The Italian agenda of Tadej Pogačar for the month of March has gone straight into the history books, with a performance out of the norm for a double Tour winner at this stage of the year. And it is that in Pogačar's album, several triumphs emerge, but especially the feeling of being in front of a rider who can compete on all terrains and against many types of cyclists.
His March began on dirt roads, on the "white roads" of Tuscany, winning his first Strade Biancheafter an attack 50 kilometers from the finish line.
It was an incredible victory," he said at the finish line in Siena. I attacked very far away, but until five kilometers from the finish line I wasn't sure that the victory was in my hand, I knew that many were coming after me".
"I knew that the sector of Sante Marie was a crucial section for the outcome of the race, that's why I attacked. I saw that no one was following me and I decided to go alone to the finish. It wasn't easy, but I'm proud of it, as the kilometers go by my strength wanes, but I had enough," he continued.
Pogačar's second Tirreno-Adriatico.
After the Strade Bianche, Pogačar aimed to renew laurels in Tirreno-Adriatico. A year after a memorable edition, the Slovenian champion was too much for the rivals, being competitive on all terrains. Already at the start, in the same time trial, he battled with beasts like Ganna and Evenepoel.
The first blow, however, would be in the middle of the race, in Bellante, with a stage victory and jersey blue leader's jersey in the same bunch. "It was a great job by the team, I was obliged to do my best. Even if there are important stages left, especially the queen stage, it's a result that encourages me a lot to give my best." he said that day.
In blue, but with the need to consolidate the lead, Pogačar approached the queen stage as a whole. or nothing on the mythical place of Carpegna, an ascent that is fond of the memory of Marco Pantani, a climb, by the way snowy that Saturday afternoon, that saw the Slovenian's low flying, in another performance for the memory.
"What an incredible day," he said at the finish. The first thing is to remember my teammates who handed me the race on a plate going into the final climb. Marc Soler set the perfect pace It wasn't easy, it was very cold and that's why I decided to go alone, at full speed, to warm up".
So hard that he relegated his pursuers to more than a minute, in a performance that, along with the Strade, will go down in the book of the great moments of a rider who has been a great rider for many years. until recently could compete as an U23 rider..
San Remo, on the agenda
Among the goals that Tadej Pogačar revealed for this year caught the attention the inclusion of two monuments in the first part of the season. If for many fans the debut in the Tour of Flanders was big news, no less so was that of Milan-San Remo, the "classissima," a very prestigious 300-kilometer race that brings together the good and the best of cycling.
"I'm happy for the great work of the team, we have been very proactive," he said already at the finish line in San Remo. Before the race, Matej Mohoric warned me not to try to follow him on the descent of the Poggio if we were crowning together. I told him we'd see. But when I saw the risks he was taking, I decided to step aside."
From this San Remo he draws a good conclusion: "However, the experience was so good that I'm sure it will serve me well in the years to come".
Debut on the Flemish walls
Pogačar's March ended on a high note., in a move that explains very well the way he understands cycling, making his debut in A Traverse of Flanders, considered as the prelude to De Ronde.the Tour of Flanders, one of cycling's five monuments.
Running A Traverse of Flanders, Pogačar wanted to see his place in such a race: "My form is good and I hope to be close to the top" he assured in the preview. Accompanied by Matteo Trentin, among others, we enjoyed the debut of a double Tour winner in the Flemish classics..
And the result was that the Slovenian couldn't make the final cut-off, which came 70 kilometers from the finish, with rivals like Pidcock, Van der Poel, Benoot and Küng, but he came close to catching and finished in the top 10, in what was "a valuable lesson for the Tour of Flanders, one of the big novelties in my calendar. When the break came, I was close to a crash and couldn't react in time.
The month of March that Pogačar started in Italy thus landed in Belgium, in the Flemish heartland, in a maelstrom of "crazy and chaotic" races that the young Slovenian prodigy did not want to miss.
