record 11655 points. His 2024 season is widely regarded as the greatest ever.
Again there were suspicions of doping, to which he replied at the press conference following his win at the Tour: "There will always be jealousy".
In January, PogaÃÂar and his team announced his planned race schedule for 2025: focusing first on the spring classics, including MilanâÂÂSan Remo and the Tour of Flanders, before climbing-focused training leading into the Tour de France and world championships. Media commentators have also forecasted that PogaÃÂar will attempt the Tour-Vuelta a España double, as the Vuelta a España is the only Grand Tour missing from his palmarès as of 2025.
PogaÃÂar began his season at the UAE Tour. On stage 3 to the summit of Jebel Jais, he outsprinted a small group to take the stage win and overall leader's jersey. On stage 7 to the summit of Jebel Hafeet, PogaÃÂar won after a solo effort, sealing his general classification victory. In March, PogaÃÂar began his spring classics campaign at Strade Bianche. After forming a breakaway with Tom Pidcock, PogaÃÂar suffered a high-speed crash on the descent from Monteaperti with to the finish. PogaÃÂar avoided serious injury, and after a second stop to change his bike, he rejoined Pidcock. With to go, PogaÃÂar dropped Pidcock to defend his title, tying Fabian Cancellara's record with three victories in the race. At MilanâÂÂSan Remo, PogaÃÂar attacked several times on the Cipressa and the Poggio, dropping everyone but Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna, both of whom were able to out-sprint him for the top two podium positions, respectively. In March, PogaÃÂar announced that he would enter ParisâÂÂRoubaix for the first time.
In April, PogaÃÂar raced the Tour of Flanders, and was considered one of the top pre-race favorites alongside Mathieu van der Poel. During the race, PogaÃÂar attacked repeatedly, finally distancing van der Poel on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont and soloing the final 19 km to win his second Tour of Flanders title. A week later, in his Paris-Roubaix debut, PogaÃÂar managed to form a two-man lead group with van der Poel that went deep into the race. However, on sector 9 with to go, PogaÃÂar crashed on a right-hand turn, forcing him to change his bike and leaving van der Poel at the front. He tried to come back but he was forced to change his bike again following a puncture. He ended up finishing second, more than a minute behind van der Poel.
PogaÃÂar concluded his first part of the season at the Ardennes classics. He first raced the Amstel Gold Race where, after following an attack by Alaphilippe on the Kruisberg, he was caught by Evenepoel and Skjelmose, and ultimately sprinted to a second place. At La Flèche Wallonne, he attacked on the last passage on the Mur de Huy, winning with a margin of 10 seconds, the biggest at La Flèche Wallonne since Igor Astarloa in 2003. Finally, he secured a win at Liège-Bastogne-Liège by attacking for the second consecutive year on the La Redoute and soloing to victory.
PogaÃÂar returned to racing in June at the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he faced off against Vingegaard for the first time this season. On stage 1, PogaÃÂar won the stage in a sprint after featuring in a late breakaway with van der Poel, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, and Santiago Buitrago. After losing time to both Evenepoel an Vingegaard during the individual time trial on stage 4, he bounced back on the first mountain stage on stage 6. PogaÃÂar dropped everyone on the final climb following a hard leadout from Jhonatan Narváez before soloing to the finish by a minute over Vingegaard, taking the yellow jersey in the process. He also proceeded to win the queen stage the following day before holding off an attack from Vingegaard on the final stage to confirm his victory in the race.
In July, PogaÃÂar won the Tour de France for the fourth time, beating Vingegaard by over 4 minutes. His advantage began to grow after winning the fourth stage to Rouen, where he outsprinted van der Poel to take his 100th career victory. He placed second in the first individual time trial the following day, taking more than a minute on Vingegaard. After winning the seventh stage to Mûr-de-Bretagne, PogaÃÂar solidified his advantage in the Pyrenees in the second week. On the first mountain stage to Hautacam, PogaÃÂar dropped Vingegaard with 12 kilometres to go after another hard leadout from Narváez, winning the stage by more than two minutes. The following day, on the mountain time trial to Peyragudes, PogaÃÂar took his second successive stage, beating Vingegaard by 36 seconds. In the final week, he rode defensively, holding off attacks from other general classification contenders to secure the yellow jersey. On the final stage to Champs-ÃÂlysées, which was recently changed to feature three ascents of the cobbled climb to Montmartre, PogaÃÂar lit up the race in the rain, accelerating on the last two ascents of Montmartre. However, he was unable to drop Wout van Aert, who counterattacked to win the stage. In the end, PogaÃÂar won four stages, taking his career total of stage wins at the Tour to 21. A few days after his Tour victory, his team announced that he was going to skip the Vuelta, citing fatigue as the reason for this decision. In the autumn of 2025, PogaÃÂar revealed had developed a knee injury in the final week of the Tour, with his teammate Wellens revealing that PogaÃÂar had considered abandoning.
