Less than a week before the classic Milan-Sanremo, the first of the "Monuments" of the year, the new "cannibal" of the peloton already has seven successes in his bag after having shone in the UAE Tour (two stages and the final victory) and having flown on the gravel paths of the "Strade bianche".
The general classification of the "race of the two seas" did not change on Sunday at the end of the 7th and last stage won in a sprint by the German Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain) on the Adriatic coast in San Benedetto del Tronto (Marches).
Pogacar, 23, retained his crown with mastery and panache, both solid during the inaugural time trial (3rd) and unrivaled to win the two most difficult stages, Thursday at Bellante then Saturday on the slopes of Monte Carpegna where Eddy Merckx shone during the Tour of Italy in 1973.
On Saturday, the one who is being compared more and more to the Belgian legend once again sickened the competition by relegating in particular to more than 4 minutes his main rival Remco Evenepoel, ejected from the final Top 10 after having nevertheless remained in the wheel of the Slovenian until at this penultimate step.
"We did a great job as a team, I'm very happy to win", commented hotly the double winner of the Tour de France, just before receiving again the trident of Neptune given to the winner.
Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo) is Pogacar's runner-up overall, as in the last Tour de France, and Spaniard Mikel Landa (Bahrain) takes third place, as last year in the "race of the two seas" .
World champion Julian Alaphilippe, who arrived with some pain after his spectacular fall on the "Strade bianche", mainly rode for Evenepoel during these seven days in Italy.
Milan-Sanremo, which he won in 2019, will undoubtedly be more of an opportunity for the Frenchman to replay the leading roles.
On condition, however, of being able to follow Pogacar who, if he assured on Saturday that he never thought he was "unbeatable", does not really seem determined to leave crumbs to the competition: "I can't wait, even if obviously it's going to be a very different", underlined the Slovenian.
© 2022 AFP