SIENA – “I think if you ask any rider,” says Pogacar with an experienced smile, “they’ll tell you they’ve had a fall like mine at least once. For me it wasn't the first, maybe the third. But regardless of that, it would have been a shame if I had thrown away all the team's work..."
The world champion has a few Band-Aids. The ones on his calves are visible, the others are just a hint under his rainbow jacket. With 40,705 kilometers per hour, it was the Strade Bianche faster than ever, more than the 2023 one won by PidcockThis one was longer and the winner also ended up in a meadow, risking breaking his neckIt's a day Pogacar will remember for a long time: perhaps not the day of his greatest victory, but certainly the day of his hardest struggle.
Since the morning there were jokes about what the point of his attack would be: whether on Monte Sante Marie or in the previous sector of Serravalle. And when Pidcock broke the deadlock on the leader, Tadej quickly followed. He didn't seem surprised, maybe he really didn't have in mind to win with an enterprise of his own.. But he took up the challenge and went away with the British who at Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team he has rediscovered the swagger of the good old days.
A moment of panic
The crash sent a shiver down everyone's spine. Pogacar must have realized he'd gone too far on that bend, he pinched the front and the wheel spun, sending him down dead weightThe blow also hit his helmet, his glasses went off, and Tadej slid at high speed toward the embankment. He dodged a road sign and stopped in the grass. For much less, others are no longer among us, for much less himself he broke a scaphoid at the 2023 Liège. Instead he got up, did a quick check and started again.
“I’m fine, thank you,” he says with a smile. “Thanks for asking. When I fell in my mind there was a moment of panicBut I got up, I saw that I could get back on the bike, I saw that my watch was fine and so was the computer. I had a lot of thoughts, but the first thing was to start againI tried to get back in front because we had worked hard for this race."
He apologized
Pidcock in front didn't stop, he didn't even think about it. He tried to hold on, then perhaps updated by the team car, he understood that the other was going at double speed and that the kilometers to the finish line were still too many. So, turning around and seeing him coming, he thought it best to take a breath and recover, preparing for the final showdown.
«When I returned to Pidcock – Pogacar says, and it strikes us a little – I apologized to him. It was a stupid mistake on my part and it could have ended very badly for everyone in front, for him and also for SwiftTom looked at me and said he was fine and asked if I was okay too, and so we continued. I know I was lucky, maybe that will become my nickname from now on: “Lucky guy!”
«I don't know how long he waited for me, for sure I saw him turn around at the top of the hill when I got close to him. Maybe he thought it was still too far to go alone and thought it would be better to go together. We haven't talked about it, but I know he has respect for me and I have respect for him.Today was truly a classic and even in these extreme circumstances, we showed great fairness."
Pidcock's pressure
What's never lacking is his sense of humor. He stopped after arriving. He hugged the men of his team with that enthusiasm that was always so sincere that it made us smile.Then he waited for Pidcock and finally for Wellens, at the culmination of a memorable day. He answered questions from the television stations. He had himself treated before going up on the podiumThen he attended one last media meeting, before returning to the bus and from there to the hotel. Yet that fall remains a hot topic, and Tadej also returns to it.
«Having Pidcock behind me – he says – could have probably pushed me to make that mistake. It's not easy to go downhill knowing that you have behind you a world mountain bike champion, Olympic mountain bike champion and world cyclocross champion (laughs, ed.) He put pressure on me, because I had to prove to him that I was good too, and I think I did. But I'll never go mountain biking with him. I had thought of attacking on the first pass on Colle Pinzuto, but the fall prevented me from doing so..
"I hoped the chase wouldn't take too much of my energy. Luckily, I didn't break anything, nothing serious in the end. I knew I had to try in that sector, because le Tolfe would have been more suitable for Tom, since he is shorter. So I took one shot and that was enough."
Two Italians in the top 20
His celebration at the top of the final climb of Santa Caterina was that of a goalscorer. People hugged and pushed him, recognizing in those wounds and lacerations an added value that he had never seen before.
No victory is easy; the one that comes with the taste of your own blood in your mouth is undoubtedly worth more. Tadej Pogacar's third Strade Bianche ends with Formolo and Vendrame in the top twenty. His next stop will be the Milan-SanremoAnd who knows, maybe starting this evening the team will start talking about Roubaix again.
