Tadej Pogacar made history this season, raising the bar for excellence in modern cycling.
This year, Tadej Pogacar made history with an extraordinary season that set a new standard for modern cycling. Claiming two Grand Tour titles with 12 stage wins across them, winning the World Championships road race, two monument victories, and much more, the UAE Team Emirates star has achieved what many thought impossible. His incredible feats have earned praise from two former competitors who once shared the peloton with him.
Let’s say cycling can change in an instant. You might have a season like he did this year, and things might not go as well next year. Hopefully, he’ll stay healthy and avoid crashes, but at this point, there’s no stopping him from winning at least a quarter of the races he enters,” Bobby Julich shared on the *Odd Tandem* podcast. “He’s simply riding at a different level. It will be exciting to watch, but I don’t think he’ll have any trouble with the so-called curse of the rainbow jersey next year.
The so-called “rainbow jersey curse” seems irrelevant in Pogacar’s case, as he has dominated both races he’s competed in wearing the World Champion’s jersey. He concluded his phenomenal 2024 season just as he began it, with a victory in Italy, securing minutes over his rivals. While it’s uncertain if he can replicate this level of success next year, he will likely feel less pressure and focus on key targets like the Milano-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders double, the Tour de France, and the World Championships, which will be held on a hilly course in Kigali.
There’s no curse of the rainbow jersey for him—I’m a big fan of Tadej Pogacar,” Jens Voigt agrees. “After a season like this, where everything aligned perfectly, he made history with the ‘Grand Slam’ of cycling by winning the Giro, Tour, and Worlds. It would be almost impossible to replicate, with another 25 wins like that,” Voigt explains. Still, he has no doubt Pogacar will remain a dominant force. “He’ll likely win 10 to 15 races easily, but another 25? That would be nearly unprecedented. But he’ll be spectacular, no doubt, and a top contender for 10 to 15 victories next year.
