These staggering Pogacar numbers miraculously weren’t enough to drop Van der Poel

After the race, Pogacar, as always, shared his race data on Strava. The plan from UAE Team Emirates was to make the race as hard as possible, and they did just that by setting a brutal pace already on the Cipressa. After strong lead-outs from Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez, it was up to the world champion himself—who launched a merciless attack. Only Mathieu van der Poel could stay on his wheel for the entire climb, while Filippo Ganna managed to reconnect after the summit. The rest were left behind on the toughest ascent of the day.

It’s no surprise, then, that Pogacar obliterated the Cipressa’s previous fastest time. The old record belonged to Luke Plapp, who climbed it in 9 minutes and 27 seconds last year. But the Slovenian superstar was faster—much faster. In fact, he became the first rider to complete the climb in under 9 minutes: 8 minutes and 59 seconds was the final time. With an average speed of 37.6 kilometers per hour, he flew up the climb. Ganna was just two seconds slower, and of course, Pogacar must unofficially share this record with Mathieu van der Poel—who hasn’t used Strava in years.

Even the descent was done at lightning speed—Pogacar completed it in just 3 minutes and 8 seconds, a personal best. He had trained specifically for it, having been spotted during recon rides with Niccolò Bonifazio, the Italian known for his blazing-fast descents. The plan was clear: reach the top solo and stay ahead on the way down. But it didn’t work out that way, and after cooperating with Van der Poel and Ganna on the run-in, Pogacar had to hope he could make the difference on the Poggio.

On the final climb, Pogacar didn’t claim the Strava KOM. His time of 5 minutes and 45 seconds was 14 seconds slower than last year, when he shared the fastest time with Ganna. But that slower time mainly came from the second half of the climb. Over the first half of the Poggio, Pogacar was the fastest ever—and that’s no surprise, given how brutally he attacked right from the base. Despite all these record-breaking efforts, the Slovenian was left empty-handed. Because on the day, there was simply one man who was better.