The other day, it looked as if the Tour de France would end with its first Slovenian winner.
It did. Except that the winner wasn't the Slovenian most observers expected.
Going into the race's final stage, it seemed that Primoz Roglic would bring the race's maillot jaune home: His 57-second lead seemed all but insurmountable, especially since the final stage was a time trial up a mountain: the sort of event in which he usually does well.
And he did. Except that Tadej Podacar, all 21 years of him, did even better. Two years after winning the Tour de l'Avenir, and one year removed from his third-place finish in the Vuelta a Espana, Podacar became the Tour's youngest winner.
His final push has been compared to that of Greg Lemond in the 1989 Tour. Entering the final day of the race, Lemond trailed Laurent Fignon, who won in 1983 and 1984, by 50 seconds. And the race's final stage was a time trial: an event in which Fignon tended to do well.
Well, Lemond rode the time trial of his life and earned his second Tour victory.
The plot outline of Lemond-Fignon is thus a close parallel to that of Podacar-Roglic, except for one thing: Fignon and Lemond were both well-established cyclists in the prime of their careers. Roglic, at 30, is about the same age as Fignon and Lemond were during their epic duel, but it's hard to say where he is in his professional career, which he began at 24: several years later than is normal. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see whether Podacar's victory signals the beginning of a long road, if you will, to canonization in the cycling world.
Only time will tell. On Sunday, a time trial determined the winner of the world's most famous race.
It did. Except that the winner wasn't the Slovenian most observers expected.
Going into the race's final stage, it seemed that Primoz Roglic would bring the race's maillot jaune home: His 57-second lead seemed all but insurmountable, especially since the final stage was a time trial up a mountain: the sort of event in which he usually does well.
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| Primoz Roglic (in polka dots) and Tadej Podacar |
And he did. Except that Tadej Podacar, all 21 years of him, did even better. Two years after winning the Tour de l'Avenir, and one year removed from his third-place finish in the Vuelta a Espana, Podacar became the Tour's youngest winner.
His final push has been compared to that of Greg Lemond in the 1989 Tour. Entering the final day of the race, Lemond trailed Laurent Fignon, who won in 1983 and 1984, by 50 seconds. And the race's final stage was a time trial: an event in which Fignon tended to do well.
Well, Lemond rode the time trial of his life and earned his second Tour victory.
The plot outline of Lemond-Fignon is thus a close parallel to that of Podacar-Roglic, except for one thing: Fignon and Lemond were both well-established cyclists in the prime of their careers. Roglic, at 30, is about the same age as Fignon and Lemond were during their epic duel, but it's hard to say where he is in his professional career, which he began at 24: several years later than is normal. On the other hand, it will be interesting to see whether Podacar's victory signals the beginning of a long road, if you will, to canonization in the cycling world.
Only time will tell. On Sunday, a time trial determined the winner of the world's most famous race.
