TIME Magazine names Tadej Pogacar among the 100 most influential people in sport

Pogačar is included in the Icons category, where he joins names such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Alcaraz. He is the only cyclist on the list, which makes the recognition as much a statement about the sport as it is about the rider himself.

In its profile of Pogačar, TIME captured the scale of his dominance in unusually direct terms. “A four time champion of the Tour de France, including the last two editions of the world’s premier cycling event, Tadej Pogačar, 27, can win anywhere on two wheels: Grand Tours, one week stage races, one day classics, world championship road races, and individual time trials. He can win across cobble or gravel and is a master uphill climber,” the magazine wrote.

Last year, Pogačar won, among others, the Tour de France, Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and both the European and World Championships.

This year, Pogačar has shown no signs of slowing down, with victories at Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Tour de Romandie. With nine wins in just eleven race days, the Slovenian has recorded an extraordinary strike rate ahead of his return to racing later this month at the Tour de Suisse.

With second place in the sprint against Wout van Aert at the Roubaix Velodrome, Pogačar narrowly missed the chance to complete a unique clean sweep of all five Monuments.

His profile outside cycling had already been recognised earlier this year with a nomination for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. Carlos Alcaraz eventually took the prize, but Pogačar’s name on the shortlist was another sign that his performances are no longer being judged only inside the cycling world.

There are still major milestones within reach. A fifth Tour de France victory would put Pogačar level with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, the four riders who have won the race five times.

The Vuelta a España could be the next obvious target later this year. Pogačar has already won the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, but not yet the Spanish Grand Tour. If he adds the Vuelta to his palmarès, he would join the select group of riders to have won all three Grand Tours, a group Jonas Vingegaard entered last month after winning the Giro d’Italia.