Tadej Pogačar

Born on 21^st September 1998 in Klanec, Slovenia, Tadej Pogačar is a professional all-rounder road cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates since 2019. He broke numerous records at the 2020 Tour de France and became the youngest winner in 111 years. During his childhood days, Pogačar was interested in playing football and trained with a local club as well.

He started cycling under the influence of his elder brother when he began training at the ROG Ljubljana club. Pogačar began training at the age of nine, participated in his first cycling race in 2008 and since then broke several records. In July 2018, he signed a contract with the UAE Team Emirates, which will end after the 2023 season.  

Pogačar is coached by Andrej Hauptman, former road world championship medallist.

Here are some of his major career achievements:

• Pogačar emerged as the overall winner of the 2021 Tirreno–Adriatico stage race that took place in Italy. He also secured the Mountains and Young Rider classifications.
• At the 2021 UAE Tour, he won the race overall and also obtained the Young Rider Classification.
• At the Tour of the Valencian Community (Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana) 2020, Pogačar won the race and also secured the Young Rider Classification.
• Pogačar built a heap of records at the 2020 Tour de France. He became the first Slovenian cyclist ever to win the Tour and the second-youngest winner, aged 21, behind French cyclist Henri Cornet who won in 1904. He became the first cyclist after Eddy Merckx in 1972 to win three distinctive jerseys and secure the General Classification, Young Rider Classification and Mountains Classification simultaneously.
• In 2019 and 2020, Pogačar won the Slovenian National Time Trial Championships.
• In 2019, Pogačar became the youngest cyclist to win a UCI World Tour race at the age of 20 when he won the Tour of California.
• In 2019 Vuelta a España, his first Grand Tour, Pogačar won three stage races and finished the Tour in third place overall.
• In 2018, Pogačar won the Tour de l'Avenir, Grand Prix Priessnitz spa and Giro del Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
• Pogačar won the time trial event of the National Junior Road Championships in 2016.