At the UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, PogaÃÂar was selected to represent Slovenia in both the time trial and road race. He finished fourth in the time trial, just one second off the podium, before winning his second consecutive road race title the following week. During the race, PogaÃÂar first attacked from the peloton with to go, riding the final solo to finish over a minute ahead of runner-up Remco Evenepoel. After defending his world title, PogaÃÂar won the European road race title for the first time with a solo before winning the Tre Valli Varesine for a second time.
At Il Lombardia, he attacked with to go before soloing to his 20th victory of the season. It was PogaÃÂar's fifth consecutive victory at Il Lombardia, equalling the record of Fausto Coppi and becoming the first rider to win a Monument five consecutive times. He also made history by becoming the first rider to stand on the podium in all 5 Monuments in the same season.
In 2026, PogaÃÂar opted for a later start to his season at the Strade Bianche. A few days before the race, the Colle Pinzuto sector was dedicated to PogaÃÂar following his third victory at the race in 2025. During the race itself, PogaÃÂar attacked on the Monte Sante Marie gravel sector with left, dropping everyone to solo to a record fourth victory in the race. A few weeks later, he set his sights on another attempt at winning Milan-San Remo. With left, just a few kilometres before the foot of the Cipressa, PogaÃÂar went down in a crash, together with other favourites like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. He quickly got back up and managed to make it back to the peloton at the foot of the Cipressa, with the help of his team colleagues Florian Vermersch and Felix GroÃÂschartner. He reached the front of the peloton at the 26.1 km (16.2 mi)ÃÂ mark with the help of Brandon McNulty, who then immediately took over the pacing duties. At the 24.6 km (15.3 mi)ÃÂ mark, McNulty handed over to Isaac Del Toro, who went into the leadout. He attacked with left from the top of the climb and 24.2 km (15 mi) to the finish, bringing Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock with him. The trio began the descent with a 25-second lead. Despite their limited cooperation, the lead had shrunk to 6 seconds by the foot of the Poggio with 9.1 km (5,7 mi) left. From the start of the climb, PogaÃÂar took the lead and managed to shake off Mathieu van der Poel at the 8.6 km (5.3 mi) mark. At the end of the climb, Tadej PogaÃÂar and Tom Pidcock had a lead of 13 seconds over van der Poel and 18 seconds over the chasing group. With two kilometres remaining, Mathieu van der Poel was caught by the chasing group. In the sprint on the Via Roma, PogaÃÂar started his sprint with left, holding off Pidcock by half a wheel to win the race for the first time. The victory marked his eleventh Monument win, tying Roger De Vlaeminck's tally for the second-most Monument wins.
PogaÃÂar's rivalry with Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard is considered the defining narrative of the Tour de France in the 2020s, and one of the greatest cycling rivalries of all time. PogaÃÂar and Vingegaard finished first and second at five consecutive Tours from 2021 to 2025: PogaÃÂar winning in 2021, 2024, and 2025; Vingegaard winning in 2022 and 2023. Throughout these tours they have placed first and second at 15 stages as well as in the 2021 young rider classification and 2025 mountains classification. They have also faced off at other high-profile stage races like the 2022 TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico, 2023 Paris-Nice, and the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné. PogaÃÂar and Vingegaard have been described by analysts as "lightyears ahead of the rest" of the men's peloton in general classification competition.
