Tadej Pogačar Once Again Becomes the King of French Roads

"This year's Tour was very special for me. We knew there were four main favorites before the race. Everything was set for a big battle. And we all tried to land our punches. We put on a real show. That's why I'm happy and proud to have come out as the winner," Pogačar said after his victory in Nice, referring to his competition with Dane Jonas Vingegaard, Belgian Remco Evenepoel, and fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič.

It was important for him to find his way back to the top of the world's biggest race after last year's painful defeat. "I'm super satisfied; I can't describe it in words. After two tough years at the Tour and always with some mistakes, everything was perfect this time."

Simply the best

"This is the first three-week race where I was completely confident from start to finish. I also had one bad day at the Giro, but I won't reveal which stage. This year's Tour was truly exceptional. I enjoyed it from the first to the last day. The support was amazing, and I enjoyed it for all these people, whom I didn't want to disappoint," Pogačar explained in a statement to the organizers before the press conference.

On his way to the overall victory, he wore the yellow jersey for 18 out of 21 days, won six stages, including last final stage, even though he had previously announced he would ride with the goal of finishing safely. "I felt good at the start, my legs worked well on the climbs. When you ride on roads where you train every day, it carries you," he described today's stage win.

At the finish, Pogačar became the first cyclist in 26 years, since the late Italian Marco Pantani, to win both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in one season. In May, he defeated his competitors in Italy with six stage wins by nearly ten minutes.

"This is truly incredible. I never would have thought of this double. Some thought that winning the Giro would be just a consolation if I didn't succeed here. If I hadn't won the Tour, winning the Giro would still mean an exceptional year. But winning the Tour is on another level, and both together is even higher," the best rider of this year's French tour explained with a smile on his face.