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Favorites youth classification Tour de France 2024 | Finally free of Pogacar, these are the men who will battle for the white jersey!

On September 21, 1998, a small boy named Tadej was born in Slovenia. A prodigy who, nineteen years later, would astonish cycling fans with his incredible abilities on a bike. During his first years, he dominated the young rider classification in all the races he entered, as he was always among the best in the general classification. Until 2024. Tadej Pogacar turns 26 in September and he is finally too old for the white jersey. This means that – just like in the Giro d'Italia – we will finally get a real battle for the young rider classification for the first time in years!

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Since Pogacar's debut in 2019, the fight for the white jersey was only interesting in grand tours where the Slovenian was not participating. In the 2019 Vuelta a España and the Tour de France editions from 2020 to 2023, the white jersey automatically went to him, simply because he ended up on the podium in all the grand tours he entered. In the Giro d'Italia this past May, Pogacar was already too old, and we saw a young rider classification with riders who genuinely competed for it. Antonio Tiberi emerged as the best. Who will it be in the Tour?

The concept of the young rider classification is quite simple: any rider born in 1999 or later is eligible, and the one who finishes highest in the general classification will stand on the podium in Nice wearing the white jersey. This rider will, after four consecutive decisions with Pogacar at the top, dethrone the Slovenian to join the ranks of riders like Egan Bernal, Simon and Adam Yates and Nairo Quintana!

Also read these articles from IDLProCycling.com

Preview of the Tour de France Favorites general classification (yellow jersey) Favorites points classification (green jersey) Favorites mountain classification (polka-dot jersey)

Most recent winners Tour de France white jersey

2023 Tadej Pogacar 2022 Tadej Pogacar 2021 Tadej Pogacar 2020 Tadej Pogacar 2019 Egan Bernal 2018 Pierre Latour 2017 Simon Yates 2016 Adam Yates 2015 Nairo Quintana 2014 Thibaut Pinot

Favorites youth classification Tour de France 2024

To create this list, current and former editors of IDLProCycling.com were asked for their top ten answers to the question: "Who is most likely to win the young rider jersey in the Tour de France?" Points were assigned to each top ten as follows: 12 points for the first place, 10 for second, and so on down to 1 point. The total points for each rider were converted into a percentage of the maximum possible points and are indicated next to each rider. This gives a clearer picture of the perceived chances for each rider, according to IDLProCycling.com .

Romain Grégoire- Groupama-FDJ: 5/72 (6.9%)

Listing ten established general classification contenders for the white jersey is unprecedented. In such a classification, it's always a bit of a gamble on young talents who might exceed expectations. Consider Romain Grégoire , who, in just his second year as a pro with Groupama-FDJ , is already making it to the Tour de France. The 21-year-old Frenchman is very explosive, a fantastic climber, but has so far excelled more in one-day races and breakaways than in overall standings.

Normally, he will fulfill that role in the Tour, having already secured a notable stage victory in the Tour of the Basque Country. Grégoire may stand close in the young rider classification in the first week, but can he maintain it over three weeks? His friend, teammate, and peer Lenny Martinez seems more suited for that. But more on him later...

Tobias Halland Johannessen - Uno-X Mobility: 14/72 (19.4%)

Tobias Halland Johannessen can perhaps be placed in the same category as Grégoire, although there might be even more potential in the 24-year-old Norwegian ridinig for Uno-X. After winning the highly regarded U23 Tour de l'Avenir in 2021, he joined the senior ranks. He immediately proved to be an excellent general classification rider in second-tier stage races and, after overcoming injury issues, made his Tour debut in 2023, where he was very active as an attacker.

This year, he may be present in a similar role, but in peak form, Johannessen could easily achieve a solid top ten. He hasn't done it at such a high level yet, but there's a first time for everything... If he's lucky enough to have his peers not deliver, the white jersey could be within reach.

Oier Lazkano - Movistar Team: 15/72 (20.8%)

Another typical attacker and actually a classics specialist. What is he doing on this list? Well, Oier Lazkano is still discovering himself, and after achieving excellent results in one-day races, he suddenly found himself among established general classification riders in the top ten this year. The outgoing Spanish champion won the Clásica Jaén and finished third in Kuurne, but surprised everyone with a ninth place in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

In the final mountain stages, Lazkano finished among the best, though still at a respectable distance from the stage winners. However, this speaks volumes about the engine within the 1.89-meter tall rider. Movistar is focusing on Enric Mas in the Tour, but don't be surprised if Lazkano stays close to the top ten with some impressive attacks...

Lenny Martinez - Groupama-FDJ: 17/72 (23.6%)

Here we have Lenny, the wonderkid of Groupama-FDJ mentioned alongside Grégoire. Likely moving to Bahrain Victorious in 2025, but not before making a surprising Tour debut for the team that developed him. Martinez is, like Grégoire, on his second WorldTour season, and while his peer made a mark in punchy finishes, Martinez has been climbing with the best in stage races and one-day hill races for two seasons.

20-year-old Martinez already has an impressive resume. After winning CIC - Mont Ventoux last season, he has already secured five victories this season, all in tough climbing races. His results in stage races might be even more impressive. He finished second behind Jonas Vingegaard in O Gran Camiño, seventh in Catalonia, and eighth in Romandy. Although he underperformed in the Tour of Switerland after a high-altitude training camp, he showed signs of improvement in the final mountain time trial (sixth), and is likely to shine in the Tour. Bring it on, Martinez!

Tom Pidcock - INEOS Grenadiers: 34/72 (47.2%)

The percentages are now rising sharply, which is no surprise. We are now entering that group of riders who have a realistic chance of winning the white jersey, starting with Tom Pidcock . The 24-year-young all-rounder is competing in this classification for the last time, and don't be surprised if he takes home the jersey to match in Nice. Pidcock is a unique athlete who continues to combine cyclo-cross, mountain biking and road racing, but also delivers in all disciplines.

In the winter, he expressed his ambition to aim for the top five in the Tour de France. Makes sense, after flirting with the top ten in 2022 and 2023. That one bad day needs to be avoided, and his climbing needs improvement, but Pidcock is a serious threat to other general classification riders. Winning a mountain bike race a week before the Tour should help him in the opening weekend. His training at altitude and in the Tour of Switzerland should provide the stamina to compete in the third week.

Santiago Buitrago - Bahrain Victorious: 36/72 (50.0%)

Bahrain Victorious is making remarkable choices this season, and we cannot say they are bad ones. They overlooked a veteran like Wout Poels for the Giro d'Italia, placing all hope on rookie Antonio Tiberi, who immediately delivered with a fifth place and the young rider jersey. The team has a similar plan for the Tour, with Santiago Buitrago as the 24-year-old newcomer among the big names.

The Colombian has earned his stripes in the peloton, more so than Tiberi, so Bahrain Victorious' confidence in the climber is not unfounded. His performances in stage races have not been spectacular this year, although he was in good form early in 2024, bringing in a second place in the Tour of Valencia. Lots of high-altitude training should see him start the Tour in peak form, where he will not be targeting stage wins as in the Giro d'Italia of 2022 and 2023, but will focus on the overall classification. The white jersey was already mentioned as a goal during the team presentation.

Matteo Jorgenson - Visma | Lease a Bike: 37/72 (51.4%)

When you start smashing results after a transfer to Visma | Lease a Bike , winning Paris-Nice and finishing second in the Dauphiné, you're more than just a domestique for Vingegaard in the Tour. In his new team, Matteo Jorgenson found the guidance that his potential deserved, unlike at Movistar. High-altitude training, major stage races, and now he is a shadow leader for the Tour.

In theory, all eyes are on Vingegaard, but how good is the Dane? That is a question nobody can answer as of yet. The only thing we know for sure is that Jorgenson has kept up with the best in both one-day races and stage races this season, and his team says he has improved even more during his latest high-altitude training. Even if Vingegaard performs well, Jorgenson could still aim for a strong overall classification. The white jersey, which he already won in Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné, could be within grasp.

Juan Ayuso - UAE-Team Emirates: 53/72 (73.6%)

Matteo Jorgenson, but the UAE-Team Emirates version. Not an explicit leader in the Tour, because that role of course goes to Pogacar. But expectations for Juan Ayuso are high for his debut. He is on his third WorldTour season, and has impressed in every race he has entered. Third in his debut Vuelta a España in 2022, fourth behind the invincible Jumbo-Visma podium in the Vuelta of 2023, overall winner in the Tour of the Basque Country this year, and ‘best of the rest’ behind Vingegaard in the Tirreno.

Ayuso is supporting Pogacar, but to what extent will UAE riders have to sacrifice their own ambitions for the Slovenian’s yellow jersey ambitions? With Adam Yates, João Almeida, Pavel Sivakov and Marc Soler also onboard, there is no shortage of climbing power. And Visma | Lease a Bike proved in the Vuelta of 2023 that you can place three riders on the podium if you are simply better than the rest. Ayuso won’t want to lose time, so he might surprise by delivering the white jersey and a strong overall result in his first Tour de France.

