Hulk on wheels, Pogacar is greatest of his generation

Trolls still want proof Tour champ human

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Tadej Pogacar is cycling’s generational great and the Slovenian has silenced any remaining doubters that the sport has found its heir to the great Eddy Merckx.

On his swaggering romp across France on his way to a fourth Tour de France title on Sunday, one could still catch glimpses of the boy desperate to beat his brother in the hills outside Ljubljana.

But now, at 26, Pogacar has learned to curb some of his gung-ho instincts, which not only lifted him to success at times, but were also behind his rare defeats.

In 2024 he won the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world title, a feat known as cycling’s Triple Crown and won only by Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987.

Pogacar’s dominance of the current scene is without doubt, but the kangaroo courts of social media are asking another question, one that will forever dog cycling — is he for real?

Pogacar, a proven combative all-rounder capable of taking on mountain climbs as easily as flat sprints, has never tested positive at any time in his career.