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Chasing the double: Can Tadej Pogačar really succeed at the Giro and the Tour?

The Slovenian could be the first rider in 26 years to win the two Grand Tours in the same season

Words: Stephen Puddicombe

Photos: SWPix.com

Winning both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same season has over the last few decades become notorious as an impossible frontier in men’s cycling. Though the double has been achieved by seven riders in the past (once each by Jacques Anquetil and Stephen Roche, two times by Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain, and three times by Eddy Merckx), nobody has managed it since Marco Pantani in 1998, leading to an ever stronger consensus that it is incompatible with the demands of modern cycling.

Some have tried in the years since, but few have come even close. For the great Grand Tour riders of the past few generations, the double has been perceived as a challenge to seek out, something to strive to add to the palmarès when circumstances dictate. Wanting to ride the Tour, but not wishing to sacrifice his home Grand Tour, Ivan Basso targeted the double in both 2006 and 2010, but, despite winning the Giro each time, was respectively refused entry in the aftermath of the Operation Puerto scandal, and suffered a lack of form.

In 2011, Alberto Contador was prompted to ride (and win) the Giro when the possibility of a doping suspension threatened his participation at the Tour, and, even though he was ultimately cleared to ride the Tour, his form also suffered, finishing down in fifth. After both those results were annulled by the delayed doping sanction, he tried again in 2015, achieving the exact same results of first and fifth respectively. And in 2017, Nairo Quintana’s attempt fell at the first hurdle when he lost out to Tom Dumoulin at the Giro, before tiredly dragging himself to a lowly 12th place at the Tour.

Chris Froome came the closest in 2018, capitalising on a slightly modified calendar that allowed for an extra week’s rest between the two races. Though he toiled to win the Giro, taking the pink jersey only after his now legendary 80km comeback attack, he was clearly still relatively fresh at the Tour. But he still couldn’t quite complete the double, finishing third behind Sky team-mate Geraint Thomas, and Tom Dumoulin — who, having also finished second behind Froome at the Giro, reiterated the double’s feasibility that year. The calendar has since reverted back to normal, removing that key extra week of rest, and none of the new generation of Grand Tour stars have attempted it since.

That’s why Tadej Pogačar’s announcement on Sunday that he intends to ride both races in 2024 has caused such a stir in the world of cycling. Many have greeted the prospect with glee, anticipating with bated breath the best rider in the world taking on one of the sport’s great challenges. By contrast, others are questioning the rationale of the decision, predicting that it is in effect handing Jonas Vingegaard the yellow jersey on a platter. The double has come to be seen as something unrealistically idealistic, a hubristic pursuit in denial of how the real world operates, a folly even for a rider as brilliant as Pogačar. So much so, that the Slovenian was uncharacteristically coy when asked about whether he was indeed targeting GC in both, saying: “Let’s see first how it goes with the Giro, and then how it goes with the Tour. Let’s not think about the double, let's just go to enjoy racing."

Leading this vanguard of change is Pogačar himself, achieving results previously not thought possible any more. By winning Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2021, he became the first rider since Bernard Hinault 30 years earlier to win a Monument and the Tour in the same season; then following his Il Lombardia success later that year, the first to win two Monuments plus the Tour since Eddy Merckx. And though he did not couple it with a Grand Tour victory last year, his victory on the cobblestones at the Tour of Flanders totally ripped up the rulebook; nobody had won both the Tour of Flanders and the diametrically opposed Il Lombardia in the same season in 32 years, while you again had to go back to Merckx for the last time someone made the Tour de France podium as well.

Still, the Giro-Tour double feels like an extra level of difficulty, and one that Pogačar is having to accommodate for. Something has to give from his race program, especially as he intends to also target the World Championships and Olympic Games, and so he has planned a much leaner Classics campaign. He also announced that he will only ride Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo in the spring, and neglect to defend his titles at the Tour of Flanders , Amstel Gold and Flèche Wallonne .

Even with these sacrifices though, it’s going to be very hard for Pogačar to pull it off, if only because of how formidable an opponent Jonas Vingegaard has been at the last two Tours. Even if Pogačar were only targeting the Tour, he’d still have to be considered a joint favourite at best for the yellow jersey, given the way the Dane so thoroughly defeated him last year. Perhaps this contributed to his decision to ride the Giro — rather than put all his eggs in the Tour basket, a victory at the Giro would at least mean he has one Grand Tour victory in 2024 regardless of what happens in France.

Pogačar is such a special rider you sense that if anyone can buck the trend and win the Giro-Tour double, it’s him. He’s currently operating at a level few have in the whole history of the sport, and, given the unpredictability and temporary nature of the sport, cannot know how long he’ll be this good. Aware that, having recently turned 25-years-old, his body may now be in as good a condition as it will ever be, Pogačar stated that "I am now not so young anymore, and I think I can do two Grand Tours”. If ever there was a time to chase history by aiming for a Giro-Tour double, it’s now, and if ever there was a rider to do so, it’s him.

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Giro d'Italia

The giro-tour double is rare. but if there’s one thing pogačar has proven, it’s that he can do anything in cycling..

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When Tadej Pogačar announced that he would be tackling the Giro-Tour double, most of us cycling fans were shocked. It’s been 26 years since the same rider won both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year, and only three riders have even come close since then. But if there’s anything that Pogačar has proven, it’s that he can do anything in cycling.

Eighty-kilometer solo to win Strade Bianche? Pogačar has done it .

How about winning a monument and finishing on the podiums of the Tour de France and the world championships in the same season? Pogačar did it last year.

How else to follow up that performance than with a crack at one of cycling’s most elusive feats? We’re digging into what it will it take for Pogačar’s Giro-Tour double try to succeed, and how it could reshape the rest of his season.

What Is the Giro-Tour Double?

Only seven riders in cycling history have completed the Giro-Tour double — that is, winning the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same season. In 2024, Pogačar will race the Giro d’Italia for the first time in his career.

Cycling has a long history of riders completing multiple grand tours in the same season. But most of these riders are domestiques, work horses, or breakaway specialists. Few GC riders have attempted back-to-back grand tours since it entails having to remain in near-peak shape for nearly three months straight.

If anything could bolster Pogačar’s hopes, it’s Sepp Kuss ’s win at last year’s Vuelta a España. The American raced all three grand tours in 2023 — not just two — and he was able to win the Vuelta at the end of the season. It’s clear that fatigue alone won’t prevent Pogačar from completing the Giro-Tour double.

Pogačar’s Training and Racing Calendar

New to Pogačar’s 2024 training plan was a delayed start to the season. So far in his career, Pogačar has begun racing in January or February. But this year, he didn’t line up for a race until Strade Bianche on March 4 (though it didn’t seem to negatively affect his performance – at all).

Pogačar has never ridden two grand tours in the same season, but now he is aiming at more than just the Giro-Tour double. The Slovenian will race in the Olympics in August and the world championships in September. Is he racing to win? Of course he is.

How could Pogačar possibly balance so many goals, simultaneously training for grand tours and one-day races?

Can Tadej Pogacar pull off the Giro-Tour double?

Key Stages and Careful Planning

The secret to Pogačar’s success in 2024 will be timing his peak form. To win a grand tour, you don’t have to be in peak shape for all 21 stages. In fact, some riders purposely start a grand tour overly fresh. That is, slightly undertrained and full of extra energy.

But grand tours are changing quickly, and now there are key stages scattered throughout each one. Physiologically, one would think that Pogačar couldn’t possibly peak for six months straight. This is true – for most riders — but Pogačar has proven that he is unlike anyone else.

Pogačar always races to win, which means that he doesn’t race when he isn’t in great shape. While the Slovenian won’t be flying off the front in every race this season, it’s likely that he and UAE Team Emirates will pick out a few stages in each grand tour for him to attack.

This year’s Giro d’Italia and Tour de France have some stages that suit Pogačar and other stages that don’t. Will Pogačar try to peak for the stages that suit him so that he can attack and gain time? Or will he try to peak during his weakest stages so that he can limit his time losses?

Those are some complicated questions that UAE Team Emirates have been discussing for months, and they will continue to discuss until the Giro starts this weekend.

What About the Olympics and World Championships?

With so much focus on the Giro-Tour double, it’s easy to forget that Pogačar is also aiming to win the Olympics and World Championships Road Races this year. There are only six days between the final stage of the Tour de France and the Olympic Games TT, so I doubt Pogačar will be doing anything but traveling and resting between those races.

The Olympic Games Road Race is a week after the time trial and 13 days after the Tour de France. That’s enough time for Pogačar to maybe do one to two training sessions in addition to essential rest and recovery. Pogačar’s performance at the Olympic Games is almost impossible to predict since it’s so close to the end of the Tour. The worst thing he can do is overtrain in between races. But if he rests enough after the Tour, he might find the best legs of his life at the Olympics.

The bigger question mark, in my opinion, is Pogačar’s form at the world championships on September 29. That is more than two months after the Tour de France and almost five months from the start of the Giro d’Italia on May 5.

There’s no doubt that Pogačar can peak at the end of the season. He has dominated three consecutive Il Lombardias, each coming off the back of the Tour de France. But the Giro d’Italia has the potential to change the course of Pogačar’s season in a way that he’s never experienced before.

