He's not passing through. He doesn't know how to walk. When he trains, he pushes himself. When you compete, you win. Tadej Pogacar is getting a precious booty in Andalusia. As if he is a pirate or a highwayman, he is looting the prizes. While he fills his hands and pockets, the rest have nothing to celebrate. When he smiles and raises his arms, the others have no choice but to bow their heads and comfort each other. Pogacar has no filler at this start of 2023.
The Slovenian adds and continues. He won again in the fourth stage of the Ruta del Sur, as in the first and second. This season he has competed five days and won four, as he began his victorious week at the Clásica de Jaén.
But Iznájar's was not just any triumph. He was special. And not because he had to win twice. First the leader of the UAE attacked in the Fuentes de Cesna hill and crowned only with Enric Mas on the wheel but a super low-rider like Mohoric (Bahrain) managed to connect and neutralize them. They were also joined by Landa, Lorenzo Rota and Kron. He had to leave them again. And he did it in the last kilometer of the steep Cordovan town.
Not anymore to sentence the general of the race, where the day he did not win his teammate Tim Wellens did, who ends this Sunday in Alhaurín de la Torre. But because it meant a round number: reaching fifty victories.
At 24 years old, and in his fifth season as a professional, Pogacar already has 50 wins in the bag. An enviable track record, where two Tours de France (and 9 stages), two Lombardies and one Liège stand out. A record that leaves behind spectacular races such as those of champions such as Froome (46 victories), Ullrich (33), Lemond (31) or Delgado (25).
A cycling legend like Marco Pantani scored 26 races, half of which Pogacar has already won, who in Iznájar left Stephen Roche (49) behind and will soon surpass Nibali (52), who retired in 2022, and Thevenet (53). He is only 24 years old but he is changing the rules.
