It worked once before, but Tadej Pogačar was never likely to make the same mistake again. Four years is a long time in the Pogačar era, and the version currently dominating the Giro d’Italia looks utterly impervious to the kind of carelessness that almost cost him his first Grand Tour victory.
In the opening week of that pandemic-delayed 2020 Tour de France, Ineos availed of crosswinds on the road to Lavaur to splinter the peloton, and a young Pogačar was among those caught on the wrong side of the split, losing over a minute in the process.
