PARIS — Tadej Pogačar has never appeared stronger as he stands on the verge of joining the ranks of the greatest champions in Tour de France history.
The two-time UCI World Championship Road Race winner has crushed his rivals this season, and he has done so across all terrains. That has him primed to chase a record-tying fifth Tour de France victory when the 113th edition of cycling’s most storied race starts Saturday — over the border in Barcelona, Spain.
The only four riders to have won the Tour de France five times are French riders Jacques Anquetil (1957, ’61, ’62-’64) and Bernard Hinault (1978, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’85), Belgium’s Eddy Merckx (1969-72, ’74) and Spain’s Miguel Indurain (1991-95). U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong won the race seven times in a row from 1999 to 2005, but he was stripped of those victories for participating in a systemic doping program.
Pogačar’s insatiable thirst for winning has drawn comparisons with Merckx, widely regarded as road cycling’s greatest of all time. Some observers believe the 27-year-old from Slovenia could eventually surpass Merckx’s records.
Take this season, for instance: In only 16 race days, Pogačar recorded 13 victories, including general-classification wins at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie, as well as one-day triumphs at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour of Flanders, Milan San Remo, and Strade Bianche. His only setback came at Paris-Roubaix, where Belgian rider Wout van Aert prevented Pogačar from completing the set of cycling’s five “Monuments” in the one-day races.