He made it look like a video game on easy mode. That’s the only way to describe what the 2024 Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogačar, did to the world’s most elite cyclists last summer.
If you tuned in expecting a repeat of the razor-thin margins of years past, you were probably shocked. Honestly, it wasn't even close. By the time the peloton reached the final time trial in Nice—the first time the race didn't finish in Paris since 1905—Pogačar had already carved out a lead that felt like a different zip code. He finished 6 minutes and 17 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard. That is a lifetime in professional cycling.
The Ridiculous Stats of the 2024 Tour de France Winner
People keep asking: was he really that much better, or did the others just have a bad year?
Vingegaard was coming back from a horrific crash in the Basque Country that left him with a collapsed lung. Evenepoel was making his debut. But let's be real. Pogačar wasn't just winning; he was "cannibalizing" the race. He took six stage wins. Six. In the modern era, that’s basically unheard of for a General Classification (GC) contender.
He didn't just sit in the wheels and wait for the final kilometer. He attacked on the Galibier in the first week. He smashed the record on the Plateau de Beille by nearly four minutes. For context, he beat Marco Pantani's long-standing (and controversial) climb record by such a margin that experts were left scratching their heads.
His data? Absolute insanity. We're talking about a guy pushing nearly $7W/kg$ for 40 minutes at the end of a five-hour stage.
Why the 2024 Victory Was Different
Most riders who win the Giro d’Italia in May arrive at the Tour looking like zombies. The "Giro-Tour Double" is the holy grail of cycling, and nobody had pulled it off since Marco Pantani in 1998.
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Pogačar didn't just pull it off; he dominated both.
He won six stages in Italy and then six more in France. He didn't look tired. Kinda the opposite, actually. He looked like he was having the time of his life, popping wheelies and joking with cameras while everyone else was breathing through their ears.
What Most People Get Wrong About "Pogi"
There’s this idea that Pogačar is just a "freak of nature" with zero tactics. You’ve probably heard people say he "wastes energy" by attacking too early.
In 2024, he proved that’s nonsense.
He was much more calculated this time around. Instead of the impulsive "all-out" attacks that cost him the yellow jersey in 2022 and 2023, he used his UAE Team Emirates squad like a sledgehammer. Guys like Adam Yates and Joao Almeida—who could lead almost any other team in the world—were basically his bodyguards. They would set a pace so high that by the time Pogačar attacked, nobody had the legs to follow.
It was a masterclass in psychological warfare.
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The Rivalry That Defined the Summer
It’s hard to talk about the 2024 Tour de France winner without mentioning Jonas Vingegaard. These two have been the "Ali vs. Frazier" of the Alps for four years now.
Vingegaard is the only human on the planet who can even stay in the same frame as Pogačar when the road goes up. On Stage 11 to Le Lioran, Vingegaard actually beat him in a sprint. For a moment, we all thought, "Wait, is it happening again? Is Jonas in his head?"
Nope.
Pogačar just waited for the Pyrenees. He took the yellow jersey on Stage 4 and never really looked like losing it, eventually putting the final nail in the coffin during the Stage 21 time trial from Monaco to Nice.
Key Moments You Might Have Missed
- The Gravel Stage: Stage 9 around Troyes was pure chaos. Dust, punctures, and narrow roads. Pogačar attacked repeatedly, trying to break the race apart, but Vingegaard played it safe.
- Plateau de Beille: This was the turning point. Vingegaard put in a world-class performance, but Pogačar was simply on another planet.
- Isola 2000: In the final week, Pogačar caught the breakaway and soloed to the win just to show he could.
Is He the GOAT?
The debate is raging. Some say you can’t compare him to Eddy Merckx because the eras are too different. Others say Pogačar is facing a much deeper field of talent.
Honestly, he’s only 26 (as of the start of the 2025 season). He’s already won the Tour three times, the Giro once, and a handful of "Monuments" like Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Tour of Flanders.
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The 2024 season was arguably the greatest single year any male cyclist has ever had. He finished it off by winning the World Championships in Zurich with a 100km attack.
What You Can Learn from the 2024 Tour
If you're a weekend warrior or just a fan, Pogačar's win actually teaches us a lot about modern performance.
- Fueling is everything. He reportedly consumes up to 120g of carbohydrates per hour. Old-school riders used to starve themselves; now, they’re basically eating machines.
- Recovery is the new training. The gap between the Giro and the Tour was only a few weeks. His ability to recover is what won him the yellow jersey.
- Versatility wins. He isn't just a climber. He's a world-class time trialist and can hold his own in a bunch sprint.
The 2024 Tour de France winner didn't just win a race; he redefined what we thought was possible in three weeks of cycling.
To keep up with the current season, keep an eye on how Visma-Lease a Bike and Soudal-Quick Step are restructuring their teams to try and stop the Slovenian juggernaut. If you want to dive deeper, check out the official race data on the Tour de France website or follow the power analysis experts who break down the climbing speeds. The gap is widening, and the rest of the world is playing catch-up.
Next Steps for Cycling Fans:
- Check out the 2025 route to see if it favors a "pure climber" like Vingegaard or a "puncheur" like Pogačar.
- Update your training plan with a focus on high-carb fueling to see how it affects your own recovery.
- Watch the "Tour de France: Unchained" series on Netflix for the behind-the-scenes drama of how these strategies are actually built in the team bus.