Carlos Rodriguez - INEOS Grenadiers: 60/72 (83.3%)

Spain is well-stocked with stage race talent these years. Besides Ayuso, Carlos Rodriguez has been impressing in the WorldTour for the last 3.5 years. The 23-year-old rider of INEOS Grenadiers finished fifth in his first Tour last year. And to think he was on track for a podium spot until he had a hard crash in the final week. The same happened in the 2022 Vuelta a España, where he finished seventh, but without the crash, he might have matched Ayuso's performance.

INEOS is aiming for a strong overall result with Rodriguez, despite Pidcock and Egan Bernal having the same ambition. That shouldn’t be a problem, because when Pogacar and Vingegaard go, the legs will determine who can follow. His preparation seems perfect once again. Rodriguez finished second in the Basque Country and closed the Dauphiné with a stage win and fourth place overall. "Better than ever," he said himself. Which makes him an immediate top favorite for white.

Remco Evenepoel - Soudal-Quick Step: 66/72 (91.7%)

One major disadvantage for Rodriguez: there is a competitor at Soudal-Quick Step who potentially could be even better. Remco Evenepoel is finally riding the Tour de France, something Belgium has been eagerly waiting for for years. Evenepoel took it easy since his debut in 2019. Despite his well-known top results in monuments, world championships and week-long stage races, he only participated in his first grand tour in 2021 (partly due to a severe fall in Lombardy in 2022). At the time, the Giro d’Italia was a challenge without having that race rhythm in the legs.

In 2022, everything was focused on the Vuelta a España, which turned out to be a great success. Evenepoel won the overall classification and also took the rainbow jersey in Australia. The Tour in 2023 then? No, he first had to make amends in the Giro. He fought hard for the pink jersey, but COVID-19 interfered. In the Vuelta a España, one off day led to a different race tactic. Evenepoel won a total of three stages and the mountain jersey. So he was ready for the Tour. After his crash in the Basque Country (and the broken shoulder blade that resulted from the crash), the Dauphiné was not great, but Evenepoel seems ready for the battle for the podium.

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How to watch every stage of the 2024 tour de france: stages, schedule, start times, live stream info.

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The most prestigious race in cycling is back, and NBC Sports will cover every stage of the Tour de France on Peacock . Here is everything you need to know about the 2024 Tour de France.

When is the 2024 Tour de France?

The 2024 Tour de France spans from Saturday, June 29 through Sunday, July 21. The event begins one week earlier than usual due to the start of the Paris Olympics on July 26.

How to watch the 2024 Tour de France in the USA

Each stage of the 2024 Tour de France will be streamed on Peacock , and a few select stages will be broadcast on NBC.

Coverage of each day’s stage will begin on Peacock . Stage 8 (July 6) and Stage 14 (July 13) will move over to NBC at 8 a.m. EST. Finally, coverage of the penultimate Stage 20 will be replayed on NBC starting at 4 p.m. EST.

What time does the Tour de France start?

Coverage of the 2024 Tour de France’s first stage begins at 6:30 a.m. on June 29. Each stage will kick off between 6 and 7:30 a.m. EST, with the exception of the 21 st and final stage, which starts at 10:10 a.m. EST on July 21.

What’s the full schedule for 2024 Tour de France?

*All times are listed as ET and all races will be streaming on Peacock.

What’s the full route for the 2024 Tour de France?

The Tour de France begins in Florence, Italy, and finishes in Nice, France.

Because the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be taking place in Paris, this will mark the very first year that the Tour de France will not end in the “City of Light.” It’s also the first time the Tour ends with a time trial since 1989.

The Tour features four summit finishes and two time trials. The vertical gain will eclipse 52,000 meters over the 21 stages.

The 19th stage climb up Cime de la Bonette will reach an elevation of 2,802 meters (1.75 miles), the highest-altitude summit in modern Tour history. It was last on the route in 2008.

🤩 Here it is, the official route of the #TDF2024 ! 🤩 Voici le parcours officiel du #TDF2024 ! pic.twitter.com/3ORf31AS4T — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 25, 2023

Who won the 2023 Tour de France?

Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard won the 2023 Tour de France, his second straight victory in the event. If Vingegaard wins again this year, he would be the first cyclist to win the event three straight years since Chris Froome from 2015-2017.

Relive the defining moments of the 2023 Tour de France below:

Vingegaard suffered a broken collarbone and ribs and a collapsed lung in Spain in April following a crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. He was hospitalized for nearly two weeks and his status for the Tour de France was uncertain, but he will compete when action begins in Florence.

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Cavendish says he’s ready to break his tie with Merckx for most Tour de France stage wins

Britain’s Mark Cavendish greets spectators as he arrives for the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Britain’s Mark Cavendish greets spectators during the team presentation in Florence, Italy, Thursday, June 27, 2024, two days before the start of the Tour de France cycling race. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

FILE - Britain’s Mark Cavendish grimaces in pain as he receives medical assistance after crashing during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 201 kilometers (125 miles) with start in Libourne and finish in Limoges, France, Saturday, July 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

FILE - Britain’s Mark Cavendish celebrates as he wins the 21st and last stage of the Giro D’Italia, tour of Italy cycling race, in Rome, Sunday, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

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FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Mark Cavendish must have a big circle around Monday’s third stage of the Tour de France .

The mostly flat 231-kilometer (144-mile) leg from Piacenza to Turin likely represents the race’s first chance of a mass sprint finish. That means it’s an opportunity for Cavendish to break one of the Tour’s most hallowed records.

Cavendish equaled Eddy Merckx’s mark of 34 stage wins during the 2021 Tour and went close to winning a 35th on the seventh stage in 2023. He crashed during the eighth stage last year, breaking his right collarbone. He then put off retirement by a year to come back to the Tour and try again at breaking his tie with Merckx.

There will be at least a handful of other opportunities for sprinters in this year’s Tour, too, after the race crosses back into France following the first four stages in Italy.

“It’s quite beautiful this year with the start in Florence, near where I lived for 10 years,” Cavendish said on Friday. “Starting here, then going to France is just perfect. I’ve got a job to do but on an emotional level, it’s very, very nice. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I think I’m more ready now (for retirement) than I was last year. I’m happy but I’m also so happy I carried on.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think it was possible to win,” the Astana rider added. “Realistically there are five or six chances, so we’ve come here to try to do it. I think we’ve got everything in place to try to do it but so does everyone else.”

The 39-year-old Cavendish won his first Tour stage way back in 2008.

“I said before I started my career, if I could ever be in a book of names of riders that meant something, the big riders in the history of cycling, if my name is in that book, I would be happy.”

Merckx, the Belgian considered the most dominant rider in cycling history, won his 34 individual stages at the Tour from 1969-75.

Merckx was nicknamed “The Cannibal.” Cavendish, who comes from the Isle of Man, is known as “Cannonball” or “the Manx Missile.”

Cavendish won the Tour’s best sprinter green jersey twice and has also claimed stages at all three Grand Tours — the Tour, Giro d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta — and was the world champion in 2011.

“I understand I’m fortunate to be in a position of inspiring not just a generation but a few generations, adults and kids,” Cavendish said. “If I’ve left an impact on them that helps motivate them, then that’s what’s important.”

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is set to fight for Tour de France glory

• 1 New jersey and new bike revealed
• 2 The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 2024 Tour de France team
• 3 What bikes does Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe use?
• 4 Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is entering a new era
• 5 Focus on developing talent and building the next cycling superstar

New jersey and new bike revealed

Introducing the red bull – bora – hansgrohe tour de france bike.

Enter the Red Bull hangar for the build of Jai Hindley's Tour de France bike as Red Bull - BORA – hansgrohe prepare to chase victory.

The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe 2024 Tour de France team

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is headed towards the Tour de France

© Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe

• Primož Roglič
• Jai Hindley
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• Matteo Sobrero
• Danny van Poppel
• Marco Haller
• Bob Jungels

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's Tour the France squad on a training ride

Who is behind BORA - hansgrohe?

What bikes does red bull - bora - hansgrohe use.

Roglič puts his S-Works bike through its paces

© Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool

What are the biggest achievements of BORA - hansgrohe so far?

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe cycling team ahead of the Tour the France 2024

© Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool

Who joined Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe?

Roglič has three Vueltas a España to his name

© Gianfranco Tripodo/The Red Bulletin

Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is entering a new era

Focus on developing talent and building the next cycling superstar.

Find out more about Red Bull Junior Brothers

Red Bull Junior Brothers

Red bull junior brothers aims to build the next generation of road cycling professionals., want to become a red bull junior brother here's what …, road cycling scouting program red bull junior brothers ….

2024 Tour de France begins June 29 and includes historic firsts. Everything to know

The Paris Olympics and Paralympics will not be the only prestigious international sporting event held in France this summer. 

The Tour de France, the preeminent event on the men’s cycling calendar, will return for its 111th edition from June 29 to July 21. During the three-week ride, 176 cyclists, representing 22 teams of eight, will complete 21 stages across hilly, flat and mountainous terrain. The course includes a grueling 52,230 meters (over 170,000 feet) of elevation gain and is 3,492 kilometers (2,170 miles) long. The taxing schedule includes only two rest days. 

