Tadej Pogačar's record-breaking 2024 in numbers.
05 December 2024, by Mark van der Linden
Imagine becoming both the World Time Trial Champion and Olympic Champion in the time trial and road race in a single season. A unique achievement. In almost every case, this would automatically qualify you as the 'Rider of the Year.' Almost every case—because in 2024, that honor doesn’t go to Remco Evenepoel. There’s only one cyclist who can claim that title this year: Tadej Pogačar. In this article, we’ll attempt to capture the Slovenian rider’s extraordinary 2024 season with UAE Team Emirates in numbers. Warning: the stats are staggering.
Pogačar started the 2024 season right where he left off in 2023: by winning. And in what fashion. With a successful 81-kilometer solo effort, he claimed victory in Strade Bianche for the second time. It was a sign of things to come in what would turn out to be a stunning season.
© LaPresse - Pogacar wins Strade Bianche after a 81.1 km solo
Pogačar’s 81.1-kilometer solo in the Italian classic marked the longest solo effort at WorldTour level since his teammate Rafał Majka’s victorious ride in Stage 15 of the 2021 Vuelta. And it was ‘just’ the beginning…
After 'only' securing third place in Milano-Sanremo—the Slovenian’s best result in four appearances at the longest Monument on the cycling calendar—Pogačar went on to win (in) every race he participated in until deep into cycling's autumn season.
All of this resulted in a total number of 24 wins on the highest possible race level in a single year. And that alone created a name Pogi among cycling's all time greatest.
Figure 1. Riders with the most wins on the highest* race level.
| # | Year | Rider | #wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1977 | MAERTENS Freddy | 34 |
| 2 | 2024 | POGAČAR Tadej | 24 |
| 3 | 1976 | MAERTENS Freddy | 22 |
| 4 | 1970 | MERCKX Eddy | 20 |
| 5 | 1975 | DE VLAEMINCK Roger | 20 |
* = Highest level UCI-races, major championships and Olympic Games.
Look at the statistic above. Astonishing. With 24 victories at the highest level, Tadej Pogačar ranks second all-time. Surrounding him are legends from a bygone era. It has been a very, very long time since a rider won so many races across such varied terrains. A journalist keen on drawing comparisons might call it Merckx-esque. But perhaps Pogačar’s feats this year even surpassed Merckx at his peak? Either way, it’s apples and oranges... Only Freddy Maertens managed to accumulate more top-level victories during his otherworldly 1977 season. This millennium, no one had managed to surpass 20 major wins—until Pogačar did it this year, with, let's just say it once more: twenty-four...
© A.S.O./Gaëtan Flamme - Tadej Pogačar wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Taking his place among the greatest of the greats: this year, Tadej Pogačar achieved something that only a select few of the all-time legends have managed before—winning both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same season. Who accomplished this feat before him?
Figure 2. Last riders winning Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same season.
| Season | Rider |
|---|---|
| 2024 | POGAČAR Tadej |
| 1998 | PANTANI Marco |
| 1993 | INDURÁIN Miguel |
| 1992 | INDURÁIN Miguel |
| 1987 | ROCHE Stephen |
In addition, Pogačar also claimed the world road race title this year—a feat achieved before him only by Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche.
Figure 3. Last times a rider wins set of races in same season.
- Giro d'Italia
- Giro d'Italia
- Tour de France
- World Championships - Road Race
| # | Rider | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | POGAČAR Tadej | 2024 |
| 2 | ROCHE Stephen | 1987 |
| 1 | MERCKX Eddy | 1974 |
© LaPresse - Tadej Pogacar wins stage 8 of the 2024 Giro
Speaking of the Grand Tours: Tadej Pogačar was unbeatable this season. Unbeatable, although we should acknowledge that his biggest rival from Denmark may not have been at his best. However, the numbers remain unchanged. Pogačar won 6 stages in both the Giro and the Tour, totaling 12 in two Grand Tours. Phenomenal.
Figure 4. Riders with the most individual stage wins in Grand Tours in one year.
| # | Year | Rider | #wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1977 | MAERTENS Freddy | 20 |
| 2 | 2003 | PETACCHI Alessandro | 15 |
| 3 | 2004 | PETACCHI Alessandro | 13 |
| 4 | 2024 | POGAČAR Tadej | 12 |
| 5 | 1973 | MERCKX Eddy | 12 |
This places Pogačar once again alongside a certain Mr. Eddy Merckx on an exclusive list. Ahead of him are only the phenomenal sprint achievements of Alessandro Petacchi in 2003 and 2004, and once again, Maertens’ legendary 1977 season.
