After three straight stages of attacking in the Giro d’Italia, you could be forgiven for thinking that Tadej Pogačar was never going to stop powering off up the road in this year’s race.
On stage 4, though, even if the race leader finally took things a bit more calmly, it was not for any sudden lack of motivation to put his rivals to the test, but simply because Pogačar wasn’t in the right place at the right time to do so.
The crunch moment came at the start of the short but punchy Capo Mele climb, which immediately preceded a fast drop down to the finish, and Pogačar could be seen hovering close to the front of the peloton, poised to pounce.
But unlike on stage 3, where he tore off up the road after Mikkel Honore (EF Education-EasyPost), 24 hours later on stage 4, when Filippo Ganna made a gutsy late breakaway up the Mele, a climb made famous from its regular inclusion in Milan-San Remo, Pogačar opted not to follow.
Asked if he had wanted to do so, Pogačar answered simply, "For sure. Unfortunately, I was in too bad a position to follow him and go on the attack.
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“Today, in any case, I was thinking about being safe for the finish, too, and I was in a good position at the top of the climb.”
The Slovenian duly rolled across the line in 30th, with his maglia rosa secure for another day. For once, though, rather than the colour of his jersey, it was what Pogacar was or wasn’t wearing on his lower half - black shorts versus magenta - that dominated the news cycle of the day.
“It was a good day for me in general, also for the team,” Pogačar told reporters later. “Unfortunately, [UAE team sprinter Juan Sebastian] Molano crashed, but I think he’s OK, he needed a bike change in the final, so he lost the sprint. But overall, it was a good day.”
The inclusion of the Mele, could not help but remind him of Sanremo, he said, a race which continues to elude him even if he did make it onto the podium for the first time this year behind Alpecin-Deceunink duo Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel.
“It was good to be on these roads and nice to race here again, I knew every single metre of them almost. It was maybe even more tense than Sanremo, though, but it was a nice finish.”
Whilst on the subject of teammates, Pogačar was also asked why Jay Vine, due to race the Giro but missing from the UAE lineup after his appalling crash and subsequent injuries in Itzulia-Pais Vasco, had been replaced by an allrounder like Stake Vegard Laengen rather than another climber like the Australian.
“The decision about which rider to bring instead of Jay had several solutions, there were some riders who were already racing a lot this year and it wasn’t easy,” Pogačar commented.
“I think even I saw that Laengen was the best option, because I knew we had to take a lot of responsibilities [for controlling the race] and both Mikkel [Bjerg] and, Domen [Novak] are climbing really well.”
“So we could use Laengen more to work in the flat part of stages because that’s what he’s perfect for. I knew it was a good decision, and it’s worked well.”
While there can be little doubt that, to date, Pogačar is the strongest rider in the Giro peloton, in terms of teams, the balance of power is a lot more equal. and he faced one question after stage 4 regarding which rival squad he feared the most.
Pogačar pointed to Ineos Grenadiers as a very strong team, with Thymen Arensman and Tobias Foss initially having GC options. But as he also said, both the Dutchman and the Norwegian have already lost some time overall.
“There’s another team like Bora-Hansgrohe who still have two well-placed riders with Dani Martinez and Filippo Lipowitz, though," he pointed out "Plus, I think Bahrain can play more cards, too, so I think we will have to see who will be the most dangerous.”
Pogačar faced yet more questions about the shorts controversy, although his comments added little to what had already emerged.
“I talked already in the morning to a couple of journalists about this,” he pointed out, “ But yeah, I got the skinsuit from the organiser, I wore that because it’s faster and I like them too.
“Then we got a call from the UCI that it’s against the rules, so the story of it all continues. I decided not to risk anything and wear shorts today, not the skinsuit.”
The main interest point, though, remained Pogačar's relentless determination to go on the attack as often as is practical. And after missing out on stage 4, there's no knowing what he could get up to on stage 5 into Lucca on Wednesday, for all it's a flat finish.
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