Tadej Pogacar said he had been “totally confident every day” after adding a third Tour de France title to his 2024 Giro d’Italia triumph by winning the stage 21 time trial one minute and three seconds clear of Jonas Vingegaard.
Slovenian Pogacar took his sixth stage of this year’s edition and finished six minutes and 17 seconds ahead of Vingegaard overall, winning cycling’s two most high-profile races in the same year for the first time since Marco Pantani in 1998.
“I cannot describe how happy I am,” said UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates’ Pogacar, who last triumphed in 2021.
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“After two hard years in the Tour de France, this year everything went to perfection. I am out of words. I am super happy to win here. Incredible.
“This is the first grand tour where I was totally confident every day. Even in Giro, I had one bad day.”
Pogacar wins Tour de France
“This year’s Tour de France was amazing,” said Pogacar. “I was enjoying it from day one until today. I had such a great support behind me. I couldn’t let anyone down.”
Tour debutant Remco Evenepoel finished third on a day when sprint legend Mark Cavendish said his participation was “likely” to be his last in the Tour de France.
Cavendish, who recorded a record 35th stage win this year, was honoured at the end of the sprint, while Pogacar’s next target is to become world champion.
👑 𝐓𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐉 𝐏𝐎𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐑
2020 🏆
2021 🏆
2024 🆕#TDF2024 PIC.TWITTER.COM/WLCFY4ME1R— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) JULY 21, 2024
“It’s incredible,” the 25-year-old said of his latest glory. “I would never have thought about this.
“Maybe some people thought the Giro was a safety net if I would not win the Tour de France.
“Already it would have been an incredible year, but to win the Tour de France is another level. To win both together is another level above that level.”
Tour de France 2024: Pogacar praises rivals
“Next I want to take the World Championship jersey,” said Pogacar. “It has looked very good on Mathieu van der Poel. I want one time to have the rainbow jersey on my back.
“In the last two years, we’ve been hearing this is the best era of cycling, the best competition ever.
“If I was not competing myself, I would also say it’s the best. This competition with Remco [Evenepoel], Jonas and Primoz [Roglic] is just incredible. We can all enjoy this moment of cycling; it’s beautiful, in my opinion.”