This year’s race will start in Florence, Italy, and conclude at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France. It will be the first time the finish line is not in or near Paris because the city will be hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games. And the first time since 1975 the race will not finish on the Champs-Élysées.

The final stage will also break from tradition as it will be one of two time trial stages, which means the leader could be determined in the final leg. The last time the Tour de France ended with a time trial was in 1989.

In addition to Italy and France, the route passes through San Marino and Monaco. The route is famous for its picturesque scenery, from quaint rural villages to the towering Alps. 

Each stage is timed, and the rider with the lowest cumulative time across all stages wins the acclaimed maillot jaune, or yellow jersey, to signify the general classification winner. Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard, 27, hopes to seek a coveted three-peat but is still working his way back from a serious crash that hospitalized him for 12 days in April. If he does race, he will face fierce competition from a talented field that includes 2020 and 2021 winner Tadej Pogača of Slovenia.

Separate awards are also given to the best sprinter, climber and young cyclist. 

Sepp Kuss, who finished as the top American in 12th place at last year’s Tour de France, is also set to return. Like last year, he will race on the same team as Vingegaard. 

How to watch the 2024 Tour de France live

All stages of the Tour de France, as well as pre- and post-race coverage, will be available to stream live on Peacock. USA Network will also stream some of the stages. 

NBC will simultaneously broadcast select stages of the event. 

Stage 1 will begin June 29 at 6 a.m. ET. The rest of the stages typically start between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. ET. 

Full Schedule:

Looking for reliable streaming options to catch it live on Peacock? Check out  USA TODAY Home Internet  for broadband service plans in your area.

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Tadej Pogacar sneaks into yellow jersey at Tour de France as Jonas Vingegaard follows fierce attack on Stage 2

Updated 30/06/2024 at 16:47 GMT

Despite all the doubts swirling around Jonas Vingegaard, the two-time defending champion was the only rider capable of responding to the first attack from Tadej Pogacar at the 2024 Tour de France. Pogacar takes yellow, albeit somewhat reluctantly, while Remco Evenepoel hinted at a yellow jersey party for three after staging a superb recovery to finish level with the Slovenian and the Dane.

'the only man who can follow' - vingegaard responds superbly to pogacar attack, 'keep your arms in' – rider smashes into spectator filming race.

4 hours ago

'Bang in Bologna!' - Vauquelin wins Stage 2 from the breakaway

• Tour de France 2024 Stage 2 as it happened: Vauquelin victorious as Pogacar and Vingegaard do battle

'Keep your arms in!' - Rider collides with spectator filming race on phone

Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel finish together after Stage 2 tear-up

How to watch Stage 2 of the Tour on Sunday

10 hours ago

'That was so hard' - Cavendish plays down sickness fears after Stage 1 struggles

Yesterday at 18:14

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The New Plan to Get More Americans into the Tour de France

A paltry few Americans race the Tour de France these days—despite the fact that junior bike racing is booming on this side of the Atlantic. A new plan aims to shift America’s Tour participation into high gear.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the Outside app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

This story appeared in the June/July issue of Outside Magazine . 

American cyclist Matteo Jorgenson can trace his participation in this year’s men’s Tour de France back to an email he sent in the winter of 2017. Jorgenson was 18 years old at the time, a top racer in the U.S. junior cycling ranks, the sport’s version of Little League baseball. He sought a career in cycling’s highest echelon, the WorldTour, but big-league teams showed little interest in him. So Jorgenson spent several months emailing squads in Europe’s development scene asking for a job.

“Every day I’d try to write three emails after my training rides, because I was trying really hard to market myself,” Jorgenson told me this spring as he was preparing for the Tour. “I was spending an hour on each.”

One finally generated a lead. After notching an impressive racing result in France with the U.S. national team, Jorgenson messaged a French squad that employs 19-to-22-year-old riders, a development category called espoir (French for “hope”) in cycling terminology. He received a reply in broken English, and a few days later Jorgenson met with the team’s director. Jorgenson spoke little French and the director spoke hardly any English, but they found ways to hash out a deal. The director offered Jorgenson a job for the following season. All he needed to do was learn French and then relocate from his home in Boise, Idaho, to a village in the Alps, to continue his career. Jorgenson didn’t hesitate. He said yes.

Now 24 and one of America’s top Tour de France riders, Jorgenson says the email and meeting changed his life. In France, he blossomed into a top racer in the espoir category and became fluent in French; after two seasons, he was hired by a Spanish WorldTour squad called Team Movistar. In 2022 he made his debut at the Tour de France. “I was completely driven for one goal, which was to get to the WorldTour, and I pursued just about every avenue I could,” Jorgenson says. “I honestly don’t know if everyone is cut out for that.”

Jorgenson’s tale illustrates the arcane professional pathway that many American cyclists follow to try and reach the Tour these days. A paltry few are strong enough to enter the WorldTour straight from the junior ranks. Those left behind either quit, burn out, or attempt to navigate a confusing network of European developmental leagues. It’s a career track that requires both persistence and luck—in addition to strong legs and lungs. It’s also a journey that explains why so few Americans ever reach the Tour de France.

The development path for Americans has gotten tougher in recent years, due to the rapid disappearance of America’s own professional road cycling circuit. But new investment from the sport’s national federation, USA Cycling, and from WorldTour teams, could make things easier for future generations.

Jorgenson says he tells aspiring American pros that the ascent to the Tour begins with a major life decision. “My general advice is to move to Europe and start racing as soon as you can,” he says. “It’s the only way you can show yourself in the races that matter and hopefully get picked up by a team.”

More Kids on Bikes, Fewer Americans at the Tour

Americans have always been the minority at the Tour de France, even during the eras of Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong. The most to ever start the race is ten, which occurred twice: in 1986 (when there were a total of 209 total riders) and 2011 (when there were 198). Even when they were winning—and more than a few American victories were erased due to doping—U.S. riders were few and far between. American participation has actually waned since the eras of Lance and LeMond: just three raced it in 2019, 2020, and 2021, before a dramatic uptick in 2022 to seven (seven!) riders. In 2023, six riders started the race. (By contrast, France often serves up more than 40.) Women’s participation has been equally slim: six Americans (of 144 riders) raced the inaugural women’s Tour in 2022.

Oddly enough, America’s dismal Tour participation numbers come amid bike racing’s decade-long boom as a youth sport in U.S. schools. The National Interscholastic Cycling Association, founded in 2009, now has competitive leagues in 31 states, while Georgia and Colorado both support their own independent school leagues. According to NICA’s 2021 annual report, 26,945 kids either raced or attended a team practice that year. And much of this growth is due, at least in part, to the league’s focus on fun rather than developing star cyclists.

“Our program doesn’t have tryouts—if you can commit to the schedule and the rules, you’re on a team,” Austin McInerny, NICA’s former president, told me in 2019. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a superjock or new to cycling.”

That said, some percentage of NICA racers desire a more competitive environment, and to meet the demand, junior club racing teams have popped up across the country. Boulder Junior Cycling, Swift Cycling, Twenty24, Hot Tubes, and others are the next step in the country’s development pipeline. Toby Stanton, who has operated Hot Tubes in Shirley, Massachusetts, since 1993, says NICA has had a dramatic impact on the young riders he recruits.

“The kids are so good now—they come in fitter and closer to their best than I’ve ever seen,” he says. “High school cycling is really good at bringing new athletes into competitive sports, and you can see who the good ones are.”

Long story short: More young Americans are racing bikes than at any moment in the sport’s history, and many have the talent to someday reach the WorldTour. But few of them ever reach the WorldTour, and fewer still get to the Tour de France. Somewhere along the American pipeline, the system breaks down. Sources I spoke to point to the  espoir category as the missing link. In Europe, teams in this category act like a safety net for top riders who aren’t yet ready for the WorldTour when they leave the junior ranks. In the espoir category, these cyclists can race, train, and continue to develop.

In the U.S.,  espoir racers struggle to find opportunities to compete. American espoir team Aevolo Cycling, which is operated by retired pro Mike Creed, raced at pro events across the country upon its founding in 2016. With few racing opportunities in the U.S. today, the team must travel across the Atlantic a few times each year to compete. The constant travel is tough for Aevolo’s riders, all of whom are also pursuing college degrees. And since they aren’t racing in Europe day-in, day-out, the riders often struggle at the events.

“I wish we didn’t have to go to Europe as much,” Creed says. “The guys we get need a little more time to mature and aren’t the junior  wunderkinds.  If you’re not ready for racing in Europe, it can get depressing fast.”

Another U.S.  espoir team, called Hagens Berman Axeon, often gets invited to bigger events in Europe. But in recent years the squad has started hiring more European riders than Americans. For 2023, just three of the squad’s 12 riders are from the U.S. Creed says the struggles of  espoir teams and riders is an area where American cycling can improve, because right now, some talented athletes are falling through the cracks.

“What you don’t want is for guys to get lost in the shuffle,” Creed says. “I think you can look at Matteo [Jorgenson] and a few guys in his cohort and give them a lot of credit, because nothing has come easy for them.”

