Tadej Pogačar is having a helluva Tour de France, isn’t he? Three stage wins, two near misses, and a dominant grip on the yellow jersey, with over four minutes on Visma–Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard.
He’s also worn the polka dot jersey multiple times—either on his own shoulders or with the second-placed rider wearing it in his stead. That happens; to win the Tour, you typically have to be the best climber. In fact, the polka dot jersey in recent years has often gone to opportunists who rack up points from breakaways mid-stage, unlike earlier eras when it truly went to the strongest climber. But that’s a whole other discussion.
Pogi, dominant on summit finishes so far, currently sits second in the competition, just eight points behind Lennie Martinez of Bahrain–Victorious. And there are still plenty of hilly stages left—especially Tuesday’s finish on Mont Ventoux.
So, yeah, he might take polka dots too.
But there’s another jersey he’s in reach of—one only one rider has ever won, in a completely different era. In 1969, Eddy Merckx won all three jerseys—yellow, green, and polka dot—along with six stages and the combativity prize (no surprise). No one has repeated that feat since.
But it was a different time. The depth of the field was much shallower. Riders at the back of the pack back then would be on par with today’s Continental-level pros. Sure, the greats were great, but the peloton was top-heavy.
It’s common to see a GC rider wear green or polka dots early on, but once the fight for yellow intensifies, those jerseys tend to shift elsewhere.
As of the first rest day, Pogačar is within striking distance of Jonathan Milan of Lidl–Trek for the green jersey. That may seem strange, since the points jersey traditionally goes to a pure sprinter.
He’s already led all three classifications at one point—briefly—thanks to changes in the Tour’s points system. Points are now weighted by elevation gain, meaning certain mountain stages also award the maximum 50 points usually reserved for flat sprint stages. (OK, he didn’t wear the white jersey, but that’s ‘cuz he’s too damn old.)
In an interview with IDL Cycling, Aike Visbeek, directeur sportif at Intermarché–Wanty (home of 2024 green jersey winner Biniam Girmay), said organizers didn’t think it through.
“I don’t think ASO thought it could swing Pogačar’s way,” he said. “We’re now seeing…
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