Tadej Pogačar can seemingly win in every kind of way, even by accident. At least that was the case of stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia, where the maglia rosa had set out with the intention of allowing the breakaway some leeway but ended the day feeling more or less compelled to win.
For once, Pogačar was not the primary focus of attention on the Giro, with the late but predictable decision to remove the Umbrail Pass from the route instead dominating the headlines.
But, as ever, the Slovenian couldn’t help but leave his mark on the occasion, cruising clear on the steep final ramps with startling ease to claim his fifth stage win of this race, stretching his overall lead – if anybody is still counting – to 7:18 over Daniel Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe).
After the alteration of the route, the stage was reduced to 118km in length, from Lasa to Monte Pana above Santa Cristina di Val Gardena. Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates squad was content to let the breakaway roam clear. Movistar, however, had other ideas, and by the top of the penultimate ascent, the Passo Pinei, the remnants of the break were in sight.
“We wanted to let the break go, because we just wanted to ride our own race and not take risks, but then Movistar decided to chase, and they controlled everything very well,” Pogačar said.
“They brought us close to the finish, and Domen [Novak] and Rafal [Majka] were there for me, and we said we’d go at our pace. None of the GC guys were attacking so we put some speed on for the last two kilometres.”
Even at that point, Pogačar had half a mind to try to engineer a win for Majka, only for the Pole to explain that he didn’t think he had the energy to do it himself.
“Tadej wanted me to go for the stage, but I already felt before that I was tired, so I said, ‘Go on, man, and win another stage,” Majka said.
Pogačar duly did as his gregario told him, making a seated acceleration with 1.4km to race. His cadence scarcely changed, nor did his expression, but it suddenly looked as though he was riding on an escalator while Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), Martínez, et al, were fighting their way through quicksand. The Giro - and perhaps cycling in 2024 - in microcosm.
After gliding clear of the podium contenders, Pogačar set about picking off the last men standing from the breakaway. He caught and passed the last of them, Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) with 700 metres to go. Whatever the intentions at the outset, there was never any prospect of Pogačar mimicking Laurent Jalabert on Sierra Nevada in 1995 and yielding victory to a plucky escapee. He pressed on ineluctably to the summit.
On crossing the line, Pogačar slowed and counted out his five stage wins on his fingers before raising a palm in celebration. Once again, it all seemed so strikingly easy.
In a tent beyond the finish, Pellizzari approached Pogačar and asked for his pink sunglasses as a gift for his brother. Pogačar’s response was to hand over the glasses and then to strip off his pink jersey and hand that to Pellizzari too. It put one in mind of Lionel Messi’s opponents already asking him for his jersey at half-time.
“I admire him in this Giro already,” Pogačar said of Pellizzari, who had shyly asked the Slovenian for a photograph as a 16-year-old. “He sent me a photo that we took in 2019, when he was a small kid and I was too, really. It was an amazing memory from Strade Bianche, I think it was.
"Now he’s here, he’s going really strong, and maybe he can even win a stage this week.”
Plans
That might well depend on how many stages Pogačar himself wants to win before Rome, given the demanding finales at the Passo Brocon, Sappada and Bassano del Grappa in the coming days. He is also, he confessed, thinking more openly about saving his energy for the Tour de France in July.
“I think tomorrow is a really brutal stage also, so we need to think about all the riders, not just about me,” Pogačar said. “The first thing is that the team needs to survive the stage, and then I also need to think about not going too deep now with my gap. Obviously if I get dropped in the beginning, then I’ll need to go deep, but if I come to the final climb, then I don't need to go over my limit.”
Although Pogačar has essentially been in a race of his own since this Giro left Turin, he was of the same mind as the rest of the peloton about the decision to remove the Umbrail Pass from the route due to the miserable conditions on the climb and the potential dangers posed by the descent.
“I think all the teams were against starting the race,” Pogačar said. “Let’s say if we’d started, I think we’d still be stuck on the Umbrail Pass, still warming up in a house. It was not possible to pass so I think it was good that we found a solution, a common ground with the organiser, with the UCI, with everybody.”
Although the CPA had apparently agreed with RCS Sport’s request to ride a neutralised section out of Livigno before climbing into team cars to head to the new start in Lasa, the peloton preferred not to do so.
“It’s good to see riders united as well,” Pogačar said. “Today was unfortunate for the organisation, but it would have been really unfortunate for the riders if we’d had to go over the pass.
"I love to race over the big climbs, the Stelvio is one of my favourite climbs in the world. But in these conditions, you need to think about the safety of all the riders and all the convoy.”
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