Pioneers in Europe

Jorgenson is hardly the first American to chase his Tour de France dreams by uprooting to Europe. In the seventies, cycling pioneers Mike Neel, George Mount, and Jonathan Boyer made the jump overseas; in 1981, Boyer became the first American to start the Tour. Others followed: 19-year-old Greg LeMond relocated to France in 1980; he would go on to win the Tour in 1986, 1989, and 1990.

Still others made the move but never reached the Tour. Cyclist and author Joe Parkin relocated to Belgium in 1985 at age 19, spent years navigating the Flemish development scene, and raced professionally but never made the Tour. He says plenty of Americans washed out in Europe’s hyper-competitive lower-tier races.

“Some of these guys went over there with this ‘I’m gonna win the Tour’ mentality and they’d just get so demoralized by how competitive it was,” Parkin told me. “I was an average shit kicker but I wouldn’t quit. I just found a way to keep going.”

Americans were plenty strong—at the 1984 Olympics, U.S. cyclists claimed nine medals—but they weren’t accustomed to the narrow European roads or breakneck speeds. On wide American roadways, the strongest cyclist can simply ride around everyone else and prevail. Winning a race in Europe, however, requires strategic acumen as well as knowledge of the route’s twists and turns, plus the attitude required to elbow your way to the front. “A lot of American guys were faster than me, but they never figured out how to master the flow of the races,” Parkin says.

In the eighties and nineties, American cycling’s governing body sent juniors to race in Europe’s lower leagues to learn this style of racing, a practice that continued for decades, and in 1999, USA Cycling established a permanent home for development riders in Izegem, a tiny town in West Flanders. It was run out of a hostel owned by retired Flemish cyclist Noël Dejonckheere, who served as the coach and team director.

In 2009, I spent a week living in the Izegem house while reporting a story for VeloNews , and I marveled at what I saw. More than a dozen rosy-cheeked American espoirs and juniors lived in the house—they trained on the same narrow cobblestone lanes used for pro races, and they competed almost every weekend. USA Cycling’s women’s national team was also at the house, learning the finer points of European road racing. A grant from WorldTour teams High Road and Slipstream Sports had just pumped tens of thousands of dollars into the program. There were new bikes and shiny team cars wrapped in star-spangled decals.

It sure looked good, but Dejonckheere said the American racers were still far behind their European counterparts in terms of bike handling, tactics, and positioning in the peloton—deficiencies that doomed them in races. “These are things that kids in Belgium learn when they are 14 or 15 years old,” he told me. “We try to narrow the gap, but even if you start Americans when they are 21 or 22, it is perhaps too late.”

A handful of the riders I met there eventually graduated to the WorldTour, but most returned to the U.S. to race in its thriving professional scene, which by then supported the Amgen Tour of California and the Tour of Missouri, among other pro races. A few later jumped to WorldTour teams after turning heads in the U.S. For these riders, racing abroad was prep school—and racing at home was a safety net.

Boom and Bust

A decade after my visit to Izegem, I headed to the Low Countries to follow up on America’s cycling-development program . A lot had changed in the interim. USA Cycling had moved on from Dejonckheere and relocated to a sports complex in Sittard, in the Netherlands. The sponsorship cash from the two WorldTour teams was long gone. As a result, the program was smaller, humbler. There were no espoirs —just six junior men and six junior women. Jorgenson had graduated two seasons prior.

But the American coaches worked just as hard to teach their students how to survive in European races.

“People think amazing pro riders just appear. They don’t—they all start as juniors,” the team coach at the time, Billy Innes, told me. “We still have to introduce riders to this style of racing, because there’s nothing like it back home.”

In the U.S., things were even more bleak. The domestic pro road scene had all but disappeared, with teams and events folding amid a rapid exodus of sponsors. In the spring of 2019, the Amgen Tour of California held its final edition—a death blow. The few teams that survived—Aevolo, Hagens Berman Axeon, Human Powered Health—all switched focus to compete overseas. The divestment was also starting to hit U.S. junior road-cycling races, which were also dropping off the calendar in droves.

Things would get worse before they improved. When COVID-19 struck, the federation halted its European development program and kept it shuttered for two seasons. After decades, the steady march of young Americans overseas had stopped.

In an email, USA Cycling’s new road-team manager, Tanner Putt, called the two-year stretch a “low point.” Yet the hiatus also offered time to rebuild, said Putt, who went through the organization’s development ranks more than a decade ago. And in 2022, USA Cycling returned to Europe with new riders and more cash.

The federation has carried that momentum into 2023, and at the moment, U.S. cycling development appears to be on the upswing. The new plan in American cycling seems to be to create more pathways to the WorldTour—and ultimately, the Tour de France—from the junior ranks. Last year, Hot Tubes rider Magnus Sheffield jumped from the juniors to British WorldTour squad Team Ineos Grenadiers, and his success prompted the pro team to begin a recruiting relationship with the U.S. junior team. In January, Hot Tubes star AJ August traveled to Mallorca, Spain, to train with the WorldTour squad.

Earlier this year, American WorldTour squad EF Education–EasyPost followed suit, creating a similar bond with an American junior program called Onto-Hincapie. In a release announcing the partnership, EF Education-EasyPost CEO Jonathan Vaugthers said his WorldTour team will use the relationship to scout North American junior riders—even if those riders aren’t able to race overseas.

“We’re going to be keeping a close eye on North American junior races,” Vaughters said in a release. “Prove yourself there, and EF Education-Onto could be your shot to learn what it takes to race as a pro and show what you can do against the best in the world.”

The EF Education and Ineos Grenadiers relationships represent two new inroads to the pro ranks that didn’t exist before.

“The WorldTour teams want them earlier than ever now, and that’s good and bad,” says Hot Tubes’ Stanton. “Some guys have the results and the physiological markers, but how are they off the bike and around the team? Some aren’t ready.”

There’s other investment occurring in the development pipeline focused squarely on juniors. USA Cycling has invested additional resources into youth cycling with a new program called the Athlete Development Pathway. Putt says the framework is inspired by the one that died in 2020, but with some tweaks. USA Cycling wants to cast a net to find the best juniors from the NICA and club programs through a series of regional and local talent-identification camps—not just racing results. Teenagers who turn heads there will go to Europe to compete, just as before.

“While development work is more difficult due to the demise of so many great domestic road races, ultimately what creates international-caliber riders is race days in Europe—not the U.S.,” Putt says. “So our focus at the higher end of the pathway is to maximize race days in Europe.”

“My general advice is to move to Europe and start racing as soon as you can,” says Matteo Jorgenson, an American cyclist on the Movistar WorldTour squad. “It’s the only way you can show yourself in the races that matter and hopefully get picked up by a team.”

The focus on juniors makes sense, and it represents a big step toward funneling more American racers to the Europe, and then to the WorldTour, and eventually onto the Tour de France. USA Cycling wants to capitalize on the groundswell in scholastic leagues. But I worry that future  espoir riders—young talents who are in Matteo Jorgenson’s position—will continue to fall through the cracks. Some cyclists require a few more years of development before they’re ready for the big leagues. And with few racing opportunities appearing for 19-to-22-year-old riders in the U.S., those who are almost good enough still face a tough road.

The federation isn’t ignoring espoirs —it will organize a national team for specific races like the UCI world championships. And Creed’s Aevolo program will enter some overseas races as well. Is it enough? We’ll have to wait and see. In women’s cycling, infrastructure is more robust: USA Cycling is funding a team based in France called Cynisca Cycling, which Putt called a “critical launchpad for getting American women to the WorldTour.”

“Structured support, exposure, and adequate resources will have a significant impact on the trajectory and length of their cycling careers,” he says. “USA Cycling has a responsibility and opportunity to step in and intercede in this space.”

He’s right, of course. But for how long? Cycling development generates no revenue, and a return on investment will take years to materialize—if ever. In my time reporting on the topic, I’ve seen funding for these programs soar, crash, return, and crash again. The American ascent to the Tour de France may indeed become easier in the coming years. But it’s a safe bet that, in the future, the trick to getting to the Tour will again become simple to define, if seemingly impossible to actually do: move to Europe and race your bike.

Outside articles editor Frederick Dreier was previously the editor in chief of VeloNews . He has reported on U.S. youth cycling development since 2005.

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Tour de France

Yellow, polka dots, green, and white: what do the tour de france jerseys mean, the tour de france is a colorful affair, with multiple competitions going on simultaneously. the leader of each competition wears a special yellow, white, green, or polka-dot jersey..

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You’ve most likely heard of the Tour de France, and maybe you know that the leader of the race wears a yellow jersey. But that’s not the only special jersey in this epic three-week tour through France.

The Tour de France is a stage race, which is a multi-day competition consisting of individual races — or stages — where prizes are awarded for both each day’s competition and for the cumulative overall results.

The primary competition is time-based: The first man across the line each day wins the stage. But the biggest battle at the Tour is for the yellow jersey: the rider with the lowest time overall after the 21 stages wins the Tour de France.

There are races within the race: The King of the Mountains competition, the Points competition — often referred to as the sprinter’s jersey — and the Best Young Rider competition. As with the overall race lead, the leader of each of these competitions wears a special jersey throughout the race.