PogaÃÂar primarily competes with Dutch cyclist Mathieu van der Poel at one-day classics. The two are regarded by some journalists as the pre-eminent one-day riders of their generation: PogaÃÂar has eleven victories in cycling's Monuments and van der Poel has eight, totals which place them far ahead of any other active cyclist in terms of Monument victories. While the two riders have frequently competed in the same races since 2020, media coverage of their rivalry increased in 2025. Their dominance was highlighted in the 2025 spring classics, where the pair swept all four Monuments: van der Poel won Milan-San Remo and ParisâÂÂRoubaix, with PogaÃÂar finishing third and second respectively; PogaÃÂar won the Tour of Flanders ahead of van der Poel, then won 2025 LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège where van der Poel was absent. He also won the 2026 MilanâÂÂSan Remo, after dropping Van der Poel on the Poggio. Former Tour de France winner ÃÂscar Pereiro has called their competition the best cycling rivalry since the 1990s.
PogaÃÂar is considered unique in the modern peloton for his attacking and improvisational riding style. In an era where many riders are increasingly conservative and pursue marginal gains, PogaÃÂar has been praised by media and former riders for making cycling races more entertaining. He is known for his "trademark long-range attacks", particularly his performances in the 2024 and 2025 UCI World Championships, where he made his first move with over to the finish. In an interview after his 2024 world championship victory, PogaÃÂar stated "For sure it was a stupid move, but in the end stupid worked."
Comparisons with Eddy Merckx, who is widely considered the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling, have been made throughout PogaÃÂar's career. Cyrille Guimard, a former rival of Merckx and a directeur sportif of multiple former Tour champions, said in 2020 that he believed PogaÃÂar was above the level of both Merckx and Bernard Hinault. During the 2021 Tour de France, after PogaÃÂar took the yellow jersey and gained over three minutes on the other general classification contenders, former Tour winner Joop Zoetemelk compared him to Merckx. By the end of the Tour, which PogaÃÂar won by over five minutes, Merckx himself said he regarded the Slovenian as "the new Cannibal", referencing his own nickname, and suggested "If nothing happens to him, [PogaÃÂar] can certainly win the Tour de France more than five times."
Following PogaÃÂar's victory at the 2021 Il Lombardia, Merckx said that while many cyclists had been called "the new Merckx", PogaÃÂar was the first to truly fulfill that promise based on his accomplishments. Ernesto Colnago expressed similar thoughts, saying that in his view PogaÃÂar would be "the only one following Eddy Merckx" in cycling history.
During PogaÃÂar's 2024 season, the comparisons intensified. After his win in the 2024 Giro d'Italia, five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault said "he's like me and Merckx," citing PogaÃÂar's dominance and racing style. After the Tour, the Spanish newspaper El PaÃÂs proclaimed: "Tadej PogaÃÂar is the Cannibal 2". Following the World Championships, in which PogaÃÂar went solo for the final 100 km to win, Merckx said to L'ÃÂquipe "It's obvious that he is now above me." However, he later said that he was referring specifically to the World Championships performance, and did not believe PogaÃÂar to be superior to him yet. PogaÃÂar's 2024 season has been compared favorably to Merckx's 1972 season, which is considered the best of Merckx's career; they both won the Tour-Giro double and multiple Monuments.
During the 2025 Tour de France, The Athletic's Jacob Whitehead called PogaÃÂar "a possible equal of Eddy MerckxâÂÂor more" in light of his "crushing dominance" at the Tour. PogaÃÂar himself has commented on the comparison, saying "[Merckx] palmarès is unbelievable. It's something you cannot imagine to achieve in this era."
Tadej was born in Ljubljana, but grew up 20 km north of the Slovenian capital in Klanec (Municipality of Komenda). His mother Marjeta is a teacher of French and his father Mirko formerly worked in management at a chair factory before joining Tadej's former team as part of their management team in 2021. Tadej is the third of four siblings. In addition to his native Slovenian, PogaÃÂar speaks fluent English.
In August 2023, PogaÃÂar participated in a charity event for victims of the 2023 Slovenia floods, donating 10,000 euros and an additional 10 euros for each photograph with fans in Ljubljana. He posed in over 1200 photographs in total.
PogaÃÂar lives in Monaco with his partner, fellow Slovenian professional cyclist Urà ¡ka à ½igart. They became engaged in September 2021.