‘Campionissimo’ Pogačar supreme
Eddy Merckx salutes unflappable Slovenian
In a performance that led even Eddy Merckx to call him one of the greats after the race, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won the men’s Strade Bianche on Saturday (5 March) in Siena, Italy.
The Slovenian attacked solo with 50km still to ride on the Monte Sante Marie gravel sector, opening a gap on the ensuing descent and building a lead of more than a minute to eventually finish with 37 seconds in hand over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Kasper Asgreen (Quick-step Alpha Vinyl) came in alone another eight seconds down.
The Slovenian winner called it “a beautiful, incredible victory. I started [my attack] from afar, and I was only sure I’d made it when there were about five kilometres to go. Even on the last climb I checked if anyone was coming behind me.
“I attacked in the Sante Marie sector, a part of the route that is usually crucial for the result of the race: no one followed me, so I decided to continue alone and I am happy to have managed to reach the finish line, also because they never gave up and, with the passing of the kilometres, my energies were decreasing,” he added.
It was a performance that moved Merckx – for many the ultimate champion – to call him a ‘campionissimo’.
“I’ve always said I don’t like to make comparisons. I’m just happy to have been the best of my generation,” Merckx told
La Gazzetta dello Sport after Pogačar’s victory. “It’s becoming difficult to find the words to describe what this young guy does. It’s spectacular and formidable. Pogačar is a campionissimo,” he said.
Merckx also tipped the 23-year-old for a win at the upcoming Milan-san Remo, saying: “Why not? He can definitely attack alone and get away on the Poggio, and so nobody would catch him.”
Saturday’s race saw the requisite early break formed, nine riders building a fourminute gap. Behind, powerful crosswinds caused chaos and crashes in the bunch, with Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-step Alpha Vinyl) somersaulting spectacularly over the bars at one point, and former winner Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-visma) forced to abandon. As the bunch caught the break at Monte Sante Marie, Pogačar seized his moment and was gone.