There were the Giro and the Tour, there was the Lombardia, there was the Liegi, there were the Strade Bianche but above all there was a world championship won like perhaps no one has ever done. 2024 in cycling was all about Tadej Pogacar. Even though he is only 26 years old, the Slovenian phenomenon has already written a fundamental page in cycling ever and in sport in general. They rightly placed him alongside all the greatest. Bernard Hinault, Eddie Merckx, Marco Pantani… TheTeam dedicated pages to him and an entire page on the day of the victory of the Giro di Lombardia comparing him to Fausto Coppi: “Like him…”. Like him because only the two of them won four Lombardy in a row. And then it’s up to Tadej to try to explain who he resembles: “The comparisons with Merckx are definitely very beautiful and rewarding – the Slovenian said a few months ago at the Trento Sports Festival organized by the Gazzetta – But I don’t like comparing myself to others. I always wanted and still want to write my story. I don’t like to compare myself also because when I was a boy I wasn’t very interested in cycling, this is to say that I’ve never had an idol to inspire me. When I was in Slovenia I watched the Tour and then when I started to get passionate about cycling there was Andy Schleck winning. My first bike was Italian, a Billato, but maybe it was a little too big for me. The coach told me I was too small for that type of bike and I had to wait a year. Then I started training. I had fun and tried to win in junior races, like the Giro della Lunigiana. When I started winning I realized that I had some potential and that I could participate in international competitions. But I watched the races and I didn’t like waiting at the finish line, maybe that’s why I run like this…”. It’s been a terrific year. He won practically everything he wanted to win, with a series of feats that brought cycling back to its most epic seasons, when the feats were then told by grandparents to their grandchildren and the gaps were of minutes and minutes: “The objective for this year it was the World Championship but I thought about doing the Giro and Tour and the decisions we made turned out to be right. Last year the expectations were very high for the Tour. I had won in Flanders and had done some excellent classics. Then there was the crash in Liège, when I broke my wrist. The recovery was very slow, it took two months and I couldn’t beat Jonas Vingegaard. This year went differently but there were some moments when I thought I wouldn’t be able to win some races. I’m not afraid to say that in some situations I felt at my limit, physically and mentally. It was a perfect season, and for this reason I wanted to repeat the celebration of the Strade Bianche, the first race I won this year. Every success is special, but doing it wearing this shirt makes everything even better. Hearing the fans shout my name makes every moment beautiful.” What will 2025 be like for the Slovenian from the UAE? It’s difficult to say although it’s easy to imagine him still winning. So successful. Like this year, perhaps more or perhaps less but still with its own precise imprint. His. Because in the end who cares comparisons, comparisons, stickers placed side by side to understand (which is impossible) who is the biggest, the best, the best, who would have come out on top if all the greats of the past had all been in a group in the same era. Pogacar is Pogacar, one and only. It is difficult to say whether he is more talented, stronger, more champion than others because in these years of dominance he has given such his own imprint to the races, victories, defeats (rare) and to his being the testimonial of a new cycling in tactical attitude and not just tactical that cannot be compared to anyone. Pogacar attacks even when he shouldn’t, sprints even when he could save himself, wins and wins big but more than a cannibal he seems like a “revolutionary” who overturns the clichés of cycling as always. It is not Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinalt, Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain, Stephen Roche or Marco Pantani because he is an absolute champion born of his days. What is the point of comparisons backwards in time? Everything has changed: bikes, roads, nutrition, training. The culture of a sport has changed which fortunately remains well rooted in its history and memories but is also capable of dealing with the passing of time and understanding that between the champions of today and those of yesterday there is a world in between. It has nothing to do with it but not for a technical reason, because he pedals differently uphill, because he is stronger in the time trial because he also dominates the classics, because today we race with air helmets instead of bandanas. The difference is only in the look. Today tired but always irreverent and sunny. The serene look of someone who is writing a piece of cycling history with the lightness of someone who doesn’t take it easy and doesn’t even seem to take himself seriously. Here is the difference between Pogacar and all the others, perhaps it is precisely this: neither Cannibal, nor Pirate, nor Badger. Just look him in the eyes….