Tadej Pogačar all-time performance all but ends 2024 Tour de France

Sunday saw the men’s Wimbledon final, the UEFA Euro final, and the Copa America final. And yet, arguably the most impressive athletic performance of the day happened somewhat away from the spotlight on a mountain in the French Pyrenees.

Stage 15 of the Tour de France was an all-timer in cycling history, and one of the greatest single shows of strength ever witnessed.

Tadej Pogačar, who entered the day with a commanding 1:57 lead over his closest rival, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, just absolutely shredded the competition on the 15.7-kilometer/9.8-mile climb to Plateau de Beille. The fact that the Slovenian superstar won while putting 1:08 into second-placed Vingegaard is in itself impressive.

However, it is the numbers beyond that time gap that illustrate the sheer madness of Pogačar’s ride.

For starters, he broke the previous climbing record on Plateau de Beille — set by Marco Pantani in 1998 — by almost four minutes. It took Pogačar only 39 minutes and 50 seconds to conquer the mountain, resulting in an average speed of 23.71 kilometers per hour (14.73 mph).

According to Kārlis Ozols of Lanterne Rouge, he did so while producing an estimated power output of 6.98 watts per kilo:

Pogačar did 6.98 ᵉW/Kg for 39:50 min, which is by far the greatest climbing performance ever, taking into account conditions and the stage difficulty. Sea normalised power for this historic effort is 7.27 ᵉW/Kg. Pogačar’s adjusted altitude score was 696, which means this performance was equivalent to pushing 6.96 ᵉW/Kg for 60 minutes at sea level.

To put those numbers into perspective, exercise physiologist Dr. Andrew Coggan once calculated some typical power-to-weight ratios for professional and amateur cyclists. The latter group is, on average, pushing 3.0 watts per kilo on a 60-minute effort; Pogačar was in another stratosphere on Sunday compared to those and professional riders alike.

Fact is, after all, that Vingegaard and third-placed Remco Evenepoel (2:51 down) also produced some all-time outings from a pure power perspective. The fact that they did it on a hot day at the end of brutal 198-kilometer/123-mile stage with over 5,000 meters/16,400 feet of elevation gain in their legs only adds to the legendary status of those performances.

But while Vingegaard and Evenepoel rode impressive races in their own right, Pogačar — as has become custom in the 25-year-old’s career — stood head and shoulders above the rest of the peloton.

Barring any incident or accident, Pogačar’s third Tour de France victory now very much appears to be within arm’s reach. Heading into the final week of the race, he leads the overall classification by 3:09 on Vingegaard and 5:19 on Evenepoel.

Looking at the form he displayed throughout the season and especially on Sunday, it seems unlikely he will yield the yellow jersey anytime soon.