The Tour de France is a grand tour, which is the most prestigious type of stage race in the world and lasts for three weeks. The Giro d’Italia in Italy and the Vuelta a España in Spain are the other two grand tours. The Giro and the Vuelta have similar jersey competitions, but with different colored jerseys.

What the colored jerseys of the Tour de France mean

Yellow (general classification).

After each stage, the rider with the fastest cumulative time is awarded the yellow race leader’s jersey to wear the following day. The cumulative time is what is known as the general classification, as opposed to each day’s stage result.

While it is prestigious to wear the yellow jersey on any stage, it is only the final, cumulative result after three weeks that wins one rider the Tour de France — and €500,000 in prize money. The other podium finishers also ride away with a decent financial bonus with €250,000 going to the runner-up and €125,000 for third place.

Polka-dot (King of the Mountains)

Mountain points are awarded at the summit of all categorized climbs. The rider with the most cumulative mountain points wears the polka-dot jersey throughout the race. The overall winner earns €25,000 in prize money.

Points in the competition are graded by the severity of the climbs, with the tough ascents offering up the most points. Climbs that are deemed hors catégorie, or beyond categorization, are the hardest, and fourth category ascents are the easiest. Crossing the line first on an hors catégorie climb can earn a rider 20 points down to two for eighth across the line, while a fourth category only offers one point for the first rider.

Green (Points competition)

Points are awarded each stage (other than individual time trials) at intermediate sprints and at the end of every stage finish. The rider with the most points wears a green jersey, and the rider who finishes with the most points takes green and €25,000 in prize money.

How the points are allocated has been altered over the years with much more weight given to the flat sprint days in recent years. Currently, riders get 50 points for a win on a flat day compared to 30 on a hilly stage and 20 when the race goes through the high mountains. As well as at the finish, there are points on offer in the intermediate sprints, the allocation of which remains the same each day.

Peter Sagan has the record for number of green jerseys won after claiming his seventh in 2019, while Erik Zabel was the previous record holder at six.

White (Best young rider)

The rider with the fastest cumulative time who is 25 or younger wears the white jersey. The overall winner earns €20,000 in prize money. It was introduced in 1975 and many riders that have won this jersey have gone on to win the Tour de France outright, and in recent years, the yellow jersey has been the winner of the youth classification as well.

Two-time winner Tadej Pogačar and 2019 victor Egan Bernal were both under 25 when they took the overall win.

Other prizes and symbols at the Tour de France

Winning a stage of the Tour de France represents a career-affirming accomplishment for a pro cyclist. Every year there are 21 stages up for grabs, and each one pays €11,000 to the winner.

Combativity prize

A panel of experts picks the most aggressive rider during each stage; this rider wears a white number with a red background on his jersey the next day and earns €2,000. At the end of the race, the panel will award one rider with the “Super Combativity” prize and €20,000.

Team Classification

After each stage, the cumulative times of the three best-placed riders on each team are tallied, excluding any time bonuses or penalties. The team with the lowest cumulative time at the end of the race wins the Team Classification and €50,000.

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• As it happened: GC battle bursts into life as breakaway wins again at the Tour de France

The jerseys of the 2024 Tour de France

Details of the four iconic leader's jerseys and the minor prizes at the race explained

There are four Tour de France classification jerseys awarded after every stage of the three-week race, each recognising different successes and talents in the race.

The iconic yellow jersey is worn by the race leader based on time, the green jersey is awarded to the leader based on points awarded at intermediate sprints and the finishes, the red polka-dot king of the mountains jersey is based on points awarded on categorised climbs, while the white best young rider's jersey is another based on time, but reserved for riders born after January 1, 1999.

The team classification is also based on time, with the riders of the leading team racing with special yellow numbers (dossards). The most aggressive rider wears a special gold number during the following stage.

The most aggressive rider (super-combatif) of the whole race is selected by members of the jury at the end of the Tour de France and is awarded a trophy on the final podium in Paris just like the other competition winners.

Santini is the official jersey maker for the Tour de France, and will put the finishing touches – adding all necessary logos – to the winners' jerseys on-site at the Tour de France. That also means fans can buy their own replica jerseys and other Tour de France merchandising.

What is the Tour de France yellow jersey? Explaining the general classification maillot jaune   

The yellow jersey is worn by the leader of the general classification, the rider with the lowest net time in the race after every stage. The rider who takes it to Paris is crowned the Tour de France winner, the most prestigious success of the men’s cycling season. 

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) won the 2022 and 2023 Tour de France.

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The jersey is yellow because the newspaper that first organised the race, L'Auto , was printed on yellow paper.

The classification is based on the time taken for each rider to cover the 21 stages, taking into account time penalties and time bonuses. 

In the event of a tie in the general classification, the hundredths of a second recorded by the timekeepers during the individual time trial stages will be included in the total times in order to decide the overall winner. 

In the absence of a time trial or if the riders remain tied, then the positions in which they finished each stage will be added up and, as a last resort, their finishing position on the final stage will be taken into account.

Bonus seconds are offered to encourage attacking racing and these are deducted from the time taken to cover the stage. Bonuses of 10, 6, and 4 seconds are awarded on the finish line to the leading three riders on each stage, excluding time trials. There are also certain climbs with bonuses of 8, 5, and 2 seconds at the top to encourage aggressive riding from the favourites.

All riders must finish within the time limit – a certain percentage (ranging from 104% to 120% depending on the stage and average speed) of the stage winner's time each day in order to continue in the race. This is often a problem for sprinters, domestiques and injured riders when it comes to the high mountains.

What is the green jersey in the Tour de france? The rules of the maillot vert

The green jersey is worn by the leader of the points classification. Points are awarded at stage finishes and intermediate sprints.

While the sprinters are the main candidates for the green jersey, it's the more versatile among them who have the best chance of overall success in Paris. 

Peter Sagan is one such rider and has won green in seven of the past nine Tours, while Wout Van Aert dominated the points classification in 2022 to take his first green jersey. Jasper Philipsen won four sprint stages to anchor his green jersey in 2023.

Points are awarded to the first 15 riders at stage finishes or intermediate sprints, with different allocations depending on the nature of the stage. More points are awarded on flat stages than on mountain stages or time trials. The winner of a flat stage scores 50 points, a mountain stage winner just 20.

Only riders who complete the entire Tour de France are included in the points classification.

In the event where a rider or riders finish outside the time limit but are reinstated by the president of the commissaires’ jury, they will lose all points awarded to them in the points classification.            

For 2023 the green jersey was a much darker shade of green than fans are used to as per a request made by the sponsor of the jersey, Skoda, but the colour was not popular with fans.                      

What is the polka-dot jersey? Explaining the maillot blanc à pois rouges

The polka-dot jersey is worn by the leader of the mountains classification, who is known as the 'king of the mountains'. For the three recent editions of the Tour, the overall winner has also won the polka-dot jersey, but Italy's Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek won the competition in 2023.

Mountain points are on offer at the top of every classified climb, ranging from the hardest – 'hors catégorie' – to the easiest – category 4.

Hors catégorie: 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-2

Category 1: 10-8-6-4-2-1

Category 2: 5-3-2-1

Category 3: 2-1

Category 4: 1

In the event of two riders being equal on points, the rider with the most first places at the summit of super-category passes or climbs or summit finishes will be declared the winner.

Only riders who complete the entire Tour de France will be included in the best climber classification. In the event of a rider or riders finishing outside the time limit but being reinstated by the president of the commissaires’ jury, they will lose all points awarded to them in the best climber classification.

What is the white jersey? Explaining the maillot blanc

The white jersey is worn by the leader of the youth classification. 

A 'young rider' is anyone who was born after January 1, 1999, so anyone under 25 at the start of the year. The jersey goes to the best placed on general classification, based on time.

Tadej Pogačar has won the white jersey at the last four editions of the Tour, alongside the yellow jersey on two occasions. 

The white jersey often used to be an indication of future Tour de France contenders, but since Pogačar has risen to greatness at such a young age, it's been difficult to see the future contenders so obviously. He is now too old for the competition, with the white jersey up for grabs in 2024.

What is the gold dossard?

The special gold number dossard is awarded to the rider deemed, subjectively, the ‘most combative’ the previous day. It is usually the rider most active in the breakaway or someone who shows panache and aggression, or even qualities of sportsmanship. It used to be a red number, but has changed this year as Century 21 now sponsor the classification and the new colour runs in line with their branding.

The prize, which is awarded on every road stage except the final one, is decided by a jury presided over by the race director and a new vote made by members of the Tour de France Club. Each stage’s most aggressive rider wears a gold race dossard during the following stage.

The race’s most aggressive rider (super-combatif) is selected by members of the jury at the end of the Tour de France and was won by Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) in 2023 after a number of aggressive attacks on stages.

What is the yellow dossard?

The yellow race number dossard is worn by members of the team leading the teams classification. It is calculated by adding together the times of each team's three best riders on every stage. 

Any team reduced to fewer than three riders will be eliminated from the team classification.

Wearing a leader’s jersey is mandatory from the signing-in protocol before the stage start until the post-stage press conference.

Skinsuits are provided to the leaders of the various rankings for time trial stages, with special fitting sessions arranged the day before the time trials.

