Pogi-Challenge: Tadej Pogačar beaten at his own event

The Pogi Challenge event organised by Tadej Pogačar provided a big surprise on Sunday. Just one day after his fifth victory in the Tour of Lombardy, Pogačar competed against 1189 cyclists in his own challenge. In the mountain time trial on Pogačar's old local mountain Krvavec, Briton Andrew Feather was the only rider to reach the summit ahead of the cycling superstar. The money raised from the event will go to the cancer foundation set up by Pogačar.

The format

The riders set off on the course in two short stages. From the hippodrome in Komenda, the route covered 9.1 kilometres to the foot of Krvavec mountain. The second stage led over 14.9 kilometres to the summit of Krvavec and had an average gradient of 7.6 per cent. The 1189 metres in altitude to be climbed was also the number of participants. While the first stage was ridden in a relaxed atmosphere and in groups, the second section was a real battle. The participants started the mountain time trial staggered, while Tadej Pogačar only started pedalling a few minutes later. If a rider reaches the finish line before Pogačar, that person is deemed the winner of the Pogi Challenge.

The Pogi Challenge

Led by his team-mate Domen Novak, also from Slovenia, Pogačar collected one person after the other. By the finish on Krvavec, he had caught up with all but one of the amateur riders. With a time of 44:15 minutes, Briton Andrew Feather took significantly longer than Pogačar, who reached the finish in 40:44 minutes, but Feather won according to the rules of the format, according to which all those who reach the summit before the Slovenian are considered winners. The winner of the Pogi Challenge was honoured accordingly at the finish.

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Teasing and the future of the Pogi Challenge

On the way, Pogačar couldn't resist a little jibe at his rival Remco Evenepoel. A fan riding in the Belgian national team jersey commented on the Slovenian with the words "Remco, Remco, go!".

Tadej Pogačar had already spoken favourably before the event and is hoping for a repeat. The Pogi Challenge should therefore become a tradition and be held every year.