At last year’s world Championships in Glasgow, the results told a fascinating story. Nine of the top 10 in the road race also rode the Tour de France, which finished two weeks before the world championships. But in the time trial, only two riders in the top 10 also rode the Tour.

[If you’re wondering who the exceptions were, they were Toms Skujiņš, who finished eighth in the worlds RR, and Wout Van Aert and Mikkel Bjerg, who finished fifth and ninth in the worlds TT, respectively.]

Perhaps all those results were a coincidence, but I’m convinced otherwise. Riders often find the best legs of their lives in the few weeks following a grand tour. However, I believe it was the specific TT preparation that separated the top riders in the time trial. While everyone at the Tour was racing their road bikes across France, the TT specialists were probably doing four to five rides per week on their time trial bikes to prepare for the world championships.

When it comes to timing his peak, the only problem for Pogačar is that the world championships come so far after the Tour. Historical data says that he’ll have great legs for the Olympics, but it’ll be tougher to predict his form nearly two months later in September.

The last piece of the puzzle that cannot be estimated using power data, race days, or heart rate variability is the unforeseen risks of racing. By attempting the Giro-Tour double, Pogačar is exposing himself to 21 additional race days at the Giro d’Italia. That means 21 days (plus rest and travel days) that he could crash or get sick.

Most riders prepare for the Tour de France at altitude camps, basically closed off from the rest of the world. They train all day and then sleep in their hotel rooms. Their teams prepare their meals, and the staff might be the only other people they interact with for weeks. Racing a grand tour adds in countless other variables, especially given the Giro’s history of wild weather, but it is a risk that Pogačar is willing to take.

We could analyze statistics until the end of time, but the fact of the matter is that Tadej Pogačar defies logic. From stage 20 on La Planche des Belles Filles in 2020 to 80km to go at this year’s Strade Bianche, no one predicted what Pogačar did.

You could take all the cycling experts in the world and ask them: what do you think Pogačar is capable of? The 25-year-old is aiming for the Giro-Tour double, the Olympics, and the World Championships, all within the same season — is that even possible?

Of course it is. For Tadej Pogačar, anything is possible.

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Tour de France 2022: The Giro d'Italia-TDF double... if anyone can, it's Tadej Pogacar

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Many have tried, plenty have failed and only the sport's very best have ever succeeded. The Giro-Tour double is a feat of endurance unlike any other, and has not been achieved for more than two decades – but now the idea that a rider might be capable of it has arisen again, with Giro race director Mauro Vegni challenging Tadej Pogacar to take up the gauntlet.

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Breaking Down the Odds, Risks & Rewards of Pogačar’s Giro/Tour Double

Transfer time # 6: israel-premier tech & intermarché-wanty.

Transfer Analysis: Spencer Martin breaks down the odds, risks and rewards of Tadej Pogačar’s bold Giro/Tour double attempt in 2024. Plus Transfer Time # 6 : Israel – Premier Tech and Intermarché-Wanty.

– This article is an excerpt from the Beyond the Peloton newsletter. Sign up here for full access. –

At the end of the 2023 Tour de France, the consensus view was that to defeat Jonas Vingegaard and win his third Tour de France title, Tadej Pogačar needed to significantly narrow his race schedule and ambitions in 2024 relative to his sprawling 2023 campaign.

However, just a few months after learning that lesson, the transcendent superstar appears to have thrown caution to the wind by announcing that instead of focusing on the Tour de France in 2024, he would be significantly widening his scope this coming season by attempting the near-impossible Giro d’Italia/Tour de France double, while also targeting Olympic gold in early August, World Championships in late September before finishing off the season with an attempt at winning his fourth-consecutive Il Lombardia in early October.

Pogačar’s 2024 Schedule 3/4: Strade Bianche 3/16: Milan-San Remo 3/18-3/24: Volta a Catalunya 4/21: Liège-Bastogne-Liège 5/4-5/26: Giro d’Italia 6/29-7/21: Tour de France 7/27-8/3: Olympic Games TT & RR 9/13-9/15: GP Québec & Montreal 9/29: World Championships RR 10/12: Il Lombardia

Why this is shocking, and what it means for Pogačar and the other Tour contenders in 2024: While this race schedule certainly mixes things up for Pogačar sets up a great Giro d’Italia, where we will see two of the sport’s biggest stars, Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar, duke it out for stages, and potentially even the overall title, I can’t express just how shocking this news was to me and just how much it helps Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France.

Even though Pogačar is attempting to leverage an easier-than-normal Giro route to get an ‘easy’ grand tour win on the board before heading to the Tour (he hasn’t won a grand tour since 2021) and potentially complete a historic Giro-Tour sweep, racing any three-week race, even one with a relatively mild course, is still incredibly difficult, especially due to the trend of line-to-line racing in modern cycling.
This means Pogačar’s decision to race drastically shifts the odds in favor of Vingegaard to win the Tour and also means Primož Roglič has a much better chance than he would have had otherwise.
After the Pogačar announcement, betting markets have Vingegaard at -155 (61% chance of winning) to win the Tour, while Pogačar has dropped to +300 (25% chance) and Roglič is up to +500 (16.7%).
To highlight just how difficult the feat of contesting both the Giro and Tour, in the 100+ years of cycling history, only seven riders have won both races in the same season, with Marco Pantani double a quarter of a century ago being the last time it occurred (tests would later reveal Pantani used EPO to complete the feat).
Since Pantani accomplished this, only three extremely talented riders have come close to the double, only to fall short due to fatigue at the Tour.
2015: Alberto Contador- Giro 1st & Tour 5th
2018: Chris Froome-Giro 1st & Tour 3rd
2018: Tom Dumoulin-Giro 2nd & Tour 2nd

The Risks Pogačar is certainly more talented than any of these three riders, has already redefined what a rider is capable of in modern cycling, and would ascend into the upper echelon of the sport’s greats if he could win both races, but this attempt seems like a bridge too far and carries a significant amount of risk.

In the last two Tours, Pogačar has been outclassed by Vingegaard in the race’s toughest mountain stages.
Since the only way to remedy this weakness is to lessen his racing load and focus more on specific high-altitude training camps prior to the Tour, this decision to double up at the Giro and Tour seems ill-advised.
Also, it is incredibly unusual, if not unprecedented, for a rider who finishes second to the same rider at the Tour multiple times to shift their focus the following season while still in their prime. In fact, when big champions start targeting the Giro after winning the Tour, it is incredibly rare for them to come back and win the Tour again.
After winning the Giro in 2015 and 2018, Contador and Froome never again won the Tour de France.
Additionally, if Pogačar shows up to the Tour and looks subpar after the Giro, it will be hard for him to avoid the narrative that he was running from a fair fight with Vingegaard at the Tour and hedged against being left with yet another runner-up place at the Tour by getting a Giro win in beforehand.

The Rewards & Logic On the flip side, one has to imagine Pogačar signed a highly lucrative seven-figure contract with RCS to make their marque races the centerpieces of his season (Lance Armstrong and Chris Froome each received between €2-€3 million to start the Giro).

Making large amounts of money is nice, and I’d imagine Pogačar will enjoy having a few extra million burning a hole in his pocket for doing exactly what he would be doing anyway to prepare for the Tour (riding his bike a lot, oftentimes up mountains very fast).

Also, we can’t underestimate the morale boost Pogačar could receive from getting a grand tour win before the start of the Tour.

Heading into yet another Tour duel with Vingegaard with a Giro win under his belt could potentially take pressure off Pogačar.

Sepp Kuss won the 2023 Vuelta a España after racing a very strong Tour de France, after completing all three grand tours in a single season.

Perhaps modern training science has potentially shown that with proper training, nutrition, and recovery, a top rider can actually prepare for a three-week race by racing one just a few weeks prior.

If he is somehow able to pull off the double, Pogačar would immediately enter the upper echelons of the sport’s all-time greats before he even heads into the back half of the season where he could win Olympic gold, a World title, and yet another one-day Monument.

We don’t yet know if this is a great or terrible idea, but we do know that RCS’ aggressive recruitment of Van Aert and Pogačar for its grand tour has certainly added much-needed publicity around the Giro and made it match-watch TV for any dedicated cycling fan.

Weekly Transfer Analysis Part 6:

To continue our in-depth transfer analysis of every top team going into the 2024 season, I’ve continued to select two teams that have had polar opposite experiences as teams over the last few years, as well as in the transfer market so far this off-season, but have broken from form slightly by selecting one WorldTour and one second-division (ProTeam) team: Intermarché-Wanty and Israel-Premier Tech.

You can see Transfer Time #1 HERE, #2 HERE #3 HERE , #4 HERE , #5 HERE and an Updated Transfer Time HERE .

