Tadej Pogacar celebrated a special milestone on Tuesday with his stage victory in the Tour de France. The world champion is only 26, but already sprinted to his hundredth professional victory in the streets of Rouen.
Pogacar is the 25th man with a hundred victories in professional cycling. “Winning in the Tour is great, especially in the rainbow jersey. That means a lot to me,” said the Slovenian shortly after the stage. “The fact that it is also my hundredth victory is unbelievable.”
In the fourth stage of the Tour, Pogacar beat yellow jersey wearer Mathieu van der Poel in the sprint of a small group. It was the defending champion’s eighteenth stage victory in the Tour de France.
The victory came after a spectacular finale. Pogacar rode away with Jonas Vingegaard on the last climb, then saw Van der Poel return, and this time beat the Dutchman at the finish line.
“Everyone was at the limit today,” said Pogacar. “I attacked, but then everything came back together. A finale like this gives me a lot of adrenaline, this was pure racing. I enjoyed it.”
Eddy Merckx, the legend with whom Pogacar is often compared, holds the record for men with 279 professional victories. The Belgian also achieved his hundredth success in the Tour, in 1970. He was just 25 years old then. Pogacar is a year older at the milestone.
The leader of UAE Team Emirates won his first race in 2019, when he won a stage in the Tour of the Algarve. In the current peloton, no rider has recorded more victories than Pogacar. The Norwegian Alexander Kristoff and the Frenchman Arnaud Démare are second on this list with 97 victories.
Mathieu van der Poel is still the wearer of the yellow jersey. Tadej Pogacar is tied in time with the Dutchman due to his stage victory, but he remains number two. On Wednesday he will have a chance to take over the lead in the general classification, as there is a time trial on the program.
“That will be the first real test,” said Pogacar. “I’m going to enjoy this victory first and then we’ll see tomorrow if I can take the yellow.”