The normal rules don’t apply to Tadej Pogačar. That was already abundantly clear before this Giro d’Italia and it was only reiterated by his first day in the maglia rosa on the road to Fossano on stage 3, where he tried to upset the sprinters with a late attack in the company of Geraint Thomas.
The long run from Novara lent itself to a bunch sprint and, under normal circumstances, a cessation of hostilities among the general classification contenders. We should know by now, of course, that there is no such thing as a détente in the Pogačar era. The race is always on, and it’s always on his terms. Pogačar, it seems, never operates on battery-saving mode.
The first warning came 21km from the finish, as the gruppo skirted the edge of the Langhe and reached the intermediate sprint at Cherasco. As the bunch trundled towards the banner, the pink jersey emerged from the gloom, travelling at a significant rate of knots in search of bonus seconds.
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Ineos’ Ben Swift beat him to the line, but Pogačar still picked up two bonus seconds for his trouble, while Geraint Thomas collected the remaining second. They drifted back to the bunch immediately afterwards, but Pogačar’s antennae remained on high alert, scanning for opportunities.
The chance presented itself a shade under 3km to go as the road kicked upwards on the approach to Fossano. When Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) tested the waters, Pogačar couldn’t help but join in. Thomas, who probably could have done without the hassle, felt compelled to come along.
“I wasn’t expecting it, it wasn’t my attack,” Pogačar said. “I didn’t attack, I just followed. And I found myself in the leading group. Then we continued, it was a strong effort from Geraint and Honoré. We tried to go to the finish, but it was just a bit of stretching the legs.”
It must have felt like something more than a mere stretch for Honoré, who had to drop back soon afterwards, and for Thomas, who was unwilling – or perhaps simply unable – to provide much help to Pogačar beyond a couple of cursory turns. All the while, the sprinters’ teams were scrambling in pursuit, but for a few dizzying minutes, it looked as though Pogačar was going to pull off an unexpected heist.
Pogačar kicked again in the finishing straight in a bid to hold off the closing bunch, even though the UAE Team Emirates man must have known by then the effort would be a forlorn one. He was eventually swarmed by the peloton, rolling home in 46th place on the day. Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) won the stage but the headlines, like every day on this Giro, belonged to Pogačar.
“I saw Honoré go, I was just thinking about keeping good position, and I followed his wheel,” Pogačar said. “We came over the climb and I saw we had a small gap. G was coming from behind, and that created a strong group of three. Respect to Mikkel and to Thomas, we collaborated a little bit, but it was not enough to come to the finish. It was meant to be today for the sprinters.”
Pogačar had a similar explanation for his exhibition at the intermediate sprint, insisting that he had contested the bonus seconds only because he sensed Ineos were trying to tee up Thomas. “It was not my intention to go but I saw Ineos moving up, and three seconds is three seconds,” he shrugged. “It was better to take one second ahead of Thomas than let him take three seconds on me.
All told, Pogačar added a minimal deposit to his overall lead, which now stands at 46 seconds over Thomas and 47 over Daníel Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe). His exuberance on a day such as this invariably raises the thorny issue of his experiences at the past two Tours de France, when he ultimately paid a heavy price for his eagerness to sprint for every lamppost on the road to Paris.
Pogačar reached for humour when asked if such attacks might prove expensive between now and Rome. “So far I didn’t spend any euros,” he said. “For now, I’ve been on a paid vacation for six days, I haven’t spent any money.”
His performance here certainly suggested that Pogačar has a more generous daily allowance than anyone else at this Giro. He has now indulged his appetite for attacking on each of the first three stages of the race, on three different kinds of terrain. Indeed, he gives the disquieting impression of being a man eager to try everything on the menu between here and Rome.
In the press conference truck beyond the finish line, Pogačar hesitated when asked if his intention was to try to win every stage of this Giro. “No comment,” he smiled.
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