From the Grand Tours to all the stage races Tadej Pogačar contested this season. In total, there were three: besides the Giro and the Tour, he also raced the Volta a Catalunya in March. That’s 49 stages in total. In 42 of those stages, he wore the respective leader’s jerseys—white, pink, or yellow. Given that it’s impossible to wear the leader’s jersey in the opening stage, this means Pogačar wore the leader’s jersey in 42 out of the 46 possible stages. That’s 91.3%. And that’s a lot. A whole lot. Take a look below at the statistic that ranks the highest percentages of the past five seasons.
(Only riders with at least 21 stage race appearances are considered.)
Figure 5. Riders with the highest percentage of stages in the leader's jersey since 2020.
| # | Year | Rider | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2024 | POGAČAR Tadej | 91.3 |
| 2 | 2020 | ROGLIČ Primož | 61.9 |
| 3 | 2021 | POGAČAR Tadej | 51.2 |
| 4 | 2021 | ROGLIČ Primož | 43.6 |
| 5 | 2022 | EVENEPOEL Remco | 41.2 |
| 6 | 2020 | ALMEIDA João | 38.5 |
| 7 | 2023 | VINGEGAARD Jonas | 37.7 |
| 8 | 2021 | HAYTER Ethan | 37.0 |
Now, let's go back to the way Tadej Pogačar won his races this year. Because he usually did so in quite impressive fashion.
Figure 6. How Tadej Pogačar on his races in 2024.
| Won how | #Wins | |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | ||
| Sprint of small group | ||
| Time trial | ||
| Sprint à deux | ||
| Sprint of large group | ||
| Other |
Pogačar won 18 of his races with a solo effort. And often, these weren't the shortest solos—just take a look below:
Figure 7. Solo wins by Tadej Pogačar in 2024 sorted by longest solo.
| # | Race | KM solo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Strade Bianche | 81.1 |
| 2 | World Championships ME - Road Race | 51.7 |
| 3 | Il Lombardia | 48.4 |
| 4 | Giro dell'Emilia | 37.8 |
| 5 | Liège-Bastogne-Liège | 34.4 |
| 6 | Giro d'Italia | Stage 20 | 34.1 |
| 7 | Volta Ciclista a Catalunya | Stage 6 | 29.2 |
| 8 | Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | 23.3 |
We're going to elaborate a bit more on points now. First up: the average number of points Tadej Pogačar earned per race day. That was 79.1, unsurprisingly the highest of all riders last season. The Slovenian now tops this list for the third consecutive year in 2024. Even more remarkable is that, over these three years, he has achieved a higher average score per race day each year. His tally this year seems to be on an entirely different level compared to anything we've seen in the past two decades.
Figure 8. Which rider had the most points per raceday over the last seasons?
| Season | Rider | Points p/raceday | Points | Race days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | POGAČAR Tadej | 4588 | 58 | |
| 2023 | POGAČAR Tadej | 3309 | 49 | |
| 2022 | POGAČAR Tadej | 3413 | 54 | |
| 2021 | VAN AERT Wout | 2812.8 | 49 | |
| 2020 | VAN AERT Wout | 1834 | 35 |
In total, Pogačar has 11,655 points on the most recent UCI ranking. That’s an enormous number. The true magnitude of Pogi’s season becomes clear when we consider that the number 2 on the ranking, Remco Evenepoel, earned 6,072.6 points. That’s just over half of Tadej Pogačar’s total. Such a large gap between the number 1 and number 2 is exceptional, if not unique. Let’s compare the numbers 1 and 2 since 2016.
Figure 9. Gap between 1 and 2 in UCI ranking.
| Year | Factor | Nrs. 1&2 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1.92 | POGAČAR vs. EVENEPOEL |
| 2023 | 1.22 | POGAČAR vs. VINGEGAARD |
| 2022 | 1.13 | POGAČAR vs. VAN AERT |
| 2021 | 1.22 | POGAČAR vs. VAN AERT |
| 2020 | 1.34 | ROGLIČ vs. POGAČAR |
| 2019 | 1.3 | ROGLIČ vs. ALAPHILIPPE |
| 2018 | 1.32 | VALVERDE vs. YATES |
| 2017 | 1.12 | VAN AVERMAET vs. FROOME |
| 2016 | 1.38 | SAGAN vs. FROOME |
It is needless to say that Tadej Pogačar also tops the PCS Season ranking for 2024. But he’s not just first in the overall PCS Season ranking—he also finished at the top of the PCS Climbers ranking, the PCS Hills ranking, and the PCS One-Day Races ranking, which underlines his versatility once more. In the PCS GC ranking, he had to settle for second place, as Vingegaard edged him out, having raced two more stage races than Pogačar. In the PCS Time Trial ranking, Pogačar placed fourth, behind pure specialists Evenepoel, Ganna, and Küng.
