Newspapers rave about Pogačar, but La Gazzetta’s poetic tribute says it best

Sunday, 22 March 2026 at 11:40

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Tadej Pogacar's victory in Milan-Sanremo is, unsurprisingly, front-page news in newspapers both at home and abroad. The superlatives for the Slovenian world champion from UAE Emirates-XRG are endless. Winner in the category “who writes the most beautiful piece?” Naturally, La Gazzetta dello Sport.

‘Tadej Pogacar has finally added Milan-Sanremo to his list of victories,’ as De Telegraaf put it best. Finally, that checkmark on the bingo card; finally, that fourth Monument that was still missing. ‘Only Paris-Roubaix remains. He’ll try to win that Monument in three weeks.’

The Algemeen Dagblad also delved into the statistics. ‘With eleven Monuments, Pogacar is now on par with Roger De Vlaeminck. Eddy Merckx holds the record with nineteen Monuments won.’ Het Nieuwsblad was simply ecstatic. “What a finish!” and “What a wonderful race.” “Van der Poel kept up with Pogacar and Pidcock the longest, but hit his limits.”

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L'Equipe and La Gazzetta are celebrating Pogacar

In France and Italy, the excitement was palpable in the press as well. L'Equipe described the victory as “heroic.” “With torn shorts and scrapes on his back and left thigh, Tadej Pogacar finally raised his arms in victory on Via Roma on Saturday after an incredible turnaround.” Or: “The two-time world champion showed remarkable resilience.”

And what about La Gazzetta dello Sport? With its characteristic poetic flair, it wrote: “Pogacar is now running a parallel race with the man considered the greatest of all time, Eddy Merckx.” The pink paper also wrote: “Historical justice has prevailed. Tadej Pogačar has finally written his name in the Milan-Sanremo guestbook after a monumental and romantic race.”

"That his name wasn’t there yet seemed like a grammatical error, but to correct it required yet another moving performance following a shocking crash and the tension of a two-man sprint, which he won by a hair’s breadth alongside Tom Pidcock. And in that shout with his clenched right fist immediately after the finish on Via Roma lies all the liberating rage that Tadej had built up over the years with fantastic attacks that never had a happy ending.'

We couldn't have written it down any better.

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Tadej Pogacar Milan-San Remo

Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief

Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.

Bram van der Ploeg | Lindkedin | Email

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