Israel-Premier Tech

Notable new signings: Pascal Ackerman (UAE), George Bennett (UAE), Hugo Hofstetter (Arkéa), Jake Stewart (FDJ), Ethan Vernon (Soudal-QuickStep), Riley Sheehan (Denver Disruptors)
Notable departing riders: Sebastian Berwick (Caja-Rural), Giacomo Nizzolo (Q36.5), Ben Hermans (Cofidis), Sep Vanmarcke (retired), Daryl Impey (retired)
Notable unsigned riders: Domenico Pozzovivo
Total Riders In: 10
Total Riders Out: 10
2024 Roster Spots Remaining: 0
2023 UCI Team Ranking Position: 16th
Pro Cycling Stats Points In/Out: +406

After falling victim to relegation from the sport’s top flight at the end of the 2022 season, the now second-division squad had a slightly improved 2023, but, relative to teams competing to get back into the sport’s top tier, had a thoroughly mediocre campaign. While they had a few standout performances from previously unknown riders, like Derek Gee coming out of nowhere to become their 3rd highest points-scoring rider, and they saw young riders like Corbin Strong and Matthew Riccitello continue to develop, and veteran stalwart Michael Woods deliver with a Tour de France stage win, the team was ultimately dragged down in the aggregate by underperformances across the board by their highly-paid veteran riders. But, likely as a response to this, management was extremely aggressive this off-season by going out and signing 10 new riders, including a strong batch of quality young, while sending 10 riders out.

The addition of 29-year-old sprinter Pascal Ackerman is the team’s headline addition of the off-season.
While the German fastman is still capable of bagging Grand Tour stages (he won a stage at the 2023 Giro), he is a shadow of the rider who won the Points Jersey at the 2019 Giro and finished 7th in the 2019 PCS Rider Rankings (he finished 179th in 2023).
But, as long as Israel’s expectations, and financial investment, take this dropoff into account, he could act as a solid bunch sprint specialist for the team in 2024, which is something they’ve lacked in recent years (they’ve never won a Grand Tour stage from a bunch sprint).
Additionally, even if Ackerman struggles to return to his winning ways, 2nd-10th place finishes at WorldTour races will be incredibly valuable for the team as they aim to rack up UCI points to get back into the WorldTour when the promotion/relegation cycle ends in 2025.
While it won’t get the headlines of the Ackerman signing, bringing on Riley Sheehan (23), Jake Stewart (24), and Ethan Vernon (23) sees them pick up three incredibly strong young riders who could all step in and contest wins at lesser-WorldTour races for the team in 2024.
The 33-year-old George Bennett, who comes over after a few forgettable years at UAE, is a slightly odd pickup since, at least at this point in his career, he is operating as a grand tour domestique.
But he did finish an impressive top ten at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in 2023, and if IPT thinks they can rehab him back into the stage-hunting form he had in 2020 and 2021, then this is a decent pickup for them.
The outgoing crop of riders might feature some big names like Giacomo Nizzolo, Ben Hermans, Sep Vanmarcke, and Daryl Impey, but due to their age and/or declining performances, none will be sorely missed.
Instead, the departure of the 24-year-old climbing specialist Sebastian Berwick, who broke out by finishing on a stage podium at the 2023 Giro, is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Berwick might not have been progressing as quickly as the team would have liked after three years, but he was coming off a career season and seemed to have plenty of potential upside.

Intermarché-Wanty

Notable new signings: Francesco Busatto (Circus – ReUz – Technord), Alexy Faure Prost (Circus – ReUz – Technord)
Notable departing riders: Rui Costa (EF), Sven Erik Bystrøm (FDJ), Niccolò Bonifazio (Corratec)
Notable unsigned riders:
Total Riders In: 5
Total Riders Out: 7
2024 Roster Spots Remaining: 3
2023 UCI Team Ranking Position: 15th
Pro Cycling Stats Points In/Out: -1419

Coming off a disappointing 2023 season, which saw them revert to the mean after a fantastic 2022, Intermarché has had a surprisingly muted off-season that saw them depart with a key veteran, Rui Costa, while bringing on a series of talented but incredibly unproven, young riders. While this might be the best move for the long term, it is difficult to imagine the loss of Circus, a casino, as a sponsor due to a new Belgian gambling law (funnily enough, the state lottery, Lotto, is exempt from this rule) didn’t cause a crash-crunch that has dented the team’s ability to procure talent at a critical time.

Amidst one of the blandest transfer performances in the World Tour, Intermarché’s biggest highlight is parting with a good chunk of its veteran riders (Rui Costa, Sven Erik Bystrøm, and Niccolò Bonifazio).
With Bonifazio and Erik Bystrøm (U23 World Champion) never panning out as expected, their departures won’t move the needle for the team.
However, losing Rui Costa is notable.
Even at 37 years old, Costa was the team’s biggest points scorer in 2023 and was able to take a grand tour stage win at the Vuelta.
While I love the idea of bringing in a collection of young talent and shedding older riders and believe the team will benefit long-term from doing so, the fact that they are at a net loss of PCS points for the second straight season means the team is increasingly revolving around the 23-year-old Biniam Girmay and that a significant amount of pressure will be on his young shoulders in 2024 to ensure the team avoids a relegation battle in 2025.
But, going in their favor is that their track record of discovering and developing young talent into race winners is incredibly solid (Girmay, Gerben Thijssen, Georg Zimmermann), which means the young riders they are bringing up from their development squad, like 21-year-old Francesco Busatto (winner of 2023 U23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege) and 19-year-old Alexy Faure Prost (winner of 2023 U23 French road race championships), have a very good chance of quickly turning into more productive veterans they are departing with at a fraction of the cost.
Despite having a very milquetoast transfer season on the surface, I think one of the more quietly interesting subplots of 2024 is Intermarché being forced to lean into younger, cheaper riders and if they can get back to the overproduction that marked their 2023 instead of the frustrating underperformance that marked 2024.

Spencer Martin authors the cycling-analysis newsletter Beyond the Peloton that breaks down the nuances of each race and attempts to bring a logic-based approach to cycling coverage. He is also a partner in cycling business publication The Outer Line, and in the past, has written for cycling outlets such as Velonews and CyclingTips. He has raced at a high-level in the past and still enjoys participating in a wide variety of races as well as riding in the mountains surrounding his residence in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @spencersoward.

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Stephen Roche: It's very possible to win Giro-Tour double

Stephen Roche believes it’s still possible for riders to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same season even though the feat has not been achieved in more than a decade.

Marco Pantani was the last to mark the double in 1998 adding his name to a small but elite club that includes the likes of Roche, Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Fausto Coppi.

"This year it’s very possible," Roche told journalists after he was inducted into the Giro d'Italia Hall of Fame in Northern Ireland last month. "[Alberto] Contador is capable of doing it but he’s doing the Tour and the Vuelta. [Chris] Froome is not doing the Giro, he’s only doing the Tour, so the riders that are capable of doing the Giro-Tour this year are not.”

It’s not unusual for riders today to target overall honours at the Tour and the Vuelta a Espana but the Giro-Tour double is less on-trend with general classification contenders typically selecting one or the other.

Bradley Wiggins toyed with the idea in 2013 but didn't see it through. This season, Cadel Evans (BMC) as well as Richie Porte (Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) have all identified the May 9 to June 1 Giro as a major target but are set to play a different role, if any, when the Tour departs from Yorkshire on July 5.

BMC has indicated it will put its resources behind Tejay van Garderen, rather than former winner Evans, in France whilst Porte, as an example, is due to return as a chief support to defending champion Froome.

Roche dismisses the notion that it is more difficult to win the Giro or the Tour now than it was in his era.

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“The Tour I won was the longest in history – 26 days – and the most mountainous in history,” he said. “I only had three weeks between the Giro and the Tour.

“You believe what you make yourself believe,” he continued. “The riders today make themselves believe that it’s impossible to do it and while they think it’s impossible I’m delighted because it means that family of Giro-Tour winners stays very small!

“At the same time, I think it’s definitely possible."

Twitter: @SophieSmith86

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Sophie Smith is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and author of Pain & Privilege: Inside Le Tour. She follows the WorldTour circuit, working for British, Australian and US press, and has covered 10 Tours de France.

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Pogacar wins Liege with epic solo break, launching bid for Giro d’Italia and Tour de France

Tadej Pogacar won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege bike race on Sunday thanks to a solo break 30km from home launched on a steep climb and sustained to the finish line.

Issued on: 21/04/2024 - 17:07

Ahead of Pogacar 's Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double bid the 25-year-old Slovenian blew the opposition away with a maverick acceleration that none could answer on the 254km race in the Ardennes forests that marks the end of the spring classics.

Billed as a duel between Pogacar and winner of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders Mathieu van der Poel, the Dutchman came in a commendable third but was far from going shoulder-to-shoulder for the title.

Frenchman Romain Bardet was second, also solo 1min 39sec off the pace with Van der Poel leading a bunch home at 2min 02sec.

Another pre-race favourite was Briton Tom Pidcock, who was 10th on the day after a mechanical problem at a key moment hindered his day.

The win puts to bed Pogacar's fall here last season that broke his wrist and blighted his Tour de France bid.

"It was an emotional day of riding for me," a drained-looking Pogacar said.

"Not just because of my hand but also because two years ago just before the race Urska's mother died, so I was riding for her today," Pogacar said referring to his professional cyclist partner Urska Zigart.

Pogacar also won here in 2021 and this was his sixth one-day Monument win with three wins at the Tour of Lombardy and his 2023 Tour of Flanders triumph.

Champion Remco Evenepoel, former winner Primoz Roglic and Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard would all have been suited to this course but are injured after a mass fall at the Tour of the Basque Country.

Pogacar came into the race fresh from altitude training and at the start line said he had "no regrets about not racing la Fleche", referring to the frozen and drenched midweek race in the same region.