Riders can lead multiple jersey classifications but only wear one jersey in the race. There is an established order of priority for the different leader’s jerseys: the yellow jersey, followed by the green jersey, then the red polka-dot jersey and finally the white jersey.

When a rider is leading several classifications, they wear the one designated by the order of priority. The other jerseys are then worn by the riders lying second, third or fourth in the corresponding classification.

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters , Shift Active Media , and CyclingWeekly , among other publications.

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The Tour de France is unquestionably the world's biggest bike race. On paper it may not be any more gruelling or difficult than its equivalent three-week races the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España, but the Tour has a stature that reaches beyond regular cycling audiences and attracts millions of spectators at the roadside and on television.

It is no wonder then that most of the sport's best riders build their entire year around the Tour. However, "even by the standards of the world’s biggest race" the 2024 edition looks like being one of the most "star-studded" in recent history, said Rouleur . The four best all-round riders in the world – Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič, Remco Evenepoel and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard – will all be vying to wear the prestigious yellow jersey when the race concludes in Nice on 21 July.

'Open and unpredictable'

Every year the Tour organisers change the route of the race, often tipping the scales in favour of one rider or another, and presenting opportunities for stage wins to riders of all types. 

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This year's route – which begins in Florence, Italy on Saturday –  is "all about balance", said Escape Collective , with the combination of mountains, time-trials and flatter stages favouring an "all-around talent" rather than just a specialist, like a pure climber. That could be the platform for the four favourites, all of whom are remarkable all-round cyclists, to provide a spectacular edition of the race.

But all four also have "something holding them back", said Eurosport , heightening the narrative. Race favourite Pogačar may be battling fatigue from winning the Giro in Italy in May, while the other three all suffered injuries of differing severity after a huge crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April. Roglič and Evenepoel have returned to racing since with "varying degrees of success", but Vingegaard will make his comeback at the Tour. It means the overall race (known as the "general classification", or "GC") will take place under a rare "set of circumstances" that have made the "modern-day Tour so open and unpredictable".

However, the beauty of the Tour also lies in its subplots to the overall race. This year's race could feature a particularly historic moment if Britain's Mark Cavendish can "claim the outright record" of stage wins and "go one clear" of the legendary Eddy Merckx by making it 35 victories, said the Daily Mail .

The race will also feature two other outstanding talents, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, who too will look to increase their own stage win tally. A strong field is also bolstered by some of the strongest teams the race has ever seen, with many of those supporting riders capable of making a "challenge for a Grand Tour podium themselves", said Cycling Weekly .

'Different to 20 years ago'

Yet this assembly of generational talent will inevitably bring with it the "question of anti-doping and drug testing", given it is "nearly impossible" to talk about extraordinary performances at the Tour without it arising, said Bicycling . 

Highly publicised doping scandals in the 1990s and 2000s, culminating in the doping admission of the former seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong, mean that for many "professional cycling and doping will always be linked", said Cyclist , despite the sport having remained "relatively free from doping headlines over the past few years".

It has meant that recent spectacular performances, including those of Pogačar in 2020 and 2021 and Vingegaard in the past two years, have brought "scepticism surrounding their impressive form", said the Daily Mail . 

That has led to riders regularly being "quizzed" on allegations of doping during the race. Last year, eventual winner Vingegaard said he understood that it was "hard to trust in cycling" because of past scandals, but that he believed "everyone is different than 20 years ago". 

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Richard Windsor is a freelance writer for The Week Digital. He began his journalism career writing about politics and sport while studying at the University of Southampton. He then worked across various football publications before specialising in cycling for almost nine years, covering major races including the Tour de France and interviewing some of the sport’s top riders. He led Cycling Weekly’s digital platforms as editor for seven of those years, helping to transform the publication into the UK’s largest cycling website. He now works as a freelance writer, editor and consultant.

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Who the Hell Even Are You, Tadej Pogačar?

The 23-year-old phenom makes winning the Tour de France look easy. I went to Slovenia to find out how.

It was the first Tour de France I’d been to, my first ever bike race as a reporter. The first week had been less a bike race and more an increasingly escalating series of events. Chaotic stage design and high nerves brought day after day of carnage; every finish saw riders arrive in some way bloodied or bruised, from legs, mouths, in the vacant glances of wide eyes. By Stage 8, I’d seen Primož Roglič ’s Tour run collapse. I’d seen Tony Martin get slammed by a cardboard sign , taking half the peloton down with him. I’d seen Jack Haig not roll across the finish line on Stage 3 at all. I was not emotionally prepared for any of this.

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Le Grand-Bornand was draped in rain and fog. The press stood like cattle out in the media zone waiting for riders to come down the long descent, watching it all unfold on their little screens, and for a while all was calm. In the stage’s endgame, Tadej Pogačar left the peloton in search of the breakaway, fragments of which he then caught and surpassed. He disappeared and reemerged within the different time gaps in a remarkable old-school showing of pure grit, his kit soaked through, droplets rolling down his face. He’d caught all but three riders. One got the impression that if he hadn’t run out of road, Pogačar would have taken the stage win too.

Just like that, the general classification was basically decided with two weeks still to go. So easily, too. Pogačar had yanked more than five minutes over Jonas Vingegaard, the eventual second-place finisher, an unbridgeable gap. After the stage, the young Slovenian answered TV reporters’ questions freshly dressed in the maillot jaune . In that moment of transition from the white jersey of best young rider into yellow for the overall lead, he was princely and at ease, like he was born to wear that jersey. As though the Tour de France itself was made for him to conquer.

This is what Pogačar does . The 23-year-old has been steadily winning races since he was 10 years old, maintaining an unflappable calm in the face of ever-escalating expectation: local races in Slovenia, then harder and harder juniors’ races around Europe with the Slovenian National Team, culminating with the 2018 Tour de L’Avenir. When he reached the World Tour, he started chipping away there, too: Volta ao Algarve, Tour of California , three stages and third on GC in his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España , all in 2019 alone.

The accomplishments don’t get much bigger, but the pressure never seemed to concern Pogačar. In 2020, he took the UAE Tour, Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, and then the biggest prize, the one that shocked the cycling world: In the final time trial of the 2020 Tour de France , on La Planche des Belles Filles, he beat compatriot Primož Roglič of Jumbo-Visma, a man who had been in the yellow jersey for almost two weeks, a man whose home country, if not the entire world, expected him to win the race. Many words have been spilled about that fateful day, but in the end, Pogačar simply rode his bike faster. That Tour was just another entry into a remarkable statistical lineage: Every stage race Pogačar has won, he has won on debut. He is a prodigy the likes of which cycling may never see again.

That day in 2021 on Le Grand-Bornand, there was buzz in the media zone. Lots of words floated above my head. Bitter things like “I can’t believe this; this is some Lance Armstrong shit.” And others that took on a tone of resignation: “It’s over. What’s the point of staying on for two more weeks?”

In my debut Tour as a writer, hoping for an exciting battle between Slovenia’s two brightest superstars, Roglič and Pogačar, I was instead initiated to the weight of cycling’s generational trauma. In press conferences, I watched as Pogačar was subjected to the sport’s complete inability to trust and believe what we see with our own eyes.

After I got home, when I was still processing the whole thing, and for some time beyond I wondered: Who the hell even are you, Tadej Pogačar?

.css-dd784d:before{width:100%;-webkit-filter:invert(32%) sepia(81%) saturate(5886%) hue-rotate(5deg) brightness(105%) contrast(104%);filter:invert(32%) sepia(81%) saturate(5886%) hue-rotate(5deg) brightness(105%) contrast(104%);height:2.1875rem;margin:0 auto;content:'';display:block;margin-bottom:0.25rem;-webkit-background-size:2.1875rem;background-size:2.1875rem;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-dd784d:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/bicycling/static/images/quote.53198c0.svg);} .css-1hihk6d{font-family:Velo,Velo-fallback,Velo-roboto,Velo-local,Georgia,Serif;font-size:1.625rem;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;margin-left:0;text-align:center;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1hihk6d{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1hihk6d{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 61.25rem){.css-1hihk6d{font-size:1.875rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1hihk6d{font-size:2.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}.css-1hihk6d b,.css-1hihk6d strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-1hihk6d em,.css-1hihk6d i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;} He has been steadily winning races since he was 10 years old, maintaining an unflappable calm in the face of ever-escalating expectation.

His rise has been both meteoric and deceptively steady. He comes across as a youthful boy wonder with big eyes, a soft voice, and an impish smile. But he is deeply invested in being a role model for the even younger cyclists in his small country. In November of 2020, shortly after that first Tour, he founded Pogi Team , a youth and junior division of KD Rog, the regional development team on which he got his start.

While reporting this story, it became clear to me that Pogačar’s success as a bike racer is primarily the result of a unique combination of nature and nurture. But such concepts have always been ambivalent in the history of cycling. For a long time, I, like many others, was left wondering if his performances are enough to take at face value. I wondered if those uncertainties supersede the rest of the story and if they can ever be separated from the simple dual spirit of Pogačar, the young genius who still has a long future in the sport—and can also envision a future that comes after him.

The Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić once quipped: “The true nature, worth, and value of a man’s life on earth is determined, basically, by his geographical position…The calculation is merciless, but the results infallibly correct.”

The third of the Pogačar family’s four children, Tadej Pogačar was born in 1998 (seven years after Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia) in Komenda, a small settlement on the outskirts of the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana.

Komenda follows the typical pattern of a Slovenian village: an elegant yet simple church with a central steeple and copper spire, a cluster of buildings packed into compact streets, and a scattering of modest homes with dark terra-cotta roofs. Surrounding it are grassy fields that burst with dandelions in the spring. Travel a few kilometers on a gravel road and you will meet the banks of the Sava River.

“It was a small city,” Pogačar laughs over Zoom this past May from his apartment in Monaco, where he lives with his fiancé, fellow Slovenian pro cyclist Urška Žigart. “I mean a village, or a municipality with like 5,000, 6,000 people living there. So yeah, it was pretty calm. We [hung] out with friends, [did] sports and yeah. I must say it was not a bad childhood there.”

Pogačar’s parents come from backgrounds standard for the country’s post-independence working class. His mother, Marjeta, is a French teacher. His father, Mirko, worked for a factory that produced office chairs.

When he wasn’t working, Mirko loved to write and dabbled in poetry. “He was quite [good] with literature when he was younger,” Pogačar says. “That was his dream.”

Recently the elder Pogačar took up writing again, and in an editorial for the Slovenian newspaper Delo this past December, he urged cycling fans not to engage in bitter football-esque rivalries backing either his son or his son’s older compatriot Primož Roglič. “Supporters,” he wrote, “Let’s cheer for Slovenia, which is small enough as it is. But when you split it into two poles it gets a lot smaller still.”

Friends describe Pogačar as down-to-earth and humble and suggest that he hasn’t let success go to his head. You don’t feel like you’re “sitting next to the best cyclist in the world who has millions in his pocket,” says Matic Božič, one of Pogačar’s old cycling buddies who now works in communications with the Slovenian Cycling Federation and Pogi Team. “As long as he’s gonna have fun and ride, he will be the best.”

An anecdote: The day before that infamous time trial at La Planche des Belles Filles in 2020, Pogačar was relaxed, albeit antsy for the race to be over. He spent the evening joking with friends about things like the food he missed during the Tour. “All day I’m eating rice!” he texted a former Slovenian National Team buddy, adding a picture of salami. “I just want a piece of meat!”

Another: The following year, Teja Hauptman, the wife of UAE Sports director Andrej Hauptman, gave Pogačar a ride to the airport before the 2021 Tour. He spent the car ride playing games on his phone. “Aren’t you nervous?” Hauptman asked. The gist of Pogačar’s response? “It’s just another bike ride.”

The greats ( Merckx , Hinault ) had the ability to withstand endless suffering while not internalizing it, the ability to read a race and be clever and bold and unafraid in acting upon their instincts—it’s half raw physical talent, and half cunning and psychological strength. Tadej Pogačar is not unique in the peloton for possessing the former, but he is perhaps stronger than most in possessing the latter.

“He performs really well under pressure,” says his personal coach, Iñigo San Millán. “When someone’s under pressure, they have fear, right? Tadej is the opposite. He transforms, he becomes an animal. And then when the race is finished, he turns it off completely. If things go well, great. If things don’t go well, it is what it is.”

San Millán believes Pogačar’s chill originates from his years training as a child and young adult, when he honed tactics and skill. “[Great athletes] read the game differently than others; they anticipate what’s next. That allows them to have that advantage of confidence and of knowing what the future is going to be like, whether it’s the next game or the next play, you know, or the next mountain.”

When someone’s under pressure, they have fear. Tadej is the opposite. He becomes an animal.

I can think of only one time when it appeared like Pogačar maybe, possibly, psychologically cracked. In the 2021 Tour, he was dropped on Mont Ventoux by Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard on a hot, humid Stage 11, during which Pogačar visibly struggled. When I asked him about that moment and what was going through his mind, the picture he painted was not one of distress, but of optimism. “On Ventoux when I bridged to Jonas, I was like, okay, he’s gonna slow down. But then he didn’t, and I said, oh shit, I went too deep here,” he recalls. “I dropped, but then I was like, yeah, there’s nothing I can do. I need to find my rhythm again, to try to get back on the horse and get to the top, and [started] counting down the minutes. If the climb is 10 kilometers long, once I get past 5K, I always say to myself, it’s less than half to go, and it’s getting less and less kilometers to the top.” Pogačar eventually rallied and caught Vingegaard before sprinting to fourth on the stage.

The optimism Pogačar projects is a rather Slovenian trait, perhaps a result of the country's particular history. As Mirko Pogačar wrote in his newspaper editorial, referring to Slovenia’s history of being administered by different European empires and subjected to fascist totalitarianism during the Second World War, “…we created myths and legends and hoped for better times. We persevered with strong will and hard work, and never bent to the will of those stronger.”

The year was 1949. In the Ljubljana valley, four years after Yugoslavia was liberated by Tito’s Partisans from its fascist occupiers, a handful of workers led by Comrade Pavle Smrekar gathered his fellow comrades into an old pig barn where they concocted the idea of starting a cycling team. With backing from the nearby Rog Bicycle Factory, Kolesarsko Društvo Rog (Cycling Team Rog) became a testing team for Rog’s equipment. The riders, like many Yugoslav cyclists, were employed by the factory. When they wanted to race, they had to ask for time off.

At that time, most sports clubs in the country relied on government funding in the form of state-run companies as sponsors, which made them beholden to the government’s policies. These policies included a prohibition on athletes playing or competing outside the country until they were in their late 20s. Not great for a sport where riders often retire in their early 30s. Hence, Slovenia had many great amateur cyclists, but none made it to the world stage until the borders were relaxed in the 1980s. If the downside to this was limited mobility until a certain age, the upside was that cyclists made comparable salaries to other workers, and unlike in Europe and the U.S., the system was financially stable for riders at the national level.

The infrastructure of that stability lingered in Slovenia, where a robust sporting culture persisted, insulated by its relative wealth and the ease of the transition after Yugoslavia fell, when Slovenia and then Croatia first seceded in 1991. It lasted through 2008, when Tadej Pogačar, an ordinary kid from Komenda, passed through the clubhouse doors of KD Rog.

“When I started, it was a totally different cycling world,” Pogačar says. “It was more easy. I never bought myself a bike or cycling shoes or a helmet. I was one of the last generations that could have that privilege.”

When he launched Pogi Team in 2020 as the youth and junior division of KD Rog, it was in part because he wanted the next generation of Slovenian cyclists to have access to the same kind of resources. To help support the club, Pogačar appears in commercials for local supermarkets and donates the money to the team. (He even has a line of Pogačar-branded sandwiches at the Tuš supermarket chain.)

The KD Rog headquarters building just outside of Ljubljana is an odd mix of house and garage. Children and teenagers, boys and girls, linger outside at picnic tables in sweatpants or cycling kit watching TikToks on their phones. Last October, I visited and met with the man responsible for putting Pogačar on a bike in the first place, Miha Koncilija.

Upstairs in the lounge, Koncilija proudly points to three of Pogačar’s former bikes on display. There’s his Colnago from UAE Team Emirates, a gold and black Gusto bike from his time at Ljubljana Gusto Santic, and a little kelly green number that Pogačar rode as a 9-year-old. The top tube reads Billato , a small Italian brand. After Pogačar grew out of that bike, it was released and rented to others. It took Koncilija some time to get it back, but he told me that the current owners sold it back to him after Pogačar won the Tour in 2020 for what they’d bought it for.

KD Rog is more than just the team Pogačar came up in. The way it’s run, and the fact that it is managed almost entirely by locals—people isolated from World Tour pressures—helps explain some of Pogačar’s attitude and philosophy. Talent, as they say, is a question of nature versus nurture, and if the nature (his seemingly superhuman talent) appears inexplicable, at least the nurture is unassailable.

Koncilija is in his mid-40s and has been with KD Rog for 18 years. He rode with them in the ’90s but chose to pursue sports medicine and returned to the club as coach rather than becoming a professional rider. When he talks about Tadej, his eyes crinkle with pride.

“As a coach, you just want to have a boy like this,” he says. “Not even because he’s so successful and because he has such a good career. But no, he never, ever [complained]. Everything you gave him, everything was okay. The word was and still is, ‘thank you very much for everything.’”

Koncilija accepts that such a major success is perhaps not replicable. “[It] is not a recipe that, okay, we did this with Tadej, [so] for other ones, it would be the same,” he says.

And unlike at some of the other development teams in Slovenia, at KD Rog the purpose is not necessarily to produce the next Tour de France champions but to provide a place for young people to have fun and to stay out of trouble.

“We are not paid for how good we are, what kind of results we have,” Koncilija says. “It’s most important that the kids are raised as good boys, to teach them about fair play, and that we have people that tell them what is wrong with doping [so that] they become not just winners, but also the right person for life. This is what is important for us.”

