Rider Profile
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
Personal Details:
Teams history:
- 2024 - UAE Team Emirates
- 2023 - UAE Team Emirates
- 2022 - UAE Team Emirates
- 2021 - UAE Team Emirates
- 2020 - UAE Team Emirates
- 2019 - UAE Team Emirates
Biography:
Slovenian Tadej Pogačar burst onto the professional cycling scene in 2019 after signing to UAE Team Emirates for his first pro season. A winner of the Tour de l'Avenir in 2018, Pogačar further proved his promise for the future by winning the Volta ao Algarve and Tour of California, then taking three stages at the Vuelta a España and third overall in his first Grand Tour.
In one of the most stunning upsets in Tour de France history, Pogačar snatched the overall victory of the 2020 Tour de France from Primoz Roglic on the individual time trial to La Planche des Belles Filles, delivering a stunning performance in his debut race. He won the overall classification and best young rider and mountains classification and three stages.
Pogačar repeated that performance in 2021, dominating the Tour de France with three stage wins and three classifications in a season where he also won Tirreno-Adriatico, the UAE Tour, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, an Olympic bronze medal and Il Lombardia.
In the off-season, he became engaged to partner Urška Žigart.
In 2022, Pogačar started the season with a repeat victory in the UAE Tour, then won Strade Bianche with a stunning 50km solo attack. A repeat at Tirreno-Adriatico followed and top results in Milan-San Remo (5th) and the Tour of Flanders (4th) before he refocused on the Tour de France.
Pogačar took the lead of the 2022 Tour de France on stage 6 to Longwy but lost the lead to Jonas Vingegaard on stage 11 where he uncharacteristically struggled and lost his lead and an additional 2:22. He fought through in the final week.
In 2023, Pogačar returned to the Spring Classics and put in a stunning performance to win the Tour of Flanders, dropping Mathieu van der Poel on the Oude Kwaremont and soloing in for the win. He then went on to win the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne before targeting the Ardennes triple in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. An early crash, however, knocked him out of the race with a broken wrist. The injury hampered his training for the Tour de France, and he was unable to match Vingegaard for the second year in a row, finishing second a full 7:29 behind with his teammate Adam Yates in third almost 11 minutes behind. Still only 24, he won the best young rider classification.
Pogačar made the winning move at the UCI Road World Championships with Van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, but couldn't go with Van der Poel when he attacked. Van Aert got away in the run-in to the finish in Glasgow, but Pogačar out-sprinted Pedersen for the bronze medal. He then finished the season with his third straight win at Il Lombardia.
Key results
Tour de France overall winner (2020, 2021)
Tour de France stages (11)
Liège-Bastogne-Liège (2021)
Tour of Flanders (2023)
Il Lombardia (2021, 2022, 2023)
Paris-Nice (2023)
Tirreno-Adriatico overall winner (2021, 2022)
Amstel Gold Race (2023)
La Flèche Wallonne (2023)
Strade Bianche (2022)
Other victories
Vuelta a Andalucia (2023)
Jaén Paraiso Interior (2023)
Volta ao Algarve overall (2019)
Tour of California overall (2019)
3x stages Vuelta a España (2019)
Best young rider: Vuelta a Espana 2019
UAE Tour overall (2021, 2022)
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2020)
Tre Valli Varesine (2022)
GP Montréal (2022)
Tour of Slovenia (2022)
Related Articles
‘I was thinking for too long’ - Tadej Pogačar rues near miss at Volta a Catalunya
By Alasdair Fotheringham published
News Slovenian finishes scant ten metres behind stage winner Nick Schultz
Record-breaking Milan-San Remo 'one of the easiest races ever', says Tadej Pogačar
By Daniel Ostanek published
News Slovenian takes third despite 'incredible legs' and plan 'executed almost to perfection'
Tadej Pogačar keeps his Milan-San Remo race strategy under wraps
By Stephen Farrand published
News 'You need to have the best legs on the final two climbs'
How can Tadej Pogačar blow up Milan-San Remo? - Analysis
By Stephen Farrand published
Analysis The Slovenian could attack with others on the Cipressa or alone on the Poggio
Milan-San Remo 2024 - 5 favourites, 5 outsiders
By Daniel Ostanek published
Analysis Our picks for La Primavera, from Van der Poel and Pogacar to Ganna and Pedersen
Tour de France 2024 - The GC favourites form guide
By James Moultrie, Stephen Farrand, Barry Ryan published
Analysis A look at how the men targeting yellow fared in their opening races of the season
'I will never forget this one’ - Tadej Pogacar elevates Strade Bianche to Monument status
By Stephen Farrand published
News 'It's one of the biggest races in the world right now' Slovenian says after 81km solo attack
'Strade Bianche is pure fun' – Tadej Pogacar ready for successful season debut
By Stephen Farrand published
News Slovenian keen to respond to Evenepoel's and Vingegaard's early season success
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