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Marco Pantani's uncomfortable legacy during Tadej Pogačar's assault on the 2024 Giro d'Italia

Analysis Sport Marco Pantani's uncomfortable legacy during Tadej Pogačar's assault on the 2024 Giro d'Italia

The opening week of the Giro d'Italia has, as was expected , been dominated by one rider.

Aspiring legend Tadej Pogačar is in the leader's Maglia Rosa and displaying the pre-race dominance most expected and many feared would turn the first grand tour of the season into a three-week long procession.

After being surprisingly beaten on the opening stage of the race into Turin, Pogačar took the lead by winning stage two up the famous climb to Santuario di Oropa.

He did so with all the panache befitting one of the greats of the sport.

Tadej Pogacar screams and clenches both fists with his arms stretched by his side

With 11km to go, just before the ascent of the final climb, Pogačar suffered a front tyre puncture and crashed in front of his team car.

With Ineos Grenadiers setting the tempo at the front of the peloton, Pogačar leapt onto a spare bike and set off in pursuit, making contact with the group just 1km later.

His UAE team rode straight to the front of the rapidly disintegrating peloton before Pogačar rode away with little over 4 kilometres to go — blowing Aussie Ben O'Connor to smithereens as he tried to latch onto his wheel — to take the stage victory.

It was a ride with unerring parallels to one of the most famous moments in the race's history, that spoke to cycling's obsession with its romanticised past.

Tadej Pogacar rides away from his rivals

Marco Pantani was a phenomenon in Italian cycling through the 1990s.

Bald, tiny and uniquely flamboyant with a bandana, hooped earrings and a goatie, Pantani was one of the sport's greatest climbers, gliding up the side of some of the most demanding mountains with a seeming disregard to the repercussions of failure.

To see the 172cm, 53kg figure of Pantani climb was to see a man defying gravity in full flight with impossible grace.

Pantani made history in 1998 by winning the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double, matching the feat of Italy's previous cycling master, Fausto Coppi, who was first to achieve the double in 1949.

That was the last year before Lance Armstrong artificially powered himself to seven straight yellow jerseys — a fact that should provoke appropriate levels of disbelief in any athletic feats of the era.

And many of the most remarkable feats of the age were completed by the man known affectionately as Il Pirata, the pirate — one of which has incredible parallels with Pogačar's stage two heroics.

In 1999, Pantani lost 45 seconds to the race favourites when he suffered a chain mechanical fault at the base of the very same Oropa climb.

Undeterred, Pantani passed 49 riders in a pique of adrenaline-fuelled ferocity to claim stage victory and continue his domination of the race.

That Oropa stage win remains etched in the memories of so many of his fans, one of the greatest examples of Il Pirata's explosive climbing ability and unquenchable thirst for victory against the odds.

Marco Pantani rides past a fan who shouts at him

Just days later, after an equally astonishing stage victory up the Madonna di Campiglio gave Pantani an overall lead of five minutes and 38 seconds, he was disqualified from the race.

The fall of Pantani

A blood test ahead of the penultimate stage of the 1999 Giro revealed an abnormally high level of haematocrit — a marker for blood-boosting drug of the time, EPO.

That Pantani was doping was, it subsequently turned out, not in doubt.

Yet despite that the Italian heavily questioned the findings of the drug testers and announced there was a conspiracy afoot to dethrone him.

In the years since, conspiracy theories have abounded over his removal from the 1999 race, including the involvement of the Camorra mafia.

Pantani subsequently was dragged through the courts, his cycling career spiralling into disappointment, albeit with two more victories in grand tours, including the mythical Mont Ventoux in the 2000 Tour de France.

However, in truth Pantani never recovered from being removed from the '99 Giro: He died of a cocaine-induced heart attack in a hotel room on Valentines Day in 2004.

Yet even his death remains shrouded in mystery and doubt.

The BBC even released an investigative podcast, Patani: Death of a Pirate in 2023, which concluded that there are still questions over his death and that it is unlikely those will ever be answered.

The Giro's uncomfortable relationship with Pantani

Specators in front of a large poster of Marco Pantani

Imagine a cycling race in America honouring the name Lance Armstrong.

Perhaps a Canadian track meet with a trophy named after Ben Johnson?

It's unlikely, right?

Yet the Giro has never shied away from its association with Pantani.

Ahead of stage two, the official Giro d'Italia social media accounts posted a photo of Pantani with the caption: "Oropa, where Il Pirata wrote his name in the history of the #GirodItalia" — no matter that just days after this historic moment, he made history for all the wrong reasons.

Last weekend, fans lined the route adorned in pink and yellow jerseys and Pantani's trademark bandana.

And it's not just this year, either.

Since his death the race has honoured il pirata with the Montagne Pantani, a peak in which Pantani excelled himself during his career.

This year, that point was the Oropa, where Pogačar underlined his own supremacy 25 years later.

If cycling has any issue with deifying Pantani, it hides it pretty well, as indeed, does his heir apparent despite the uncomfortable parallels with the Italian that are far from his own making.

"I'm too young to remember Pantani on TV, but it would be a dream to do what he did," Pogačar told reporters before the race set off last week.

Pogačar making ascent towards history

Pogačar has already proven himself a cut above everyone else in the peloton, his victory on Oropa earning him a pink jersey he has shown no signs of relinquishing.

Journalists are already salivating over the prospect of Pogačar completing the elusive Giro-Tour double, romance-filled hearts yearning for a moment of cycling immortality, while cool heads scream caution.

There are potentially 37 days and over 6,000km of racing between now and the Tour de France finish in Nice — that's a lot of time for things to go badly wrong.

That despite promising news out of defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard's camp after the Danish star's shocking crash during the Tour of the Basque Country , with the two-time defending champion back on the bike and hopeful of being at the Tour start line in Florence in June.

And yet it's so hard to look past Pogačar as the champion elect.

The panache that has seen many proclaim him the best cyclist since Eddie Merckx was on full display the very next day when he joined Mikkel Honoré and Geraint Thomas in a late burst away from the peloton on a largely flat stage with 3 kilometres to go.

That trio was caught by the myriad of sprint trains within the peloton before the finish, but it was still an audacious display from Pogačar.

Pogačar may well claim a near unassailable lead in the race over the next three days.

Some will say that Pantani's downfall was, in part, down to his bullishness on the bike during that '99 Giro, that by flying to close to the sun and by punishing his rivals so much, the wax melted on his wings and he plunged into eventual ruin.

Quarter of a decade on, Pogačar's Giro will, hopefully, be remembered far more fondly, no matter how much he wins by, or not.

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Geraint Thomas to ride Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double

Thomas was leading last year’s Giro until the penultimate stage, a mountain time-trial to Monte Lussari, when he lost his lead to Roglic

Geraint Thomas has announced that he will compete at both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France this year.

Having recently agreed a two-year contract extension with Ineos Grenadiers, Thomas, 37, is following the lead of Tadej Pogacar in taking up the arduous challenge of riding the first two grand tours of the season, with only 4½ weeks of recovery time between the races.

Thomas, who won the Tour in 2018 and finished second in the Giro last year, has started both three-week races in the same season once before, in 2017, when he crashed out each time. When Chris Froome, his former Ineos team-mate, attempted to ride both a year later he won the Giro but ran out of steam during the Tour,

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Results and Highlights from the 2024 Giro d’Italia

Check out stage-by-stage recaps and overall standings of the Italian Grand Tour.

Stage 4: Acqui Terme - Andora, 190 km

Stage 3: novara - fossano, 166 km, stage 2: san francesco al campo - santuario di oropa, 161 km, stage 1: venaria reale - torino, 140 km.

Check out stage-by-stage recaps of the action below.

Stage 5: Genova - Lucca, 178 km

A win for the breakaway as the peloton couldn’t get it together.

Stage Winner: Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis)

Race Leader: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

May 8, 2024—Another flat-ish day, another sprint finish. That was supposed to be the script for Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia. But if there’s a theme emerging from the early stages of this year’s Giro, it’s to expect the unexpected.

Because in a move that seems ever-more-rare, the day’s breakaway stuck, the charging group of sprinters behind unable to catch up.

At the end of the 178-kilometer stage, Benjamin Thomas captured Cofidis’s first win this season. Behind him were EF Education-EasyPost’s Michael Valgren, Andrea Pietrobon of Polti Kometa, and Groupama-FDJ’s Enzo Paleni. The group spent about half of the day with a lead of around one minute over the peloton.

Eight seconds behind Paleni, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan—the current maglia ciclamino— led the rest of the peloton across the line.

With 5 kilometers to the finish, the four-man breakaway had a solid forty-second lead and it seemed as though the peloton couldn’t organize themselves enough to reel them back in. Ineos Grenadiers had the most notable attack, but pulled off after the 3-kilometer mark, ostensibly working to protect their lead man Geraint Thomas’s time.

From there, nothing much materialized and the breakaway was allowed to duke it out themselves for the win.

“I said maybe today’s my day,” said the French Thomas, who captured both his first WorldTour and Grand Tour victories with the win. “Everything is perfect today. I knew the final because I trained there sometimes. I knew the Montemagno in the final, and it helped me, knowing the cobbles and the corners. It's a nice thing to win in Italy. It means a lot to me.”

