The 2024 UCI WorldTour came to an end on Sunday, as Slovenia’s Matevž Govekar (Bahrain Victorious) powered to victory on the final stage of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi with Belgium’s Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) securing the overall victory eight months after he had ruled the UAE Tour in the first stages of the season.
At 23 years old, the Belgian puncheur is among the most exciting rising champions on the roads of the UCI WorldTour, but the 2024 series was dominated by the supremely skilled Tadej Pogačar, along with notable performances from his partners in UAE Team Emirates. It was the most successful season to date for the Slovenian star and his Emirati squad.
Pogacar’s 2024 record shows an extraordinary 25 victories, 23 of them at UCI WorldTour level (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège…), plus the road race of the UCI World Championships and the Giro dell’Emilia (1.Pro) as the only exceptions. Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) is the second-best scorer of the road season - 16 victories, 7 of which were in the UCI WorldTour - and Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took eight UCI WorldTour wins in 2024.
The likes of Joao Almeida, Juan Ayuso Pesquera, Isaac Del Toro Romero, Marc Hirschi, Brandon McNulty, Marc Soler, Tim Wellens and Adam Yates also found their way to victory in the 2024 UCI WorldTour, for an extraordinary total of 41 victories for UAE Team Emirates this season. Team Visma | Lease a Bike follow with 18 successes.
Fun and legend
Tadej Pogačar and his partners’ strength have long been witnessed. They already ruled the UCI Team Ranking last year, with the Slovenian star topping the Individual Ranking at the end of every season since 2020. But they still launched the 2024 UCI WorldTour with a surprising bang as Mexican sensation Del Toro (20 years old) won stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under, in January, before stepping onto the overall podium, which was dominated by Great Britain’s Stephen Williams (Israel - Premier Tech).
The USA’s McNulty went on to win the individual time trial (ITT) of the UAE Tour before Pogačar stepped into action, in early March, at the Strade Bianche… With 81km to go, he was off the front, setting the tone for a season marked by his stunning solo victories, in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (four stages and the overall standings), Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro d’Italia (capped off with a 34km one-man show to take a 6th stage win on the eve of the final parade in Rome), the Tour de France (six more stage wins, including the last three), the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and Il Lombardia, after his masterpiece in the UCI Road World Championships.
“I had some really nice moments and was able to enjoy myself a lot on the bike”, the Slovenian star reflected in an interview after the Giro. The fun continued, and Pogačar made the most of his adventures to lead historic conquests and keep on rising the historic ladder. At 26 years old (he celebrated his birthday in September), he doesn’t only race against his contemporary rivals but also to build a unique record among the greatest riders ever.
Current affairs and historic feats
In 2024, Pogačar notably became the youngest three-time winner of the Tour de France, the first rider in the 21st century to win both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same season, and only the third ever to achieve the iconic “Triple Crown”: Tour, Giro and UCI Worlds. To boot, his fourth consecutive victory at Il Lombardia is a feat only achieved by Fausto Coppi, 75 years earlier.
Pogačar’s absence in La Vuelta opened the door for his teammates, racking up stage wins, and his countryman Roglič, also making history with a record fourth win in the Spanish Grand Tour.
The Flying Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin - Deceuninck) is among the other heroes of the season, with extraordinary performances in the Ronde van Vlaanderen – Tour des Flandres and Paris-Roubaix after leading his teammate Jasper Philipsen towards victory in Milano-Sanremo.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), Pogačar’s closest rival in the Tour de France, also claimed victory, before (Tirreno-Adriatico) and after (Tour de Pologne) his injuries in the Itzulia Basque Country, and he took a very special victory ahead of the Slovenian on stage 11 of the Tour. Meanwhile, his new Visma | Lease a Bike partner Matteo Jorgenson stepped up on all sorts of terrain, with victories in Paris-Nice and at Dwars door Vlaanderen – A Travers la Flandre.
The stars were aplenty on the roads of the UCI WorldTour. But in 2024, nobody could match Pogačar’s brilliance.