© A.S.O. / Billy Ceusters - Tadej Pogačar wins stage 21 of the 2024 Tour de France
If we dig a bit deeper into the PCS points data, something else stands out. Tadej Pogačar scored 4,588 PCS points in 2024. That total is more than the combined points of four entire WorldTour teams. In the overall PCS Teams ranking, if Pogačar were to form a team by himself, he would have finished 17th. According to the UCI Team ranking, based on the best 20 riders per team, he would even rank 12th. A position that, for next season, would be more than enough for a WorldTour license. Hmmm. Team Pogačar—how does that sound?
Figure 10. If Tadej Pogačar were a team on his own, where would he rank in the PCS teams ranking this season?
| # | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Bahrain - Victorious (WT) | 4934 | |
| 13 | Team Jayco AlUla (WT) | 4808 | |
| 14 | EF Education - EasyPost (WT) | 4743 | |
| 15 | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL (WT) | 4704 | |
| 16 | Movistar Team (WT) | 4686 | |
| 17 | POGAČAR Tadej | 4588 | |
| 18 | Uno-X Mobility (PRT) | 4433 | |
| 19 | Intermarché - Wanty (WT) | 4414 | |
| 20 | Arkéa - B&B Hotels (WT) | 4261 | |
| 21 | Cofidis (WT) | 3766 | |
| 22 | Tudor Pro Cycling Team (PRT) | 3400 |
Speaking of rankings, a small side-step: Tadej Pogačar was incredibly important for his team, UAE Team Emirates, but interestingly, the team would have still achieved the most victories and the most UCI points of any team even without Pogačar. So, the team is more than just its strongest link...
At the same time, we see that UAE Team Emirates is not the professional team most reliant on its top scorer (Pogačar), even with him earning so many more points than the rest. This seems like a healthy sign for the team as a whole.
Figure 11. Which teams rely most on 1 rider?
show moreThat Tadej Pogačar stood head and shoulders above the rest this year was also evident to you, the followers of our PCS LiveStats and PCS Game. Among all riders, he received by far the most stars in the PCS Game—over 150,000 more than his compatriot Primož Roglič and more than twice as many as Jasper Philipsen and other top sprinters.
Figure 12. Which rider received most stars in the PCS game this season?
| # | Rider | Total stars | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | ||
| 2 | ROGLIČ Primož | ||
| 3 | EVENEPOEL Remco | ||
| 4 | PHILIPSEN Jasper | ||
| 5 | VOLLERING Demi | ||
| 6 | KOPECKY Lotte | ||
| 7 | MILAN Jonathan | ||
| 8 | WIEBES Lorena |
Looking at it the other way around, of the 25 races Tadej Pogačar won, there were several where almost everyone expected him to come out on top. The World Championships and Il Lombardia, for instance, where 97.5% and 98.8% of you included the Slovenian in your team, respectively. But even in the races where Pogačar’s victory was least expected, nearly 50%—half of you—still seriously considered him a contender. It’s almost no longer surprising when Pogačar wins...
Figure 13. Least expected victories for Tadej Pogačar in 2024.
show moreTadej Pogačar’s immense popularity is also evident in the number of profile views he garnered this year. He had the most profile views in a single day, the largest increase in total profile views, and the most profile views of any rider in a single year—ever.
Figure 14. Riders with the most profile hits on 1 day this season.
| # | Rider | Hits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | 79563 |
| 2 | BEHRENS Niklas | 60773 |
| 3 | DREGE André | 57735 |
| 4 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | 49769 |
| 5 | VAN DEN BROEK Frank | 49126 |
Figure 15. Riders this season with the highest profile views increase compared to previous year.
| # | Rider | Last year | This year | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | 1622k | 3010k | ▲1387917 |
| 2 | DEL TORO Isaac | 84k | 570k | ▲486743 |
| 3 | PITHIE Laurence | 65k | 447k | ▲382549 |
| 4 | HIRSCHI Marc | 314k | 694k | ▲380235 |
| 5 | VAN GILS Maxim | 228k | 601k | ▲373038 |
Figure 16. Most profile views this season
| # | Rider | Total profile views |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | |
| 2 | EVENEPOEL Remco | |
| 3 | VAN DER POEL Mathieu | |
| 4 | VAN AERT Wout | |
| 5 | ROGLIČ Primož |
Interestingly, Tadej Pogačar was also the most mentioned rider in LiveStats this year. Whether it was because of his attacking style or his long solo efforts that provided plenty of time to talk about him, he consistently captured the spotlight.