Thomas, who is a seasoned track racer, likened the four-man break to a “long, long team pursuit.”

Valgren added that the topography of the parcours aided the breakaway’s chances.

“It was actually only with three or four ks to go (that we thought we could win) because you always think the peloton will take 10-seconds-per-kilometer more or less,” Valgren said after the race. “We kept working well together and there was in our favor kind of downhill. Chapeau to the other guys for working well together. We didn't start to play the games, so it was nice.”

The one thing that was expected was that nothing much changed in the GC battle. UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogačar remains forty-six seconds clear of Geraint Thomas and forty-seven seconds ahead of BORA-hansgrohe’s lead man, Dani Martinez.

Jonathan Milan Wins Sprint Finish

Stage Winner: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)

May 7, 2024—For the second straight day, the Giro d’Italia ended with a flat sprint that was almost nabbed with a daring and unexpected last-minute attack.

The 190-kilometer route from Acqui Terme to Andora started with a gradual ride into the day’s only categorized climb, the category 3 Colle del Melogno, where the KOM points were taken by Intermarché-Wanty’s Lilian Calmejane. After that, it was an almost wholly downsloping back half of the stage, ending with a straight, flat shot into the seaside town of Andora.

If the peloton felt a bit jumpy heading into Andora, it no doubt had to do with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas’s (INEOS Grenadiers) almost successful late break in yesterday’s sprint stage.

And then, just like yesterday, a solo attack was launched with plenty of racing left. Today, it was Ineos-Grenadiers’ Filippo Ganna, one of the fastest solo bike racers that’s ever lived, who attacked at the foot of the day’s final pitch, the Capo Mele, with 4 km to go. However, the long-distance attack was once again in vain, as he was caught and swallowed up with just a few hundred meters to go.

Moments later, another Italian, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, launched a furious and commanding 300-meter sprint that would net him his second Giro stage win, exactly one year to the day from his first.

Meanwhile, Dani Martínez, who entered the day in third place in the GC standings, suffered a late-stage mechanical. Lucky for the BORA-hansgrohe racer, it was within the final 3 kilometers, meaning he was awarded the same time as the bunch ahead and lost no extra time to Pogačar and Thomas.

In sad news, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) slid out on a slick descent with about 62 kilometers left, crashing out of the race with an injury. It was a brutal reminder of the Eritrean’s luck, who, moments after becoming the first Black African rider to win a Grand Tour stage in 2022’s Giro, suffered a freak injury when the cork from his celebratory champagne bottle shot him in the eye, causing him to abandon the race with a hemorrhage in his eye.

“We saw Ganna going full gas in the last climb, and we just had to catch him,” said Milan of his Italian track teammate. “Today, the guys did such an amazing job. This experience was special because my parents were here today. I’m really happy about it,” Milan, who won last year’s maglia ciclamino, added.

After the race, second-place finisher Kaden Groves said the day’s blisteringly high speeds made the stage “quite scary at times.” And when asked about how his Alpecin-Deceuninck team was shaping up over the Giro’s first week, Groves said, “We’re getting there.”

Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier Takes Sprint Victory Amidst GC Favorites’ Late Attack

Stage Winner: Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)

May 6, 2024 – The sprinters had their first chance to shine, as the race’s third stage from Novara to Fassano featured just 750 meters of elevation over 166 kilometers.

However, it wasn’t without a bit of drama, as the race’s biggest GC favorites launched a thrilling attack over the last four kilometers, throwing a wrench into what was expected to be a straightforward day. After an early move from EF-Education EasyPost’s Mikkel Honore, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) followed, forming a small, three-man breakaway that, for a moment, looked as though it might stay away from the group.

Honoré was swallowed up by the group with about 1 kilometer to go, and given the day’s high pace and series of breakaways, there was some thought that Pogačar and Thomas’s attack might just stick. However, the two GC men were caught with about 400 meters to go, setting up the bunch sprint everyone expected the day to end with.

Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier nipped a group at the line that included Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Intermarche Wanty’s Biniam Girmay, who rounded out the day’s podium, along with Arkea’s Jenthe Biermans and dsm-Firmeninch PostNL’s Tobias Lund Andersen.

After a masterful recovery from a late crash to win Sunday’s second stage, Pogačar started the day in the maglia rosa , forty-five seconds clear of Dani Martínez of BORA-hansgrohe and Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers. By the time stage 3 was over, those standings remained exactly the same.

“It wasn’t the plan,” Thomas said of the two-man attack over the closing kilometers. “We just wanted to stay out of trouble.”

He added that, over the final few hundred meters, it took everything he had to keep contact with Pogačar. “I was just trying to hold his wheel,” Thomas said, admitting that the attack was never part of the day’s plan.

“It was the hardest victory so far,” stage winner Merlier said of the unexpected chase he and his group of sprinters found themselves in as Thomas and Pogačar rode away. Merlier said he hesitated, causing him to miss out on his leadout man, and eventually forcing him to attack directly into the wind without any support.

Tadej Pogačar Wins Stage 2 and Takes the Maglia Rosa

Stage Winner: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

May 5, 2024 - Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates wins Stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia 2024 and takes the Maglia Rosa. Twenty-seven seconds behind, Dani Martínez (Bora-hansgrohe) takes second, and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) is third.

It was a masterful performance by UAE Team Emirates once Pogačar made it back to the front of the peloton after a small crash due to a front flat tire. The Slovenian leads Thomas and Martinez by 45" in the General Classification.

In the post-race interview, Pogačar was asked if he panicked after crashing in the lead-up to the last climb. “Not really. I was quite calm. I hit a hole in the city and had a super fast flat tire. There was a bit of confusion. I wanted to stop before the corner, but the DS said, ‘No, no, after the corner.’ I was feeling good. The team was super good today. And then we set the pace that we like and it was perfect,” said the race leader.

“I didn’t know the climb well. Everybody was maybe doing this climb for the first time, and it was hard to guess where to do the [hard] pacing, but I think we did a really good job today. And it was super good the last pull of Rafał Majka in the hard part so that I could attack,” Pogačar added.

“I just wanted a stage win today and some gap. Test the legs a little bit. And the [goal] was to take the pink jersey. Now I can relax a little bit in the next few days with the team and we stay safe in the sprints.”

Watch the final kilometer of Stage 2 on the Giro d’Italia’s YouTube Channel

Geraint Thomas of INEOS Grenadiers found himself meeting his limit in today’s stage. “It was so hard to follow, but I knew if I tried to keep going I would completely blow up. I felt bad for sitting on Ben [O’Connor], but I was on the limit for a while there,” said Thomas in the post-race interview.

Regarding Pogačar’s crash, Thomas said, “Honestly, I didn’t know until I was on the climb, and someone said Tadej was back. The plan was to go to the front, not to attack, but to stay safe on the front.”

Narváez Upstages Pogačar to Secure Stage 1 Victory and Maglia Rosa

Stage Winner: Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers)

Race Leader: Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers)

May 4, 2024 - The opening stage of the Giro d’Italia produced plenty of fireworks and a surprise winner on the line. Team UAE Emirates set it up perfectly for Tadej Pogačar on the opening stage. After some long-lasting breakaways were caught, Pogačar broke free in the last four kilometers with Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers) and Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe). The Slovenian just couldn’t gap those two rivals, and it set it up for a sprint finish. In a bit of a surprise, it was Narváez, the 27-year-old Ecuadorian national champion, outsprinting Schachmann (second on the stage) and Pogačar (third). Narváez earns the first Maglia Rosa of the 2024 Tour of Italy.

Though he didn’t win the stage, Pogačar will head into Stage 2 with an advantage over many of his top GC rivals. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) was 10 seconds behind Pogačar on the stage and, after factoring in time bonuses, 14 seconds behind Pogačar in the GC standings.

Watch Stage 1 Highlights on the Giro d’Italia’s YouTube Channel

“It was a great feeling. We knew it was going to be a stage for me, and I worked a lot on it,” Narváez said in the post-race interview. “Following the best guy in the world on the climb was really hard, so it’s a special victory today. It’s still hurting me now. It was really hard—really, really hard. But in the end, I made it.”

“I think [Pogačar] went too long in the sprint, 200 meters after a really hard stage, and I did a short sprint, and in the end, I took the victory. For me, it’s amazing. There aren’t many opportunities in a Grand Tour to get the maglia rosa on the first day because you have a bunch sprint, a TT, or a different stage. Today was a good opportunity. I worked really, really hard for it,” added Narváez.

.css-1t6om3g:before{width:1.75rem;height:1.75rem;margin:0 0.625rem -0.125rem 0;content:'';display:inline-block;-webkit-background-size:1.25rem;background-size:1.25rem;background-color:#F8D811;color:#000;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-position:center;background-position:center;}.loaded .css-1t6om3g:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/bicycling/static/images/chevron-design-element.c42d609.svg);} 2024 Giro d'Italia

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Tour champion Vingegaard still hopes to be in ‘top shape’ for this year’s race after bad crash

Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard pedals on his way to win the fifth stage of the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, from Torricella Sicura to Valle Castellana, Italy, Friday, March 8, 2024. Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is back on his bike a month after the bad crash that left him with a collarbone and several ribs broken, and the Danish rider aims to compete this summer at cycling’s biggest race. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP, File)

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PARIS (AP) — Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard is back on his bike, just a month after a bad crash that left him several broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

And the Danish rider is still hoping to compete at this year’s Tour, which starts in seven weeks.

