Tadej Pogacar won the Tour de France and two monuments in the same season in 2021. He was 23 years old. Anthony Walsh breaks down the three riders who made 2021 worth watching.
Key Takeaways
Pogacar won four of five stage races he entered, took 13 stage wins total, and is only the second rider in history to win the Tour and two monuments in the same season. The knock-on effect for the sport is real. Cycling teams are now signing teenagers the way football clubs do, bringing in 100 riders hoping one of them is the next Pogacar. Anthony's point is that the 99 who don't make it have already left school. That conversation is worth having.
Roglič won the Vuelta for a record-equalling third successive edition and took Olympic gold in Tokyo on a difficult time trial course. He's only the third rider in history to win a grand tour and Olympic gold in the same season. Then there's Wout van Aert. Second overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, won the time trial and the bunch sprint at the same race, won a time trial and a mountain stage at the Tour, won the Champs-Élysées bunch sprint. Silver at the world time trial champs. Silver at the Olympic road race. Anthony had to go back to Sean Kelly to find a rider with that kind of range.
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If you want more on Pogacar specifically, go listen to the Hincapie episode where George opens up on whether Pogacar can win Roubaix. And for the van Aert and Roglič dynamic heading into the following season, the Worlds drama episode covers it.