Pogacar continues to dominate, now dressed in rainbow

Tadej Pogacar made his debut today dressed in rainbow colors at the Giro dell'Emilia. A luxury participation in the race that opens the Italian end-of-season classics that will culminate next weekend with the dispute of Il Lombardia, the last monument of the year. And he did it as has become customary, with a long-range attack, this time only 37 kilometers from the finish and without any of his rivals being able to offer opposition.

Life goes on the same for Tadej Pogacar: exhibition and victory at the Giro dell'Emilia

There was a time when wearing the rainbow jersey was a curse for the cyclist who wore it because, for some unknown reason, those who won the World Championships the following year could not shine, perhaps due to the expectations created by their status as World Champion or the extra scrutiny they were subjected to in the peloton.

It doesn't seem like curses apply to Tadej Pogacar, who today debuted his new colors at the Giro dell'Emilia, a race with a taste of Fleche Wallonne, but in an Italian version thanks to its usual more or less numerous arrival where the top favorites play for victory in an agonizing final along the tough ramps that lead to the Sanctuary of San Luca overlooking the city of Bologna.

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It was a day in Italy that seemed to have skipped autumn as the conditions were dreadful with heavy rain and cold. An unpleasant day that only invited to take shelter in the peloton and try to get through the day without incidents and, if possible, try to play the cards in the final part of the race.

However, this also doesn't apply to Tadej Pogacar who, 37 kilometers from the conclusion, decided that the best way to warm up would be to launch another attack as he is accustomed to. The Slovenian started the engine and that was the end of the story of this Giro dell'Emilia as no cyclist could even react.

Florian Lipowitz tried to chase in vain but the differences only grew. In fact, the attack would take its toll on the German who couldn't even secure second place, which is what mortals consider first place, as he was caught just 200 m from the finish, which Tom Pidcock took advantage of to achieve another honorable position.

Tadej Pogacar thus impeccably debuts his rainbow jersey, dispelling any doubts about how the celebrations for his World Championship victory may have affected him and, on the other hand, instilling fear in all his rivals for Il Lombardia because, right now, it doesn't seem like there is any cyclist capable of even casting a shadow on the Slovenian on a normal day.

Giro dell'Emilia Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 5h14'44''
2. Thomas Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) +1'54''
3. Davide Piganzoli (Polti Kometa) +1'54''
4. Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) +1'54''
5. Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) +2'02''
6. Roger Adrià (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'04''
7. Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2'04''
8. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +2'08''
9. Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost) +2'13''
10. Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana) +2'15''