Slovenia's Pogačar wins Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race
Ancona, 16 March - Slovenian road cycling star Tadej Pogačar is the winner of Tirreno-Adriatico, an elite race across Italy between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts, in what is already his sixth overall career win in multi-day races.
France
Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates), the winner of the 2020 Tour de France.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
File photo
The 22-year-old racer for Team UEA Emirates set the foundation for the win in the "Race of the Two Seas" on Saturday and Sunday, when he grabbed the jersey for the overall leader after two gruelling stages.
He was reserved in the penultimate stage on Monday but managed to keep a lead of more than a minute ahead of the closest rivals, and the last, seventh stage, a 10.1-km time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto was a formality.
Pogačar was fourth in the time trial to keep the lead and win the sixth multi-stage race in his career, the most prestigious of them being last year's Tour de France. He also recently won the Tour of UAE.
The Slovenian finished more than one minute ahead of Belgium's Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma). Spain's Mikel Landa was third overall, falling almost four minutes behind Pogačar.
"I'm super happy with today's performance, with the entire week actually. I'm in great shape, and I have an excellent team by my side. I'm happy and we are going forward with positive thoughts," the Slovenian said.
In addition to the blue jersey for the overall winner, he also won the white jersey for the best young cyclists and the polka-dot jersey for the best mountain climber.
After his second multi-stage race this season, Pogačar will rest a bit, after taking part in the Tour of the Basque Country (5-10 April), where he will race against his compatriot Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) for this first time this year.