Tadej Pogacar confirms that at this moment he is the strongest runner in the world, but above all the most voracious, and he also takes the classic White Streets, taming the Sienese dirt road and reapplying for the Tirreno-Adriatico which will start on Monday. Fresh from the recent absolute triumph in the UAE Tour, the standard bearer of the UAE team, father-master of the last two Tour de France, won as the greats do: with an action that started from afar, crumbling the resistance of the rivals and flying towards the finish line of the suggestive Piazza del Campo, in Siena.
Pogacar started with his head down about fifty kilometers from the finish and no one, since that moment, has been able to catch him. The only one to remain in contention was the Spanish Alejandro Valverde, 42 years old and still a great desire to do battle on the pedals, who finished in second place, 37 “behind the wild Slovenian. None, before the exploit. today, he had never managed to escape the White Roads for more than 20 kilometers: the Russian Aleksander Kolobnev started at -19. Pogacar won in his own way, with confidence, strength and arrogance, like only the great champions. His action has remembered those of the brightest days of a certain Eddy Merckx.In short, at just 23 years old, the Slovenian is the man to beat, uphill, on the flat, downhill, in hill climbs. A monster of continuity, class and freshness.
Pogacar started in sector number 8, in Monte Sante Marie, that is in the section dedicated to the Swiss Fabian Cancellara. Monstrous the action of him who created the void. «It is an incredible victory. I attacked from afar, but only when I saw the 5km sign did I realize that I would make it – the words of the leader of the UAE Emirates -. I wanted to accelerate on the stretch of dirt road of Monte Sante Marie, no one followed me and I found myself at the head of the race alone. I was focused and I was constantly looking back to see if anyone was coming: I was not sure I could win. In the end I had very little energy left, but it was enough to get to the finish line ».
From Monday Pogacar will be the man to beat at the Tirreno-Adriatico, which won last year: the encore is not at all obvious but, when he is involved, there is little room for the ambitions of the rivals. The 8th edition of the 136 km long women’s test went to the Belgian Lotte Kopecky who preceded – at the height of a restricted sprint with the Dutch Annemiek Van Vleuten, second, and the South African Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, third and detached at 10 “.