“Cycling gave us a lot more than just sports, you know?” says Pogačar’s old friend Matic Božič. “We are like a big family that’s not blood related. And Tadej is enjoying his riding—I think he got that from KD Rog…They were just having fun.”

If you have never been to a European juniors’ race, you’d be surprised how professionalized the whole affair is. Some of the Italian teams have proper team cars, and the kids ride Pinarello Dogmas not unlike those of the Ineos Grenadiers. Some kids are even paid a salary like professional cyclists—but that comes at a cost. “The problem is that they are pushing those kids really, really hard,” says Blaž Debevec, a Pogi Team coach. Many burn out before they turn 23.

By contrast, Pogi Team, while well coordinated in their kits, rides a suite of mismatched bikes. Before races, the boys sit outside in camping chairs, pinning their numbers. They have a pep talk, discuss strategy for a handful of minutes, put on sunscreen, and line up. After the race is over, they’ll break down the lessons of the day before getting into the van to drive for pizza.

Debevec says Pogačar was a good teammate. He recalls one race in Croatia. “I was a first-year junior, and we were together in the breakaway. We made it to the finish, and I was expecting him to be first across the line because we were in the breakaway of 30 seconds, 20 seconds before the group. But he said no, Blaž, this one is yours. That was my first victory as a junior. This is one of my favorite moments with him.”

“But yeah,” he continues. “It doesn’t matter what else he will win. He’s just that chill guy from Komenda.”

There’s a common misapprehension about Tadej Pogačar that he came from out of nowhere. That he won the Tour de L’Avenir in 2018 out of nowhere. That he suddenly was third in the Vuelta in 2019, a Grand Tour, out of nowhere. That he won the Tour de France in 2020 out of nowhere. This is not the truth.

He may seem precocious, but in reality his rise has been marked by persistence, small improvements, and constant adjustments. “If I compare Tadej with other boys, no one can say at under 17 that he could win the Tour de France. We had boys in that category that [were] even better,” says Koncilija. “But the improvement Tadej made every year, step by step, it’s still something amazing.”

Martin Hvastija, who first selected Pogačar for the junior national team, corroborates this. “His first tests were nothing special compared with other riders in his generation,” Hvastija recalls. “He had five kilos more—they called him fat. He already had great numbers but they weren’t the best.” Yet as a coach, Hvastija says that he saw Pogačar improve each year, while most of his peers plateaued.

Still, that generation of junior riders was one of the strongest in Slovenian cycling history, and the strength of those riders enabled Pogačar to win races and accrue the points that earned the national team a spot at bigger competitions, like that 2018 Tour de L’Avenir. Without those teammates, themselves products of the Slovenian sporting system, Pogačar might have flown under the radar for longer than he did. By 2019, he made it to the World Tour, signing with UAE Team Emirates. He was 20.

As a journalist, the first time I had to ask the difficult questions was atop Luz Ardiden on Stage 17 of the 2021 Tour de France. The night before, the Bahrain Victorious team was raided by the Marseilles police . I had been profiling one of their riders, Matej Mohorič, another Slovenian. We had a good rapport and could talk for hours. I even let him borrow some of my books.

But that afternoon I had to look him in the eye and ask, “Why were the police in your hotel room last night?”

Until that moment, that inflection point at which I started being a real journalist and not just a writer leeching onto people and events, I’d thought that this was stuff I wouldn’t touch. I didn’t consider myself an investigative journalist. I was there to tell stories. I had not yet grasped that this was part of the story too.

Pogačar’s body is what it is, and with time, we will either trust or distrust that body.

That 2021 Tour was soaked in suspicion. It wasn’t just that Tadej Pogačar took five minutes out on his rivals on Stage 8. That could be possibly explained by the fact that Roglič had crashed along with several other important riders, like Jack Haig, in a gnarly and violent first week of racing. No, this was a free-for-all.

A Swiss newspaper reported rumors of motor doping, which were quickly stamped out by both riders and the UCI. The raid on Bahrain Victorious started a new line of discourse. Pogačar was grilled constantly about doping, and the fact that he spun the old ‘I’ve never tested positive’ Lance-ism didn’t help. (“I think we have many controls to prove [the accusations] wrong…”)

This interrogation got to the point where, by the second rest day, Pogačar threw up his hands in a moment of uncharacteristic frustration and said, “I’m a good kid with a good education, I’m not one to take shortcuts. These are uncomfortable questions because [the sport’s] history is bad. I didn’t prepare anything for those kind of questions. I just like to ride my bike and what comes with it comes with it, I’ll deal with it.”

“[If] you are good and you succeeded, then you always have haters,” he later told me, a bit churlishly. “If you don’t have haters, then you’re not there yet.”

The best summary of the suspicion comes from Bicycling ’s Joe Lindsey, who cites Pogačar’s 6.5 estimated watts per kilogram on La Planche des Belles Filles in 2020, the lack of anti-doping testing that year due to the coronavirus, and the fact that the old UAE Team Emirates under CEO Mauro Gianetti and general manager Joxean Matxin oversaw no fewer than six riders who tested positive for EPO and other drugs in the early 2000s.

Until (and if) we know for sure, this debate walks a fine line drawn with blurred ink—for cycling is a sport where the scientific explanations and the crimes of doping can both be true at once. From a science perspective, the working theory about why Pogačar wins so much comes from his repeated attacks and his ability to recover at seemingly superhuman speeds.

According to San Millán, who is also a cancer researcher at the University of Colorado (a high-stakes career one ostensibly wouldn’t want to jeopardize through, say, a doping scandal), the key to Pogačar’s fitness is metabolic efficiency: “When it comes to cycling, you need to be very good at burning fat and saving glycogen for the last part of the race. When you have very good mitochondrial capacity, the advantage that you have is that you are very, very good at burning fat, but you’re also extremely good at burning lactate, which is extra fuel, and that’s a characteristic of Tadej. So there’s less accumulation of lactate compared to other cyclists.” These claims are supported by scientific research San Millán and his colleagues have published.

But Lance Armstrong’s performance was also explained away with claims that he was genetically superior to others because he had an abnormally high VO2 max. The science of sport has come a long way since the 2000s, but the function of scientific rhetoric has stayed the same: to both partially explain phenomena we are seeing, which is the purpose of science itself, and to assuage our fears that we are about to face heartbreak again.

About these latter comments, San Millán told me something that will age either very well or very poorly: “We’re not gonna see anything in 10 years or 20 years or 30 years. Oh, he was doing this or doing that now, that’s not gonna happen, I guarantee you.”

Longtime cycling fans are used to these patterns. Many have become jaded and cynical. And indeed, Lindsey’s essay is painful to read. For now, Pogačar’s body is what it is, and with time, we will either trust or distrust that body. This is difficult to write and even more difficult to admit internally, but I wish it were possible to say for sure that this time it’s real. In life, in the broader sense, we trust people every day not knowing whether they will ultimately hurt us. This is the fundamental relationship between cycling fans and their favorite athletes, as it is in many other forms of love. Nothing I can say will change that.

This year, Pogačar is taking on his third Tour de France after winning the only two other editions he’s ever lined up for. It is, by all means, his era, marked by the domination of his often-impetuous long-range attacks, his steady endurance in times of difficulty, and an eternally cheerful panache. At times, when he wears the yellow jersey, when he’s on his bike alone on the path to almost certain victory, he is almost regal, totally in control, and as close to perfect as a mortal can get. When I stood in front of him that day in Le Grand-Bornand, I wondered if he and I were even made of the same human material.

It was only after talking to Pogačar that I knew: He is very much human. He isn’t some ethereal cycling god, but a young man as normal as any other. (Who remembers his coronavirus rap video?) He is both bashfully youthful and decidedly mature, making big plans and pouring his newfound wealth back into the sport. He’s friendly and, yes, very chill. He’s no cycling historian and not one to get wide-eyed over heroes. (Though he admits he did take a liking to Andy Schleck.)

It’s when he talks about the kids at Pogi Team that he brightens and gets excited, thinking about the opportunities they’ll have and the potential he sees in them. I ask him what it’s like to be a hero to a bunch of kids, some of them not much younger than Pogačar himself.

“I guess...I don’t know, honored,” he says quietly. “I just feel happy when I see them. Some of them even come to the Tour de France to cheer and I saw them on Mont Ventoux, a group of Pogi Team riders. It felt really, really nice and touching. I don’t know how to say, but it makes me happy that they are happy.”

There’s a photo on Instagram of Pogačar with the kids from Pogi Team. He’s smiling the kind of cheesed-out smile we have at the best moments in life. He tells me he wishes he could spend even more time with them. But he’s got his own life to deal with now, a heavy, difficult one he’s brought onto himself, even though he makes it look easy.

When I ask Pogačar about the moment that changed that life forever, that made it difficult, that marked him down in the annals of history—that day on La Planche des Belles Filles—he makes a confession. “I think I could have been more happy about it and I was holding back. Which I regret. It was such a good day. It was one of the best days of my career. And in the end, I was not as happy as I should be.”

He sighs. “It is how it is.”

For the first time, he looks a little bit older.

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Kate Wagner is a cycling journalist whose work can be found in Bicycling, CyclingNews, ProCycling, and in her newsletter derailleur .

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