“I feel good, it’s improving day by day,” Vingegaard said in a video released by his team, Visma–Lease a Bike. “I still have some things to recover from, but it’s going better and better. Of course I hope to be there at the start of the Tour de France. We don’t know exactly how my shape and how my recovery will go, but I will do everything I can to get there in my top shape.”

Vingegaard was hospitalized in Spain last month following the crash that involved other top riders during a chaotic Tour of the Basque Country. He also sustained a broken collarbone and a pulmonary contusion during the accident, which came less than three months before the start of the Tour de France on June 29.

He was back in the saddle on Tuesday.

“This is the first time back on the bike for me riding outside, and it’s really nice to finally be able to ride like normal again,” Vingegaard said in the video, standing by his bicycle. “Finally to be able to ride on the road is really amazing and I’m really looking forward to taking the next steps.”

France's Benjamin Thomas celebrates on podium after winning the fifth stage of the Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy cycling race, from Genoa to Lucca, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse via AP)

Before the crash, Vingegaard had been considered one of the top favorites at the Tour again alongside his rival Tadej Pogacar, who is aiming for a Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double this year.

Vingegaard was hardly moving when he was put into an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the crash with less than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) remaining in the stage. The pileup also took out Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel, along with several other riders, many of whom needed hospital treatment.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Giro d'Italia stage 5 Live - Will Jonathan Milan win again?

A history of Giro-Tour double failures

Ahead of Froome's challenge Cyclingnews looks back at attempts that went wrong

After becoming just the third rider to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana in the same season, Chris Froome ( Team Sky ) has set his sights on another major goal: winning the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France double in 2018.

Sky and the Giro d'Italia: The highs and lows since 2010

Chris Froome confirms Giro d'Italia participation

2018 Giro d'Italia route revealed

Giro d'Italia 2018: Five key stages

Rivals react to Chris Froome's Giro d'Italia bid

2018 Giro d'Italia route unveiled in Milan - Gallery

'A start fee for Froome? I flatly deny that,' says Giro d'Italia director

Giro d'Italia removes reference to 'West Jerusalem' following Israeli protest

The 2018 Giro d'Italia by the numbers

Giro d'Italia analysis and Froome's double Grand Tour challenge - Podcast

Of the Grand Tour combinations, the Giro-Tour double is the one that has been achieved the most. Seven riders have completed it 12 times compared to three apiece for the Tour-Vuelta and the Giro-Vuelta. However, it has proved elusive in recent years, with Marco Pantani the last rider to achieve the double in 1998. Previously, Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Stephen Roche and Miguel Indurain have all won the two events in the same season.

There are a number of factors in this, with luck also playing a role, and Lance Armstrong's dominance of the Tour de France also having an impact. The decision by a larger proportion of riders to target a single event and changes in the calendar are also contributory factors.

Pantani is the only rider to have done the double since the gap between the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France stretched out to five weeks. It has previously been as little as three. When Chris Froome makes his attempt, there will be six weeks between the two. How this will impact his effort, nobody yet knows.

Some Giro winners have gone on to ride the Tour the same year but have done so as support riders, such as Paolo Savoldelli in 2005 and Vincenzo Nibali in 2016. Just six riders have attempted to win both back-to-back since Pantani in 1998, with varying degrees of success, but none have managed to win both.

Cyclingnews takes a look back at those attempts and why they went wrong.

Gilberto Simoni (Saeco/Ita) wins stage 14 of the 90th Tour de France in 2003

Gilberto Simoni (Saeco) wins stage 14 of the 90th Tour de France in 2003. (Getty Images Sport)

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Gilberto Simoni (2003)

Gilberto Simoni was the first rider to make a concerted effort on the Giro-Tour double after Pantani's 1998 success. Simoni had already won the Giro d'Italia two years previously when he made his bid for the double in 2003. He was unable to defend his title the following season when he was thrown from the race following his stage 11 victory after traces of cocaine were found in his system. He was eventually cleared of doping and returned to finish 10th at the Vuelta a Espana later that year.

Simoni began his 2003 campaign at the Tour of Qatar at the end of January and rode a sparse calendar in the build-up to the Giro d'Italia. Wins at the Giro del Trentino and Giro dell'Appennino sent him into his home Grand Tour with plenty of confidence. He took hold of the maglia rosa after stage 10 and three stage victories would cement a 7:06 win over compatriot Stefano Garzelli.

The Tour did not go as well for Simoni, who didn't race in the five-week gap between the two. After an uneventful start, things began to unravel for the Italian in the stage 4 time trial to Saint-Dizier. He lost three minutes on that day and a further 10 when the race hit the mountains two days later. A stage win in the second week would salvage some pride but he would finish two and a half hours down on Lance Armstrong in the end.

He would ride the Giro and the Tour in the same season two more times with third and 17th respectively his best combination.

Denis Menchov (Rabobank) celebrates winning the 92nd Giro d'Italia in 2009. (Getty Images Sport)

Denis Menchov (2009)

There would not be another serious attempt on a Giro-Tour double for six years after Simoni's failed effort. Denis Menchov was the next rider to throw his hat into the ring in 2009. The Russian had ridden both the previous year, finishing fifth in his debut Giro d'Italia and going on to take fourth at the Tour de France (that would later be upgraded to third with the disqualification of Bernhard Kohl).

Menchov packed in a busy schedule in the run up to the Giro d'Italia, taking overall victory at the Vuelta a la region de Murcia along the way. Menchov's rival Danilo di Luca had the early upper hand, taking a few seconds on the Rabobank rider in the opening team time trial. Di Luca would move into pink on stage five, despite Menchov winning the stage, but the Russian would take it from his shoulders with another win on the stage 12 time trial. Despite a crash in the rain on the final time trial stage in Rome, Menchov would win overall by 41 seconds.

The Tour de France was an unmitigated disaster for Menchov. He lost time from start to finish and ending the three weeks in 51st place. He was stripped of the result in 2014 after a biological passport violation, although he kept hold of his Giro d'Italia victory.

Italy's Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) celebrates on the podium after winning the 93rd Giro d'Italia in 2010

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) won the 93rd Giro d'Italia in 2010. (Getty Images Sport)

Ivan Basso (2010)

Ivan Basso was not put off by Menchov's disappointment and tried his hand at the feat a year later. Basso won the Giro d'Italia in 2006 and intended on riding the Tour de France but was pulled from the line-up when the Operacion Puerto investigation exploded. In June 2007, he was handed a backdated two-year ban that kept him out of racing until the end of October 2008.

He returned to the Giro in 2009 and finished fifth, which would eventually become third through disqualifications, but would miss the Tour and ride the Vuelta a Espana. With a solid year under his belt, Basso went to the Giro d'Italia and beat David Arroyo by 1:51 after taking the pink jersey from the Spaniard on stage 19.

As with previous attempts, Basso was unable to hold the form into July. He was almost 40 minutes down by the end of the second week. The penultimate day time trial, where he lost close to 10 minutes, was the final nail in the coffin of his Giro-tour double hopes.

Alberto Contador in the maglia rosa at the 2011 Giro. (Getty Images Sport)

Alberto Contador (2011)

Alberto Contador is one of the few riders to have made multiple attempts at the Giro-Tour double. His first came in 2011 when he appeared to be at the height of his powers. He was also in the middle of a major controversy after he tested positive for Clenbuterol during the previous year's Tour de France.

Ignoring the painfully slow process that would eventually lead to his suspension and the removal of his results, including these two, Contador went into the Giro d'Italia as the overwhelming favourite. It was an emphatic performance by the Spaniard, who took two stage wins and beat Michele Scarponi by six minutes.

Contador looked a shadow of his usual self a few weeks later at the Tour, not helped by being caught behind a crash in the opening week. Further crashes impeded his progress and he struggled in the mountains before finishing almost four minutes down on eventual winner Cadel Evans.

It wasn't until February 2012 that the Clenbuterol case was wrapped up with Contador being handed a two-year backdated suspension.

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) and Tyler Farrar ride to the finish of stage 6 at the 2012 Tour de France.

Ryder Hesjedal and Tyler Farrar ride to the finish of stage 6 at the 2012 Tour de France. (Getty Images Sport).

Ryder Hesjedal (2012)

Ryder Hesjedal did not set out to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2012. That he won the Giro d'Italia in the first place was a surprise to many, with the likes of Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi and Joaquim Rodriguez on the start line.

Hesjedal did not spend much time in the maglia rosa throughout the three weeks, only five days in total. The race headed into the final stage with the leader's jersey hanging in the balance. Rodriguez had 31 seconds over Hesjedal but it proved not to be enough with the Canadian overhauling the gap to win by just 16 seconds.

After securing a historic win for Canada, Hesjedal set his sights on the Tour de France, saying at the time that he felt as if he was getting stronger rather than weaker as time went on. His hopes, however, ended in tatters after just seven days when he was caught up in a crash. Though, he was already more than 13 minutes down ahead of the stage.

Fabio Aru (Astana) pressures Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) at the 98th Giro d'Italia in 2015.

