Since the 1970s, Eddy Merckx had been cycling’s undisputed greatest rider of all time – until Tadej Pogačar arrived.
The 26-year-old Slovenian announced himself on the world stage by winning his debut Tour de France in 2020 and has dominated most of the races he’s entered since – mastering Grand Tours and one-day Classics in a way that hasn’t been seen since the Cannibal hung up his wheels.
In 2024, he became only the third man after Merckx and Stephen Roche to claim cycling’s Triple Crown (winning the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and world championship in the same season). With his debut at Paris-Roubaix this Sunday, he’s not content with his lot, and has set about targetting his missing Monuments.
But who is the boyish blond-haired Slovenian? And what sets him apart from the rest of the WorldTour peloton?
1. He earns €8 million per year
As the best cyclist of his generation, it’s only fair that Pogačar is rewarded handsomely for his efforts.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported in November 2024 that his latest contract with UAE Team Emirates-XRG sees the Slovenian earn €8 million per year until 2030, while he has a chunky €200 million buy-out clause.
His fee is the highest in the WorldTour peloton, with La Gazzetta estimating that compatriot Primož Roglič is the second-highest – earning €4.5 million per year at Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe – and Jonas Vingegaard’s annual Visma-Lease a Bike take-home third at €4 million.
2. He is engaged to women’s pro rider Urška Žigart
The training and racing commitments of a pro cyclist can make finding time for love hard.
But Pogačar has found a sympathetic partner in Urška Žigart – a fellow professional cyclist for Women’s WorldTour team, AG Insurance-Soudal.
The pair met on a City Ljubljana cycling program training camp in 2017 and have been engaged since 2021. In fact, Žigart’s non-selection for the Paris 2024 Olympics is said to have swayed Pogacar’s decision not to compete himself.
3. His FTP is 415 watts
The Slovenian is a beast on the bike who is just at home in one-day races as he is mountain-top finishes of a Grand Tour, and it’s largely thanks to an out-of-this-world functional threshold power (FTP).
X user, Ryan Rodman calculated that based on a screenshot of his head unit, Pog set an FTP of 415 watts during a training ride for last year’s world championships (which Pogačar went on to win).
4. He is 1.77m and his race weight drops to 64.5kg
While the Slovenian can’t be accused of being average, his height and weight are where he’s around the middle of the pack.
At 1.77m tall, he is 2cm taller than his Tour de France rival, Jonas Vingegaard, and is the same height as compatriot Roglič.
His weight fluctuates, and he revealed to longevity expert Peter Attia that his natural weight is 69kg but dropped as low as 64.5kg for the start of the 2024 Tour de France.
5. He was the youngest rider to win the Tour in over a century, and the second youngest ever
While a third place in 2019’s La Vuelta signalled that Pogačar had Grand Tour potential, the then 21-year-old announced himself on the grandest stage of them all by winning his debut Tour de France.
The Covid-impacted race was held in September 2020, and meant Pogačar secured his victory on the streets of Paris aged 21 and 365 days old – the youngest winner in over a century and second only to Henri Cornet, who won in 1904 aged 19 and 352 days.
6. He lives in Monaco
Although he grew up Klanec, a small village on the outskirts of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, Pogačar has lived in Monaco since winter 2020.
He moved to the principality for the warm weather and is among a number of professional riders to call the city-state home, including Roglič, Chris Froome and Peter Sagan.
7. He’s in the top 10 of Tour de France overall and stage wins
Most professional cyclists spend their whole careers trying and failing to win a Tour de France stage. But Pog isn’t like most pros.
In his five Tours de France since his debut, he has clinched the yellow jersey three times, propelling him to joint 6th in the overall list, with only Chris Froome (four wins) and Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jaques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain (five) ahead of him. In that time, he’s racked up 17 stage wins, putting him eighth in the overall.
8. He’s finished on the podium of every Grand Tour he’s entered
Pogačar is well known for his three Tours de France wins and his 2024 Giro d’Italia maglia rosa, but even in the Grand Tours he hasn’t won, he’s never finished off of the podium.
In his Grand Tour debut, 2019’s La Vuelta, the then 20-year-old finished third, while in the two Tours de France he’s lost to Jonas Vingegaard, he’s still finished as the second-fastest overall rider.
From his seven Grand Tours, he’s also won the youth jersey five times (one La Vuelta and four Tours de France) and the mountains jersey three times (two Tours de France and one Giro d’Italia).
9. He rides a Colnago V4Rs (among other bikes)
The Slovenian’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG team is sponsored by iconic Italian brand, Colnago.
Pog rides the manufacturer’s V4Rs Dura Ace Di2 – its pro-focused all-rounder – but it’s far from stock.
His Enve SES 4.5 wheelset are paired with Continental’s GP5000s TR tyres; Enve is also responsible for the SES Pro Team one-piece handlebar; while final flourishes include 165mm cranks, CarbonTi X-CarboRing EVO chainrings, and Di2 sprint shifters positioned beneath the brake hoods to allow him to change gear when in the drops.
Pogačar also has at his disposal – and uses – the Y1Rs aero bike, while Colnago has started to tease the V4Rs' successor, the V5Rs.
10. He was the Slovenian national cyclocross champ
A lot is made of Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock’s multi-discipline mastery, but Pogačar is no stranger to dipping his toe into the world of cyclocross.
The phenom won the Slovenian national championship in 2018 and has competed in Ciklokros Ljubljana twice, winning in 2021 and finishing second in 2022. However, he’s yet to line up at a UCI CX World Cup or category-one race.
1.1. He has over 2,500 KOMs on Strava
Pogačar is one of the few pros worth following on Strava, and isn’t shy about uploading the occasional race-winning ride (although his heart rate and power data is understandably hidden).
Even though he doesn’t share every training session, he’s managed to amass more than 2,500 KOMs on the app, including the Koppenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle – and Yorkshire’s very own Buttertubs Pass.
