Tadej Pogacar joins the prestigious triple crown club

Tadej Pogacar extends his legend and does so by rounding off one of the best seasons in cycling history, if not the best. His undisputed success in the World Cup 2024 held in Zurich, Switzerland, concluded at triple crown of Slovenian, which is his 26 years Its name is associated with this historical milestone that has not been achieved in the men’s category for almost four decades. In the past, only three have won Giro, Tour and World Cup in the same year. who are they

The last to achieve it was the Dutch Annemiek van Vleutenwho in 2022 not only won the triple crown, but became the only cyclist in history to win the big three and the World Championship, adding the La Vuelta Challenge to his record haul. The 41-year-old former runner and Pogacar are also the only ones to have achieved the triple crown and a monument in the same campaign.

Before, the Irish Stephen Roche (1987) and Eddy Merckx (1974) is the only one capable of achieving overall victories in the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Cycling World Championship in the same season. In the men’s category, it has been 37 years since Pogacar won this Sunday.

The triple crown of cycling

Giro, Tour and World Cup in the same year

1

1974: Eddy Merckx (Belgium)

2

1987: Stephen Roche (Ireland)

3

2022: Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands)

4

2024: Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)

The era of Pogacar, in an increasingly competitive and equally elite cycling, is equally historic from the perspective of the Giro and the Tour alone: ​​since 1998 no cyclist has won both events in the same year, when the Italian achieved it . Marco Pantani.

“After many years of fighting for the Tour de France and other races, the world championship was never a clear goal for me, but “This year everything is very fluid.”commented the Slovenian prodigy. “After a perfect season, it’s a great goal to win the World Cup, I can’t believe it happened“.