Despite the dream season of 2024 that Tadej Pogacar has given us, this is not over yet. The Slovenian has not been carried away by the celebrations after winning the World Championship and continues to include the usual Italian classics in his race calendar with the aim of maintaining his full of victories in Il Lombardia, the Classic of the Falling Leaves that closes the calendar of monuments each season.
Will Tadej Pogacar win in Lombardia wearing the rainbow jersey?
Save the afternoon of next Saturday, October 5th when the Italian end-of-season classics kick off with the Giro dell'Emilia, a race that, despite maintaining the 1.Pro category, the second tier of races within the UCI ranking, will feature a lineup of participants worthy of many World Tour races, including the presence of Tadej Pogacar, the first race after winning the world title in Zurich 2024 and where we will see him wear the rainbow jersey for the first time.
In fact, it is curious that Pogacar, who appeared in a video posted by Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz training with the Slovenian and his partner, also professional cyclist Urska Zigart in the surroundings of Monaco where they usually reside, still wore the usual UAE Team Emirates jersey when cyclists and teams are running out of time to present the design with the rainbow bands that recognize the World Champion.
Perhaps it is because they are waiting for the same Saturday to present this new garment to the public, perhaps because Pissei, the Italian cycling clothing brand that sponsors the Emirati team, is a small brand and they are still working on the design and production of Tadej Pogacar's new kit, the truth is that until next Saturday, we will not see him wearing the most coveted jersey in cycling, with the permission of the yellow jersey of the Tour de France.
Continuing with the Giro dell'Emilia that will offer us the always spectacular and explosive finish at the Sanctuary of San Luca, a sort of Wall of Huy but in the Italian city of Bologna, a finish that Tadej Pogacar has relatively recent experience with as he began to show his power in the last Tour de France. In any case, the outcome will remain uncertain due to the explosiveness of the finish and the presence of cyclists like Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, last year's winner ahead of Tadej; Enric Mas who managed to beat Pogacar two years ago on this same stage, to name the most relevant ones.
Tadej Pogacar will continue to fine-tune his preparation in the Tre Valli Varesine, which takes place next Wednesday, October 9th, just a few days before the Il Lombardia race on Saturday, October 12th, which this year, in the alternating route characteristic of recent times, will finish in its most classic alternative, in the city of Como, next to the lake of the same name, including in the final part the ascent to Sormano but in its more gentle version, without the terrifying wall and San Fermo di la Bataglia. A route in which Tadej Pogacar already knows what it is to win because, in fact, all his participations in this monument, the last three years, have resulted in victories.
If he were to win in 2024, he would tie with 4 victories with Alfredo Binda, equaling the king of Lombardia, the legendary Fausto Coppi who managed to win the Classic of the Falling Leaves 5 times, four of them consecutively. By the way, if he were to achieve it, he would also enter the select club of cyclists who have won in Lombardia wearing the rainbow jersey, a group with only 7 cyclists: Paolo Bettini, Alfredo Binda, Tom Simpson, Eddy Merckx, Felice Gimondi, Giuseppe Saronni, and Oscar Camezind.
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