When asked during the post-race press conference of yet another win at Lombardia how he rated his 2022 season, Tadej Pogačar replied with a wry smile: “almost perfect.”
The operative word here is “almost.” For all the stunning success he has enjoyed throughout the season, which in some ways was arguably even more impressive than his similarly glorious 2021, the primary memory many will have of the Slovenian this season is his coming undone at the Tour de France.
Pogačar has made winning such a habit that that defeat to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) sticks out for being more remarkable than the kind of brilliant performances he has made routine, and his triumph at Il Lombardia was every bit as good as his other famous wins.
It might not have had the impudent panache of his long-range Strade Bianche victory earlier in the season, where he almost taunted his rivals by seeing how far he could afford to attack solo from and still win. But the way he managed the pressure of being the overwhelming favourite, controlled the race with his UAE Team Emirates, and attacked in a predictable yet unanswerable way, was every bit as domineering.
Monuments are meant to be this straightforward. Many of the world’s best talent assemble at them, often having made the race a major season highlight, and this year’s Il Lombardia featured a range of top talent from retiring puncher supreme Alejandro Valverde, his on-fire teammate Enric Mas, and Pogačar’s nemesis from July, Jonas Vingegaard. But the Slovenian rode as if the result had already been ordained, attacking at precisely the moment he intended on the Civiglio climb, dropping everyone but Enric Mas, then winning the two-up sprint without ever looking remotely worried that he’d be beaten.
The victory extends his career tally of Monument wins to three, which, now that Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Vincenzo Nibali (Astana Qazaqstan) and Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal) are all retiring, is more than anyone else in the else currently in the men’s peloton.
What makes this especially extraordinary is how rare it has been in the recent generations of cycling for a rider to excel at both Grand Tours and the Classics. Primož Roglič and Remco Evenepoel have managed to do so in recent years, but before them the only riders for over ten years were Nibali and Valverde. And aside from Nibali, no rider has bettered Pogačar’s combined total of Grand Tour and Monument wins (five) since Sean Kelly way…