What next for Tadej Pogacar after retaining the rainbow jersey?

Tadej Pogačar retained his rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Kigali on Sunday, but he still has miles to ride and promises to keep before he brings the curtain down on his 2025 season.

Next on the agenda for Pogačar is the European Championships road race next Sunday, and the event is something of a rarity these days – a race he has never won before. Indeed, Pogačar has only once previously competed in the event, placing fifth in Trento in 2021 as Sonny Colbrelli took gold.

This time out, inevitably, Pogačar will line up as the favourite for the 202km race in the Drôme-Ardêche, where he will again do battle with Worlds silver medallist Remco Evenepoel (Belgium).

A number of riders who opted against the trip to Rwanda have also thrown their hat into the ring for the European Championships, with Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) and João Almeida (Portugal) among those lining up in what might be the deepest field the event has seen in its short history.

Pogačar will be aiming to become only the second man, after Peter Sagan in 2016, to hold both the World and European road race titles at the same time.

The world champion will complete his season in Italy, but it is not yet clear if he will add another race to his traditional outing at Il Lombardia. After winning the rainbow jersey for the first time in Zurich twelve months ago, Pogačar lined out at the Giro dell’Emilia, but that race is off the menu given the clash with the European Championships next weekend.

Pogačar also raced the Tre Valli Varesine last year, and he served as a spokesperson for the peloton when the heavy rain forced the cancellation of the event. The organisation claims that Pogačar had “promised” to return and ride the Tre Valli Varesine in 2025, but his participation on October 7 has not been confirmed.

Rather more certain, of course, is Pogačar’s participation at Il Lombardia on October 11, where he is chasing a fifth straight victory in the Race of the Falling Leaves. A year ago, Pogačar emulated Fausto Coppi by racking up his fourth victory in a row. Another triumph here would see him become the first rider in history to win the same Monument five years in succession.

The concept of cycling’s five Monuments is a relatively modern one, of course, and so comparisons with history are a useful guide and nothing more. But if Pogačar adds Il Lombardia to his wins at the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he will become the second man after Eddy Merckx to win three Monuments in the same year. 

Merckx achieved the feat (though it wouldn’t have been recognised as such at the time) in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1975. And, of course, victory at Il Lombardia would see Pogačar join Merckx (1971) as the only man to win the Worlds and three Monuments in the same year.

Even without winning Il Lombardia, Pogačar can write a little history in Bergamo – if he finishes in the top three, he would become the first rider in history to place on the podium of all five Monuments in the same season.

Il Lombardia will also mark the end of Pogačar’s long collaboration with teammate Rafal Majka, who is hanging up his wheels after the race. The expectation within UAE Team Emirates-XRG is that Pogačar will mark the occasion with another win.

And as dusk falls over Bergamo, thoughts will already be turning to the 2026 season and Pogačar’s possible racing programme. A tilt at a record-equalling fifth Tour de France victory is inevitable, while the Slovenian’s desire to have another crack at Paris-Roubaix would seem likely to rule out a return to the Giro d’Italia. And it’s certain, of course, that Pogačar will chase a record-equalling third world title in Montreal in September. Even at this remove, few would bet against it.