MEN | TADEJ POGAČAR
“ YOU RACE TO BE PART OF SOMETHING
EXCEPTIONAL”
Already a four-time winner of the Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar could join the very exclusive circle of five-time champions at the very top of the race’ s all-time winners’ list. Yet, for the Slovenian, the buzz of competition and the atmosphere in July are far more thrilling than statistics. BY QUENTIN FINNÉ
The power of symbols lies in condensing the entire fabric of a story, and sometimes a life, into a single image, however fleeting. Adorned in the rainbow jersey of world champion for the second year in succession, Tadej Pogačar seems to draw a line on the horizon, connecting the earth beneath him with the most distant peaks. Although he could join the ultra-exclusive club of five-time Tour de France winners on 26 July, alongside Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault and Induráin, the Slovenian views the prospect with a certain detachment, unmoved by the coldness of a mere number, as if determined to avoid being consumed by an obsession with his palmarès.“ I don’ t wake up every morning thinking about statistics,” he affirms.
What motivates the leader of the UAE Emirates-XRG team is the desire to go into battle every summer in the world’ s greatest race and write a new chapter each time, with these becoming part of a collective story. Because the Tour isn’ t just another goal.“ It’ s the common thread running through every summer of my adult life,” he says.
Reflecting on his success, Pogačar doesn’ t need long to come up with a title for the chapters covering his four previous victories. 2020 was the almost surreal materialisation of a“ childhood dream come true”. 2021,“ learning a new role”, that of the yellow jersey who’ s exposed to scrutiny
14 | TOUR DE FRANCE 2026