Froome sees only one thing stopping Pogacar from Tour de France history
Chris Froome knows what it takes to win the Tour de France once, let alone four times. On the eve of this year’s race, the Briton sees one rider standing above the rest: Tadej Pogacar.
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Froome believes Pogačar is the clear favourite to win the Tour again and move level with the all time record of five overall victories. The Slovenian starts the race with four Tour titles, the same number as Froome, and with a season behind him that has done little to suggest his dominance is fading.
“He has had a fantastic season so far,” Froome told AFP. “It is hard to see what can stop him at this rate.”
The Slovenian has already won Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Suisse this season, racking up a staggering 10 victories (and two overall victories) in just 14 race days.
For Froome, it means that the biggest threat to Pogačar may not come from Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel or any of the other contenders. It may simply be the uncertainty of the Tour itself.
“If he can stay on his bike and stay out of trouble, the way he is riding this year, it looks like he already has it in his hands,” Froome said.
Froome’s verdict is hard to ignore, given the arc of his own career. At his peak, he made July his domain, winning the Tour in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. He later completed his set of Grand Tour victories with the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia, becoming the defining stage racer of his generation.
This week, Froome confirmed that his professional career is over. The 41-year-old had been without a team after his Israel-Premier Tech contract expired, and he had not raced since suffering serious injuries in a training crash last August. Asked whether he was now retired, Froome gave the answer cycling had long been waiting for. “Yes,” he said.
It was not the ending he had imagined. Froome’s career had already been altered by his heavy crash at the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, after which he never returned to his old level.
Last year’s training accident made a final comeback impossible. “That was not the way I wanted it to end,” he said, while admitting he knew then that it was over.
His retirement gives his assessment of Pogačar an added resonance. Froome understands better than most how quickly a Tour career can change, even for riders who appear untouchable. He also knows what Pogačar is now chasing.
Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain all reached five Tour victories. Froome came close to joining them, but his fourth remained his last. Pogačar, still only 27, now has the chance to do what Froome could not.
For Froome, the question is not whether Pogačar is worthy of that company, but whether this Tour de France is where he formally joins it.
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