Tadej Pogacar turns heads with bleached hair before historic Tour bid

The Slovenian will roll out on Saturday with a striking new look: his hair cut short and bleached blonde. It is not quite the close shaved Eminem inspired style he revealed earlier this season, but the reference is still impossible to miss. 

Pogačar, a long time fan of Slim Shady, first experimented with the look before Strade Bianche. Now, just as the biggest race of the year begins, the blonde is back.

Asked by TNT Sports about the story behind the haircut, Pogačar kept it typically relaxed. “I had to do a haircut and we had some bleach left from earlier in the season,” he said. “So we said, yeah, let’s do it.”

There may be more to it than style. Speaking to Sporza, Pogačar joked that the look comes with performance benefits too. “I’m more aero,” he said, smiling. “The white colour absorbs less sun, so I’m cooler. And I’m cooler.”

Yet beneath the playful image lies a serious historical pursuit. Pogacar starts the 113th Tour de France as the overwhelming favourite and with the chance to win the race for a fifth time. If he does, he will join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as a record holder in cycling’s most famous race.

Jonas Vingegaard remains the obvious reference point after years of defining July alongside Pogacar, but the Slovenian is not presenting this Tour as a private duel. “I don’t think he’s the only one,” Pogacar said when asked about Vingegaard. “There are quite a few guys who can aim for the victory.”

The hair has given him an early headline. Once the race begins on Saturday evening, the road will decide whether this Tour becomes something much bigger.