Figure 17. Most mentioned riders in LiveStats reporting this season.
| # | Rider | Times mentioned | Ø per race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | POGAČAR Tadej | 1677 | 8.1 |
| 2 | EVENEPOEL Remco | 1288 | 6.3 |
| 3 | ROGLIČ Primož | 1200 | 6.9 |
| 4 | VAN AERT Wout | 1102 | 6.2 |
| 5 | PEDERSEN Mads | 1022 | 5.2 |
If you’ve made it this far into the article and still haven’t had your fill of the staggering numbers, here’s your reward: two more stats to savor.
The first: which riders managed to keep up with Tadej Pogačar the best over the course of the entire season? In other words, which riders lost the least amount of time per race/stage on this year’s dominant force? The results might surprise you. Note: Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard are excluded from this list because only riders with 25 or more race days alongside Pogačar were considered. This ensures that riders who only competed in one Grand Tour with the master don’t skew the data.
Figure 18. Which riders lost the least time on average to Tadej Pogačar over the entire 2024 season?
| # | Rider | Avg. loss per stage/race | #Races together |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LANDA Mikel | 0:47 | 28 |
| 2 | ALMEIDA João* | 0:56 | 29 |
| 3 | TIBERI Antonio | 1:14 | 30 |
| 4 | JORGENSON Matteo | 1:21 | 26 |
| 5 | MARTÍNEZ Daniel Felipe | 1:37 | 25 |
| 6 | RUBIO Einer | 1:45 | 31 |
| 7 | FORTUNATO Lorenzo | 1:50 | 32 |
| 8 | CICCONE Giulio | 1:56 | 25 |
Mikel Landa, then! The man who seems to have rediscovered his peak form in the shadow of Remco Evenepoel tops the list, closely followed by Pogačar’s teammate João Almeida. Antonio Tiberi also made determined and often successful efforts to stay close to Pogačar throughout the season.
And finally, for those eager to settle the debate: was Tadej Pogačar’s 2024 season the greatest ever, and can he already be compared to Eddy Merckx? Looking at his PCS All-Time Ranking points, Pogačar scored 420—an extraordinary tally, but not a record. In 1972, Eddy Merckx accumulated 492 points, winning races like Milano-Sanremo, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Flèche Wallonne, the Tour, the Giro, and Lombardia, among others.
By the numbers, Pogačar hasn’t yet surpassed Merckx. However, his place among the all-time legends is indisputable. And that, at the age of 26, is cra-zy.
Figure 19. Most phenomenal seasons measured in all time ranking points.
| # | Season | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1972 | MERCKX Eddy | |
| 2 | 2024 | POGAČAR Tadej | |
| 3 | 1977 | MAERTENS Freddy | |
| 4 | 1995 | JALABERT Laurent | |
| 5 | 1984 | KELLY Sean | |
| 6 | 1979 | HINAULT Bernard | |
| 7 | 1975 | DE VLAEMINCK Roger | |
| 8 | 1978 | MOSER Francesco | |
| 9 | 1979 | SARONNI Giuseppe | |
| 10 | 1993 | FONDRIEST Maurizio |
With all this, Tadej Pogačar earned the (joint) longest contract in the history of professional cycling this fall. UAE Team Emirates secured the talents of the Slovenian until 2030. By then, we’ll know whether he will go down in history as cycling's 'G.O.A.T.'.
Figure 20. Riders with longest contracts.
| Rider | Team | Contract until |
|---|---|---|
| POGAČAR Tadej | UAE Team Emirates | 2030 |
| TORRES Pablo | UAE Team Emirates | 2030 |
| DEL TORO Isaac | UAE Team Emirates | 2029 |
| VAN DER POEL Mathieu | Alpecin - Deceuninck | 2028 |
| ABRAHAMSEN Jonas | Uno-X Mobility | 2028 |
| WILLIAMS Stephen | Israel - Premier Tech | 2028 |
| VINGEGAARD Jonas | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 2028 |
| GEE Derek | Israel - Premier Tech | 2028 |
Thumbnail © LaPresse - Pogačar wins stage 20 of the Giro 2024.
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