Pogačar could write more pages of history if he wins Sunday, when a second rainbow jersey could topple records and cement his GOAT legacy: ‘I feel ready.’
Pogačar could write more pages of history if he defends his Zurich victory Sunday. (Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Updated September 25, 2025 12:06PM
Tadej Pogačar could write more pages of history this weekend if he wins the elite men’s UCI road world championships in Rwanda on Sunday.
A second rainbow jersey would push him into even more rarefied company and higher up the all-time GOAT rankings.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Pogačar sounded ready to take on the massive challenge of the Rwanda course.
“I expect a lot from my legs on Sunday. We have a strong team, so we can be considered one of the top favorites,” Pogačar said. “I feel ready myself. I’ve had a few good workouts and I’m starting to really enjoy cycling again.”
Only seven men in history have managed to defend the stripes: Georges Ronsse, Rik Van Steenbergen, Rik Van Looy, Gianni Bugno, Paolo Bettini, Peter Sagan, and Julian Alaphilippe.
Despite the hype of the distance and altitude, Pogačar said he’s not too worried about what lies ahead.
“The longer climb should suit me best, Mount Kigali. The only problem is that it is still far from the finish line,” Pogacar said. “We’ll see on Sunday if it’s one of the toughest world championships ever. I don’t think the course is that hard. You have two climbs in the small loop, but there is also a lot of descent in it and you get those kilometers for free.”
To pull even with those names Sunday would be further proof — if any more is needed — that Pogačar is one of the all-time greats in elite men’s cycling. He’s never too worried about that and is already thinking about vacation, but first by going out on a high.
“I’m looking forward to the off-season. I don’t have that many race days, but they are always big races. Because Urška (Zigart, his fiancée, ed.) is also racing, we have little time together,” he said. “That’s why I look forward to really spending quality time with her in the off-season. But first we want to end this great season well.”
There are some other interesting marks Pogačar can reach if he wins Sunday.
Here’s a massive road worlds stat attack:
Yellow and rainbow, Merckx-LeMond territory
LeMond, shown here ahead of the 1986 worlds, is a two-time winner. (Photo: David Madison/Getty Images)
There’s plenty on the line Sunday when it comes to cycling’s stats nerds.
Another world title would join him with Eddy Merckx and Greg LeMond as the only men who’ve won multiple yellow jerseys at the Tour de France and multiple rainbow jerseys at worlds.
Merckx won three world titles and five yellow jerseys, LeMond two rainbow jerseys and three Tours. Everyone else got stuck at one in one of those columns.
Add Pogačar, and there’s a five-decade through line from the Cannibal to the Cowboy to the Slovenian superstar.
This follows Pogačar’s blowout 2024, when he matched cycling’s most elusive treble of Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) of winning the Giro d’Italia, Tour, and world championships all in the same season.
More records could tumble
Pogacar, shown here after the time trial Sunday, is hoping the race goes his way. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Last year he joined an even more exclusive roll call of riders who won the Tour and the worlds in the same season. Georges Speicher was the first in 1933, with Roche in his hat trick in 1987, and LeMond in his miracle comeback year in 1989.
If he doubles up Sunday, Pogačar will join Merckx — who won the Tour-worlds combo in 1971 and 1974 — as the only rider to do it twice.
And the victory Sunday would put him on the fast track to join “three-win club.”
Only Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Merckx, Óscar Freire, and Sagan have taken three rainbow jerseys.
With Montréal’s 2026 circuit lifted heavily from the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal — a race Pogačar already won twice — another milestone could fall.
Worlds stat attack: Pogacar’s place in history
Hinault, shown here in the 1986 Tour, is one of the few to win all three grand tours and a world title. (Photo: DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP via Getty Images)
Digging deep into cycling’s century-plus treasure trove of records, milestones, streaks and clubs, and there are still a few boxes to check off for Pog.
First is the glaring blank spot on his palmarès with the Vuelta a España.
If he one day captures that third grand tour, he’ll join the ultimate list of complete riders — Merckx, Felice Gimondi, and Bernard Hinault — the only men to win all three GTs plus the rainbow jersey.
