Then Pogacar He has won everything. Or almost. At 26, he already looks in his palmarés three Tours, a turn, nine monuments and a World Cup. He has won in virtually all sites. But there is an image that we have barely seen of the most charismatic cyclist in the platoon: dressed in the lunar jaw of the Tour of Francia.
This Monday, on the way to Dunker, The Slovenian was placed for the second time in his career the garment that distinguishes the best climber from the tour. The funny thing is that he has already won the classification of the mountain twice (2020 and 2021), but because of those whims that the regulation and the hierarchy between Maillots has, he had only looked in the race the 'Polka Dot' at one stage … until now.
This sequence shows how several cyclists stuck a dangerous tastzo during the third stage of the French round when they were traveling at high speed.
The first time: Méribel, 2020
The first occasion goes back to the Tour of 2020. In stage 18, Pogacar added 32 points in the dreaded Col de la Lze and unbridled his compatriot Roglic as a provisional mountain leader. The next day, in Méribel, the red dotted jersey for the first time, giving the white of best young man. But it didn't last long: Carapaz He snatched the jersey after a heroic escape on the way to La Roche-Sur-Foron. Two days later, the young Slovenian prodigy dressed in yellow to win his first tour in the Planche des Belles Filles. That was his only day of moles on the bike, despite conquering the classification.
The Rampón where Sagan won in 2012 caused a change of leader among colleagues from Alpecin.
The second time: calculated strategy
Five years later, fate – and a surgical strategy of his team – has returned to that almost unpublished image. In the B stageOulogne sur mer, pogacar He spent second in Haut Pichot and first in the Côte de Saint-étienne-Au-Mont, adding three enough points to place himself a mountain leader. A small tactical gesture, with the help of your squire Tim Wellensthat threw just what is necessary. And without wanting it – or doing it very well thought out -, Pogacar He appeared with moles on the podium. The reason? A mixture between chance and pragmatism.
“It's two hours that we save Tadej,” said Joxean Fernández Matxín, its director, in Eurosport. In allusion that if the jersey had maintained one more day, the protocol ceremony, the interviews and the protocol that each leader entails, would have subtracted recovery time. So, as who loses on purpose, Wellens He moved to snatch the lead from the mountain to his own chief of rows. Everything remains at home. There are those who also did it to get their 100th victory, which could arrive this Tuesday, dressed in the rainbow jersey. Another special photo for someone who fits the details to the extreme.
A jersey with history … and whims
This 2025, in addition, the points jersey is 50 years old. Since Lucien Van Impe He premiered it in 1975, has adorned the shoulders of legendary climbers: Bahantones, Vienque, Pantani, Skile, And more recently Nairo, bardet o pinot. Pogacar could add a third crown and reach Julio Jiménez, matching its three titles. But for now, it prefers that the jersey look at others. “I didn't expect to dress it, but I plan to enjoy it. It will be a special feeling”he said in Boulogne. 24 hours later, he lost it on purpose.
Behind that gesture there is a work philosophy, a respect for the details and an almost obsessive control of every second. Pogacar is aggressive in the race, but cold in the strategy. He doesn't want distractions. He doesn't want to waste time. Not even for a garment with history.
More than aesthetics
This Monday, in Dunkirkwhere European history wrote heroic pages, Pogacar rolled for the second time dressed in moles. And surely it will be the last in this tour. It is not that he does not deserve them, but that he prefers to speak their legs. For the Slovenian, the points are secondary. Yellow is still the goal. And on their way to Paris, the rest of colors can wait.