Fabio Aru pressures Alberto Contador at the 98th Giro d'Italia in 2015. (Getty Images Sport)

Alberto Contador (2015)

Alberto Contador's second run at the Giro-Tour double came four years after his first, in 2015. Contador confirmed his bid as early as November 2014, with his team manager Oleg Tinkov offering he and his rivals a cool €1 million to do all three.

It was not an easy ride for Contador, with a crash, while he was in pink, in the opening week that left him with a dislocated shoulder putting the whole campaign at risk right from the start. He was involved in another crash on stage 13 and it was only some quick thinking from the experienced Matteo Tosatto that kept his hopes afloat. Fabio Aru would take the maglia rosa the following day but a dismal performance by the Italian in the time trial would see Contador take it back. He put yet more time into Aru the next day but things began to look shaky again when he struggled on the Colle delle Finestre on stage 20. He would still win the overall classification by close to two minutes over Aru.

The Tour de France got off to a better start than it had four years beforehand, and Contador came through the first week just one minute behind Chris Froome. However, he lost a further three when the race resumed with its first summit finish. He would give away five more before the race concluded, finishing fifth overall and matching his previous effort.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) is followed by 2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) during stage 18.

Nairo Quintana is trailed by 2017 Giro winner Tom Dumoulin during stage 18. (Getty Images Sport)

Nairo Quintana (2017)

It would be two years more before Nairo Quintana made an attempt on the Giro-Tour double, with a reported two million Euro offer from Giro organisers RCS tempting him into the challenge. Quintana's ambitions would be short-lived as he fell at the first hurdle.

He looked strong in the opening week of the 2017 Giro , winning stage 9 to Blockhaus just before the first rest day. However, with two lengthy time trials, he always knew that he would have to put some distance between himself and Tom Dumoulin. However, the Dutchman put on the performance of his career so far in the mountains, and not even an unexpected toilet stop could stop him. In a scene reminiscent of the 2012 race, Dumoulin put in a huge shift in the final time trial to gain 1:24 on the Colombian and beat him by 31 seconds.

Despite the disappointment, Quintana carried on with his pre-planned programme and went to the Tour de France. He struggled throughout, citing fatigue from a run of four Grand Tours, and finished a lowly 12th over 15 minutes down. He hasn't counted out having another go, but it certainly won't be happening next year.

Froome will be the next rider to attempt the Giro-Tour double. Can he succeed where others have failed for the past 20 years?

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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.

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DIRECT. Giro 2024 (5e étape): La victoire pour le Français Benjamin Thomas!

Jonathan Milan au Giro - IconSport

Benjamin Thomas: "C'est incroyable"

Benjamin Thomas: oui, on a fait une longue "poursuite par équipe". C'était une échappée incroyable. A 10 km de l'arrivée, on avait 50 secondes d'avance, il y avait du vent de dos, on savait qu'on pouvait jouer avec le peloton. J'ai vu la joie de mes coéquipiers après la ligne, ça n'a pas de prix, c'est incroyable."

La victoire pour Benjamin Thomas!!!!

Il bat au sprint Michael Valgren, les deux ont repris Pietrobon à moins de 100m de la ligne. Quelle maitrise, quelle puissance!

1 km: L'attaque de Pietrobon à la flamme rouge!

Il n'a rien fait dans l'échappée et il piège tout le monde.

2.5km: 2 chances sur 4 pour les Français

On a Enzo Paleni, le jeune de la Groupama FDJ et Benjamain Thomas de la Cofidis. mais attention au danois Valgren de EF et l'Italien Pietrobon qui a refusé beaucoup de relais.

3.5km: Benjamin Thomas en fait-il trop?

Le Français est un sacré rouleur et il a fait un énorme boulot. Est ce qu'il aura assez d'énergie pour le sprint?

5km: Ça tient toujours pour les échappés !

Encore 40 secondes d'avance pour les quatre hommes devant. Les équipes de sprinteurs semblent désorganisées derrière, ça commence à sentir bon pour les échappés...

13 km: Et l'écart ne faiblit pas

50 secondes! Est-ce que ça va suffire? Ca commence à devenir possible.

17 km: Les échappés ont moins d'une minute d'avance

Est-ce que ça suffira pour aller au bout? Pas sûr. Mais ca fait travailler les Lidl-Trek en tête du peloton.

24 km: Nouvelle chute!!!!

Cette fois, c'est Valter, Foos et surtout Michael Woods, le Canadien de Israël premier Tech.

27 km: Du coup l'équipe Ineos prend les choses en main

Cette équipe court plus en patron que l'équipe de Pogacar, très discrète.

30 km: les équipes de sprinteurs ont un petit coup de pompe

Elles ont beaucoup roulé depuis le début de l'étape.

34 km: Grosse chute

4 coureurs se sont pris un ilot directionnel et il y a du dégat. Le Français Alan Riou n'est pas encore reparti. Le canadien Ryan Pickrell est bien ouvert au visage. Apparemment c'est l'arcade.

37 km: L'écart tombe sous la minute.

La dernière difficulté arrive dans une dizaine de kilomètres.

43 km: Gros tempo des équipes de sprinteurs

On se rapproche doucement de la dernière difficulté, la montée de Montemagno, 3 km à 4.3%.

50 km: Laporte est rentré dans le peloton

Mais il ne sera peut-être pas aux côtés de Kooij dans le final.

56 km Kaden Groves surprend Milan au sprint intergiro

C'était juste pour 4 points au classement par point, tout va se jouer dns le print final dans une grosse heure.

65km: Cette fois l'échappée prend un peu de large

1'32, ca ne suffira pas pour aller au bout, mais au moins ca fait travailler les Soudal de Merlier et les Lidl-Trek de Milan.

75 km: Une échappée est repartie

30 secondes d'avance pour les deux français Benjamin Thomas et Enzo Paleni, accompagnés de Michael Valgren et Andrea Pietrobon.

76 km: Chute de Christophe Laporte!

Il est tombé tout seul (un souci technique apparemment). Il est bien rapé mais il repart.

88 km: Le peloton a complètement coupé son effort

Bonne nouvelle pour Jakobsen et ses coéquipiers qui devraient pouvoir rentrer. Ca y est, c'est bon. En revanche, la le peloton est en roue libre totale. Rythme sortie du dimanche.

93 km: 3'30 de retard pour Jakobsen

Ils vont avoir du mal à rentrer et ils vont galérer toute la journée, mêm si il n'y aura pas de souci pour rentrer dans les délais.

100km: Regroupement général

Plus d'échappés, plus de sprinteurs lâchés (sauf Jakobsen) et du coup les Alpecin coupent leur effort. Ca peut être long les 100 derniers kilomètres. La mauvaise nouvelle c'est l'abandon d'Adrien Petit, le Français de l'éEquipe Intermarché.

116 km: Les échappés passent en tête du Passo

Au moins ils se disputeront les points du grand prix de la montagne, et c'est Simon Geschke qui passe en tête. Le peloton passe à peine 12 secondes derrière. Kooij a réussi à rester dans le peloton dans la montée, contrairement à Ewan, Merlier et Gaviria.

120 km: Il reste entre 4.5 km

Et pas mal de sprinteurs vont faire les frais de cette montée très rapide. Olav Kooij, Caleb Ewan, sont en queue de peloton et en sursis. Gaviria et Merlier lâchent!

121 km Ce Passe del Bracco fait une victime

Fabio Jakobsen, le sprinteur de la DSM, n'arrive pas à suivre le rythme, ile st accompagné de deux équipiers, ca va être une belle galère.

126 km: le peloton est dans le Passo del Bracco

Les Alpecin font la course en tête pour Kaden Groves. Vont-ils tenir totue l'étape?

135 km: l'écart monte à une minute

On est clairement là plus pour les paysages (bord de mer de la cote ligure) que pour la course, avec une échappée sans aucun espoir. On attend le Passo del Bracco, dans quelques kilomètres, la seule vraie difficulté du jour.

141 km: Le peloton change de stratégie

L'écart qui était tombé à 20 secondes est en train de remonter à plus de 40 secondes. Le peloton a du se dire que ce n'était pas forcément une bonne idée de reprendre les échappés si tôt. la situation actuelle arrange bien les équipes de sprinteurs: les échappés ne sont pas loin et seront repris à la convenance du peloton, tout cela en empêchant de nouvelles attaques.

146 km - Seulement 27 secondes d'avance?

Le peloton ne laisse pas partir les échappés. On va se faire toute l'étape sans échappée?

149 km - 3 équipes roulent

La Lidl-Trek de Jonathan Milan, la Soudal-QuickStep de Tim Merlier et les Alpecin-Deceuninck de Kaden Groves assurent la poursuite, chacun avec un coéquipier.

152km - Faible écart

1'15" d'écart : on ne laisse rien à l'échappée !

159km - Alpecin-Deceuninck

Pour la première fois depuis le début du Giro, Alpecin-Deceuninck roule pour Kaden Groves, qui a terminé 2e ce mardi. On fait confiance au sprinteur australien.

163km - Le peloton se met à rouler

On ne laisse pas plus de deux minutes d'écart pour les équipes de sprinteurs.

165 km - Quatre coureurs dans l'échappée

Simon Geschke et Manuele Tarozzi sont revenus sur Lewis Askey et Mattia Bais. Ewen Costiou a bel et bien attendu le peloton.