At age 27, it’s amazing to think how much he’s already achieved. And despite grumblings of burnout and fatigue, Pogačar — barring major injury — should knock off what’s left on his ever-shrinking career to-do list.
No matter what happens Sunday, Pogačar is already confirmed among just 27 elite men who’ve won at least one grand tour with at least one world title.
Despite some heated challenges from rivals like Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro or Juan Ayuso, Pogačar will start Sunday as the five-star favorite to win.
Defending rainbow champions (only 7 men have done it)
Alaphilippe was the last male rider to defend the stripes. (Photo: DAVID STOCKMAN/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Georges Ronsse (1928–29)
Rik Van Steenbergen (1956–57)
Rik Van Looy (1960–61)
Gianni Bugno (1991–92)
Paolo Bettini (2006–07)
Peter Sagan (2015–17, only rider with three in a row)
Julian Alaphilippe (2020–21)
Riders with at least two yellow jerseys and two rainbow jerseys
Eddy Merckx
Greg LeMond
Triple crown in one year (Tour, Giro, worlds)
Eddy Merckx (1974)
Stephen Roche (1987)
Tadej Pogačar (2024)
Tour + worlds in same season
Georges Speicher (1933)
Eddy Merckx (1971, 1974)
Stephen Roche (1987)
Greg LeMond (1989)
Tadej Pogačar (2024)
Three-time world champions
Peter Sagan is the only elite male to win three in a row. (Photo: JASPER JACOBS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Alfredo Binda
Rik Van Steenbergen
Eddy Merckx
Óscar Freire
Peter Sagan (only one with 3 straight)
All three GTs + worlds
Eddy Merckx
Felice Gimondi
Bernard Hinault
Elite men who’ve won at least one grand tour and one world title
Evans, shown here winning Flèche Wallonne, won the Tour and the worlds. (Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)
Alfredo Binda — 3x Worlds, 5x Giro (first to win Giro + worlds same year, 1927)
Learco Guerra — 1x Worlds, 1x Giro
Georges Speicher — 1x Worlds, 1x Tour (first Tour + worlds double, 1933)
Antonin Magne — 1x Worlds, 2x Tour
Ferdinand Kübler — 1x Worlds, 1x Tour
Fausto Coppi — 1x Worlds, 5x Giro, 2x Tour
Louison Bobet — 1x Worlds, 3x Tour
Ercole Baldini — 1x Worlds, 1x Giro
Jean Stablinski — 1x Worlds, 1x Vuelta
Jan Janssen — 1x Worlds, 1x Tour, 1x Vuelta
Rudi Altig — 1x Worlds, 1x Vuelta
Eddy Merckx — 3x Worlds, 5x Giro, 5x Tour, 1x Vuelta (first Giro + Tour + worlds treble in 1974)
Vittorio Adorni — 1x Worlds, 1x Giro
Felice Gimondi — 1x Worlds, 3x Giro, 1x Tour, 1x Vuelta (all three GTs + worlds)
Freddy Maertens — 2x Worlds, 1x Vuelta
Francesco Moser — 1x Worlds, 1x Giro
Bernard Hinault — 1x Worlds, 3x Giro, 5x Tour, 2x Vuelta (all three GTs + worlds)
Giuseppe Saronni — 1x Worlds, 2x Giro
Greg LeMond — 2x Worlds, 3x Tour
Joop Zoetemelk — 1x Worlds, 1x Tour, 1x Vuelta
Stephen Roche — 1x Worlds, 1x Giro, 1x Tour (Giro + Tour + worlds in 1987)
Gianni Bugno — 2x Worlds, 1x Giro
Abraham Olano — 1x Worlds, 1x Vuelta
Cadel Evans — 1x Worlds, 1x Tour
Alejandro Valverde — 1x Worlds, 1x Vuelta
Remco Evenepoel — 1x Worlds, 1x Vuelta (first to win both in same year)
Tadej Pogačar — 1x Worlds, 1x Giro, 4x Tour (Giro + Tour + worlds in 2024)