Tadej Pogačar stands on the precipice of cycling history as he targets his fifth career Tour de France general classification victory. According to reports from Reuters, the 27-year-old Slovenian phenom is poised to equal the legendary mark held by Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain by securing another yellow jersey.
Tour de France Dominance and Yellow Jersey Milestones
Pogačar has worn the race leader’s yellow jersey uninterrupted since the seventh stage of the competition, steadily dismantling the rest of the field. In doing so, data tracked by Reuters shows he has already surpassed Christopher Froome and Miguel Indurain in total days spent in yellow during this single edition, bringing his career total to 69 days. Eddy Merckx remains the all-time leader with 96 days in yellow, followed by Bernard Hinault at 79 days, leaving Pogačar well positioned to challenge those historic marks in coming seasons.
The Slovenian’s relentless pace extends to stage victories as well. With his win at Alpe d’Huez, Pogačar notched his 26th career Tour stage win, placing him fourth on the all-time list behind Bernard Hinault (28), Eddy Merckx (34), and record-holder Mark Cavendish (35), who captured his 35th stage win at age 39 during the 2024 race, as reported by Reuters.
Shattering Legendary Climbing Records
Beyond overall titles, Pogačar is rewriting the record books on cycling’s most fearsome ascents. On the 13.8-kilometer climb up Alpe d’Huez, he clocked a time of 35 minutes and 26 seconds at an average speed of 23.3 kilometers per hour, erasing Marco Pantani’s 1997 benchmark, according to Reuters. That performance followed a trend set earlier in the race, where Pogačar lowered his own record on the Col du Tourmalet by more than two minutes, alongside setting the fastest ascent times on the Mont Ventoux and the Col du Galibier.
This mountain dominance was forged despite high attrition in the peloton. During the 16th stage, 25-year-old Florian Lipowitz suffered a heavy crash that resulted in a broken collarbone, forcing his immediate withdrawal from the race, according to Reuters.
Grand Tour History and Monument Classics
While Pogačar dominates the Tour de France, the broader landscape of Grand Tours and one-day monuments reveals ongoing battles with his rivals. Jonas Vingegaard secured a Grand Tour hat-trick by winning the Giro d’Italia this year, joining an elite club of eight riders—including Merckx, Hinault, Anquetil, Alberto Contador, Chris Froome, Felice Gimondi, and Vincenzo Nibali—who have won all three major tours, as outlined by Reuters. Pogačar won the Giro in 2024, leaving the Vuelta a España as the only three-week tour missing from his palmarès; he previously finished third at the Spanish race in 2019 as a 19-year-old.
In the realm of cycling’s five monuments—the historic one-day spring and autumn classics—Pogačar has accumulated 13 victories, trailing only Eddy Merckx, who won 19. Pogačar has triumphed in four of the five monuments, missing only Paris-Roubaix, where he has faced fierce competition from Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, according to Reuters records.
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