The fist flew into the sky, then Tadej Pogacar shook his head in disbelief. Another special moment in his career as a professional cyclist. “It's crazy to end this season like this. I'm without words, ”said the Slovenian at the finish in Bergamo. Just before that, he had supposedly easily won the sprint against runaway Fausto Masnada on the Lombardy Tour. Pogacar had started 35 kilometers from the finish and distanced his companions, including old master Vincenzo Nibali. Masnada, who grew up in Bergamo, caught up with him on the technically complicated descent. But the Slovenian then also solved this task very confidently.

It wasn't planned that way, Pogacar later said with a laugh.

“It was more instinctual.

There were a few attacks left and right, but no one wanted to take control.

So I decided to attack.

I think it was a good move. ”The coup put the competition in check.

Compatriot Primoz Roglic did not have the legs to follow, world champion Julian Alaphilippe lacked the right belief in the success of such an early advance.

Physical and tactical cleverness

Pogacar owes this victory not only to his special physique and tactical cleverness but also to the sheer joy of cycling. “I just love to get on the bike, come to races and give my all there,” he said. It does not matter to him whether it is a large or small tour or a one-day race. He loved them all, he pointed out, and most of all, because of their unpredictability, the one-day races.

He has already won two big ones this year, the longest and oldest classic monument Liège – Bastogne – Liège at almost 260 kilometers, and now the Lombardy tour with the most mountains. He conquered “La Doyenne” in Belgium in a sprint of a group of five, the “Race of the Falling Leaves” in Italy after a solo run in a two-man duel. Pogacar likes to take the initiative. He enjoys testing and surprising his rivals.

Pogacar often sets the tone, but he doesn't always win. At Milan-Turin, another late autumn classic, he finished fourth last week; at the Giro d'Emilia, which Roglic also won, he even got out. At the World Cup he came in 37th. “I had good legs and bad legs during this second part of the season,” he said. He took the days with bad legs stoically. “Maybe they even helped me. I didn't go beyond my limits, but I could get tough racing, ”said Pogacar. And on the good days it creates a spectacle.

Above all, that, in addition to the results, puts him on a par with the great racing cyclists. They were also characterized by an enormous desire for all types of races. The last rider to win the Tour de France and the Tour of Lombardy was Bernard Hinault in 1979. The Frenchman added five classic monuments to his ten Grand Tour victories. The tour and two monuments in the same year brought only two of the greatest before Pogacar: Fausto Coppi in 1949 with Milan – Sanremo and Il Lombardia as well as Eddy Merckx. He won in 1971 and 1972 like Pogacar Liège – Bastogne – Liège and the Lombardy Tour - and added Milan-San Remo as well as the 1971 World Cup title as an insatiable “cannibal”.

Pogacar is a long way from that.

But he also has at least ten years left in his career.

He also sees a great advantage for the future in his versatility.

“To be able to compete in today's cycling in the Grand Tours, you have to be good in all areas: in sprints, in time trials, in one-day races.

Anything can happen on a tour and you can build on the experience you have gained in various fields.

There are tons of drivers out there who are good at different types of races.

It's a big time for cycling, ”said Pogacar.

And he's right in the middle of it all.