169 km - Costiou se relève

Le Français semble attendre le peloton désormais.

170km - Un contre

Simon Geschke (Cofidis) et Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani) se trouvent à 30" de la tête. Il faudrait que les deux groupes se rejoignent.

172km - Trois coureurs à l'avant

Le Français Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hôtels) s'est glissé à l'avant avec le Britannique Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) et l'Italien Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa).

174km - Des attaques

On assiste à plusieurs attaques en ce début de course, il y a des motivés aujourd'hui pour prendre l'échappée.

175km - Départ réel

C'est parti pour cette 5e étape. Tobias Lund Andresen (dsm-firmenich Post NL) a connu la chute dans le fictif. Le Danois est bien reparti mais ça a eu pour conséquence de retarder un peu plus le départ.

Un jour, un cuissard pour Pogacar

Ce cuissard rose devrait plaire à l'UCI.

Départ fictif

Il y avait bien cinq minutes de retard au fictif mais c'est parti.

Départ retardé?

Selon Eurosport, le départ pourrait être retardé de quelques minutes en raison de la circulation à Gênes, qui a perturbé l'arrivée des bus.

Bonjour et bienvenue pour ce live du Tour d'Italie

5e étape du Giro ce mercredi. Après un premier weekend tout feu tout flamme, la parole est aux sprinteurs et ce devrait toujours être le cas ce mercredi.

Parcours, profil, favoris, on vous explique tout de cette 5e étape ici.

Avant deux étapes qui devraient permettre de décanter le classement général, place aux sprinteurs pour une troisième fournée d'affilée, après la victoire de Tim Merlier lors de la 3e étape et de Jonathan Milan lors de la 4e .

178 km attendent les coureurs, avec assez peu de difficultés si ce n'est le Passo Del Bracco (15,3 km à 4% – 3e catégorie)... situé au kilomètre 62,1 donc bien loin de l'arrivée du jour.

Les coureurs partiront d'Acqui Terme, avec un départ fictif à 12h45, pour une arrivée prévue à Lucques entre 17h02 et 17h28 en fonction de la vitesse moyenne de course.

Le Giro 2024 sera diffusé sur la chaîne Eurosport 1 , qui prendra l’antenne à 12h35 pour le départ fictif de la quatrième étape.

Real-Bayern: "Ça ne serait pas arrivé de l'autre côté", Tuchel en colère après le but refusé à De Ligt

Real madrid-bayern: grosse polémique autour du but refusé à de ligt pour hors-jeu en fin de match, psg: "c’est quoi cette question tu comprends le foot", la réponse agacée d’al-khelaïfi sur l’avenir de luis enrique, pourquoi daniele orsato, l’arbitre de psg-dortmund, a fondu en larmes à la fin du match, psg-dortmund: le pacte d'avant-match, marquinhos marqué, les mots d'al-khelaïfi... les coulisses d'une désillusion.

Real Madrid-Bayern: Joselu renverse les Bavarois, les Madrilènes défieront Dortmund en finale

IMAGES

The impossible Tour de France / Giro d'Italia double
Le Tour de France 2024 partira d'Italie : trois étapes entre Florence
Profiles & Route Tour de France 2024
Alberto Contador and the history of the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France
Tadej Pogačar Eyes Giro d'Italia-Tour de France Double in 2024
Alberto Contador looks good for Giro d'Italia & Tour de France double

VIDEO

2023 UCIWWT Giro d'Italia Donne
GIRO D'ITALIA 2023
GIRO D'ITALIA 2023
Grand Depart Italia
Championnat de France Double
Should Tadej Pogačar Target the 2024 Giro d'Italia?

COMMENTS

The Giro-Tour double: Cycling's elusive feat
There's a lot of buzz in Naples that Bradley Wiggins (Sky) could make a credible run at becoming the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same season. Almost inevitably, there always seems to be hype gravitating around someone shooting for the elusive Giro-Tour double.
Chasing the double: Can Tadej Pogačar really succeed at the Giro and
Winning both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same season has over the last few decades become notorious as an impossible frontier in men's cycling. Though the double has been achieved by seven riders in the past (once each by Jacques Anquetil and Stephen Roche, two times by Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain, and three times by Eddy Merckx), nobody has ...
Pogačar like Pantani
Tadej Pogačar wasn't born when Marco Pantani completed the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double in 1998.However, their careers will somehow follow the same road and draw constant comparisons over ...
Can Pogačar Pull Off the Giro-Tour Double? He's Given Us Little Reason
By attempting the Giro-Tour double, Pogačar is exposing himself to 21 additional race days at the Giro d'Italia. That means 21 days (plus rest and travel days) that he could crash or get sick. Most riders prepare for the Tour de France at altitude camps, basically closed off from the rest of the world. They train all day and then sleep in ...
Tour de France 2022: The Giro d'Italia-TDF double... if ...
Giro d'Italia 2022 route - From Hungary to Verona. A rose-gold gauntlet has been thrown at the feet of double Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar. Shortly after the final announcement of the ...
Breaking Down the Odds, Risks & Rewards of Pogačar's Giro/Tour Double
However, just a few months after learning that lesson, the transcendent superstar appears to have thrown caution to the wind by announcing that instead of focusing on the Tour de France in 2024, he would be significantly widening his scope this coming season by attempting the near-impossible Giro d'Italia/Tour de France double, while also ...
Miguel Indurain
'A new challenge' - Tadej Pogacar takes on Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, Olympics and Worlds in 2024 'A logical decision' - Nibali backs Pogacar's tilt at Giro-Tour double in 2024
The Tour/Giro double could mean more conservative racing from Tadej
The serial champion, the man who can win on basically any terrain, who took victory at Paris-Nice, the Tour of Flanders and Il Lombardia in 2023, the two-time Tour de France winner.
UAE Team Emirates: Giro-Tour double 'complicated, but not impossible
May 4-26: Giro d'Italia. June 29-July 21: Tour de France. August 3: Olympic Games road race (TBC) September 13: GP Montreál. September 15: GP Quebéc. September 29: UCI Road World Championships ...
Could Tadej Pogacar target the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double in
2023 Giro d'Italia winner Primož Roglič was a special guest at the presentation but is unlikely to defend his victory, instead focusing fully on the Tour de France with Bora-Hansgrohe after ...
Emotional Pogacar claims Liege triumph ahead of Giro-Tour double bid
Ahead of his Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double bid, the 25-year-old Slovenian blew the opposition away with an acceleration that none could answer on the 254-kilometre race in the Ardennes ...
Stephen Roche: It's very possible to win Giro-Tour double
Stephen Roche. By Sophie Smith. published 7 March 2014. Stephen Roche believes it's still possible for riders to win the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same season even though the ...
Pogacar wins Liege with epic solo break, launching bid for Giro d
Advertising. Ahead of Pogacar 's Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double bid the 25-year-old Slovenian blew the opposition away with a maverick acceleration that none could answer on the 254km ...
The Giro d'Italia's uncomfortable obsession with its favourite, fallen son
Pantani made history in 1998 by winning the Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double, matching the feat of Italy's previous cycling master, Fausto Coppi, who was first to achieve the double in 1949.
'A new challenge'
The Giro-Tour winning double hasn't been achieved since Marco Pantani in 1998. ... He said that racing the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France is also a chance to see what he is capable of.
Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar adds the Giro d'Italia to
Updated 8:53 AM PDT, December 17, 2023. MILAN (AP) — Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar announced Sunday that he has added the Giro d'Italia to his program for the upcoming season. The Slovenian cyclist made the announcement together with Giro organizers, who said that Pogacar still plans to ride the Tour in 2024.
Geraint Thomas to ride Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double
Wednesday January 24 2024, 8.00pm, The Times. Geraint Thomas has announced that he will compete at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France this year. Having recently agreed a two-year ...
Triple Crown of Cycling
Coppi was the first rider in the history of the sport to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year which he did twice in 1949 and 1952. At the World road race championships in 1949 Coppi came third behind Rik Van Steenbergen of Belgium and Ferdi Kübler of Switzerland. Merckx was the first rider to win the triple crown but ...
Giro d'Italia 2024: Stage 4 Recap & Results
The 2024 Giro d'Italia runs from May 4 to May 26 through the mountains of Italy. The first of three men's grand tours, the Giro is arguably the most difficult. Two-time Tour de France champion ...
Tour champion Vingegaard still hopes to be in 'top shape' for this year
Before the crash, Vingegaard had been considered one of the top favorites at the Tour again alongside his rival Tadej Pogacar, who is aiming for a Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double this year. Vingegaard was hardly moving when he was put into an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the crash with less than 30 kilometers (18. ...
A history of Giro-Tour double failures
Pantani is the only rider to have done the double since the gap between the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France stretched out to five weeks. It has previously been as little as three. When Chris ...
DIRECT. Giro 2024 (5e étape): La victoire pour le Français Benjamin Thomas!
Les coureurs partiront d'Acqui Terme, avec un départ fictif à 12h45, pour une arrivée prévue à Lucques entre 17h02 et 17h28 en fonction de la vitesse moyenne de course. Le Giro 2024 sera ...

Chasing the double: Can Tadej Pogačar really succeed at the Giro and the Tour?

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Stage 4: Acqui Terme - Andora, 190 km

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