There’s no shame in finishing second to Tadej Pogačar – that’s the message from XDS Astana’s Alberto Bettiol, who has said the world champion is “almost impossible to beat” in the lead-up to Strade Bianche.
Pogačar is the overwhelming favourite to win the Italian Classic on Saturday, having already won it twice in his career with long-range attacks. Faced with the prospect of another Slovenian onslaught, Bettiol said “there’s nothing we can do” to stave it off.
“I honestly don’t think there’s anyone on the Strade Bianche start list who can even try to stay with him,” the Italian told Cyclingnews.
"He makes cycling beautiful to watch because he's as good as Eddy Merckx and is smashing all the records. The 'ugly' side of racing against Pogačar is that you line up for a race knowing that it's almost impossible to beat him.”
Pogačar claimed 25 victories in 2024 – more than any other rider – including the 'Triple Crown' of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and UCI World Championships. At only 26 years old, he is considered to be one of the greatest cyclists of all time, if not the greatest, and was recently nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award.
“Being beaten by Pogačar is not a dishonour, it's a 'success' to remember and cherish when we are old and retired and talk to our kids about our career and we understand just how good Pogačar was during his career,” Bettiol said.
The Italian’s comments echo those of other riders last season, including Primož Roglič, who judged Pogačar to be “unbeatable”.
"Where he is at the moment, Tadej is really unbeatable, or it's hard to compete," Roglič said in November. "I like to win, but the reality is quite clear. Tadej has a couple of gears more.”
Last March, too, after Pogačar laid waste to the Volta a Catalunya, winning four stages and the overall, the peloton resigned themselves to his supremacy.
“For sure I cannot compete,” said then Cofidis rider Guillaume Martin, “and I don’t think any rider here can compete with him.” Similarly, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Attila Valter said Pogačar is in an “extra zone” above everyone else.
Such is the mentality of professional athletes, though, that few will go into an event competing for second place. "It's hard to beat Mr Pogi but you've got to try," Lidl-Trek's Quinn Simmons told Cyclingnews in Siena. "We're not going to sit back and let him ride away at Strade. That's the most likely outcome but we're not going to gift it to him."
Strade Bianche is scheduled to take place this Saturday 8 March, counting 16 gravel sectors on an out-and-back route from Siena, Italy. Coverage of the men’s race will begin at 13:00 in the UK (08:00 ET in the US), immediately after the women’s race in the morning.
