Pogacar makes a poker run at the Tour, Van Aert wins the final stage

In this sense, the Tour itself has lost its edge. As in the Merckx era, even with Pogacar, in the Grand Tours, no one has the courage to challenge his hegemony. Fearing the worst, of being punished for their brazenness, the other leaders prefer to sit back and settle for a mediocre placing. We're not talking about a thoroughbred like Van Der Poel, a fantastic stage hunter, but about captains aiming for the podium. No one raises their head, no one tries to invent something. In this cycling, in the Grand Tours, a "devil" like Chiappucci, who didn't even fear Indurain, no longer exists. The 1992 Sestriere feat seems impossible today. Of course, with Pogacar it's like touching electrical wires, but something has to be invented. It's no coincidence that the Monument Classics are currently gaining more traction, where a generation of other champions like Van Der Poel, Evenepoel, and Van Aert are making life more difficult for the Slovenian, who has already won nine (2 Flanders, 3 Liège, 4 Lombardy). He's only missing Sanremo and Roubaix. A nice haul when you add the World Championships and everything else (103 victories), which is no small feat.

Speaking of the world title: the next World Championships will be held in Rwanda (September 24), a special event that Tadej will undoubtedly be tempted to secure a repeat victory, rounding out his season with the grand finale in Lombardia. It's therefore highly unlikely that he'll participate in the next Vuelta, especially given how he arrived in Paris with a reserve.

Though still young, Pogacar is already making choices. He's looking ahead. At times, he even gives the impression of racing not so much against his contemporaries as against cycling history itself. As if he wanted to rewrite it, but in his own way.

Pogacar is not like Merckx, who, just to win, would end up exhausted at the finish line. And he wore himself out until doctors forced him to withdraw. Tadej, besides being the most determined and talented, is the jewel in the crown of a generation very different from those before him. A generation that also knows how to have fun, highly connected and digital, speaking several languages, and confronting its opponents without the bitterness of the past, when great rivalries ignited the races. They lose and win without vowing revenge, with a lightheartedness that is sometimes surprising. Even with Vingegaard, although there is no great sympathy, there have never been any real sparks. A few dirty looks, a few allusions, but nothing more. The Dane, despite finishing second, is the real loser. He only made the Tour, but behind Pogacar. Only once, in La Plagne, did he finish ahead of him. But without winning the stage. Good third place for the German Lipowitz (+11'09”) and fourth for the Scottish Onley (12'12”)

On a personal level, Tadej doesn't give much to write or talk about. Gossip slips away from him. Engaged to Urska Zigart, with whom he lives in Monte Carlo, also a professional cyclist, when he's not racing he leads a very simple life. They often train together, cook together (their favorite dish is carbonara), and watch movies and TV series together. It's the life of a university student studying abroad, not that of a super champion earning €8 million a year and contracted with the UAE until 2030.

Another of Pogacar's qualities is that he doesn't let himself be crushed by pressure. He sleeps, eats, plays darts, without stressing himself more than necessary. He still experiences cycling as a passion, a beautiful game that is taking him ever further, to places perhaps he doesn't even know where. Provided that this magical lightness remains as attached to him as his yellow jerseys. Of which there are 54 so far. Froome is within reach with 59. But at the top, far away, there is always that Eddy Merckx (111) who will forever remain his true and relentless opponent.

Finally, a word about the Italians. Eleven of us started, but we were immediately left without Ganna, the only true champion of our cycling. We have Jonathan Milan, a giant from Friuli (1.94 m), to thank for winning two stages (plus two second places) and fighting for bonus points in the intermediate sprints, to take the green jersey in the points classification. It wasn't easy. Because the Tour is a race with hell in its belly. Only 12 riders finished within an hour of Pogacar. We haven't heard from other Italians, except for poor Simone Velasco, a fighter but as unlucky as Donald Duck. Italian cycling is in an unprecedented crisis. And there are no young Sinners on two wheels on the horizon.