Tadej Pogacar said he felt "super happy" after putting the finishing touches to a second successive Tour de France triumph.
The 22-year-old Slovenian had led the general classification from stage eight, and 15 days down the road in Paris he wrapped up a supremely impressive performance.
As well as the top prize, Pogacar also collected the king of the mountain and young rider honours, and it is hard to imagine there not being abundant further success to come over the next decade.
Pogacar spoke on the podium after his win, saying: "Last year I should have written a speech for my first Tour de France victory but I didn't know how to write it.
"So also this year I said, 'OK, I'm going to speak from the heart and say what I have to say'.
"Thank you everybody that came here to support us cyclists through all the three weeks. To the French public and all fans of cycling from the whole world, it is so fantastic racing on the amazing parcours of the Tour this year."
He thanked his team, UAE Team Emirates, for helping him achieve the goals they set out to reach.
"I cannot describe how happy I am to be part of this family, it melts my heart," Pogacar said.
"They were with me every day of the whole year preparing for the Tour. I'm super happy and proud to be part of this team on this journey.
"I'm not going to cry. Thank you everybody. It was a difficult year with COVID and I really hope next year we come here without the masks.
"Of course I cannot forget my family, standing beside me, and my girlfriend and my friends. I hope I've told enough but I'm super happy. Thank you everybody."
Pogacar said it was "time for celebration".
"I will remain motivated in the coming years, but what come next will come next… I’m not stressed about it," Pogacar said, quoted on the Tour's official website.
"It's quite different. Last year, I felt strong, incredible emotions. This year I'm again here, standing atop the podium, but the feelings are quite different."
Tour great Eddy Merckx won the general classification five times from 1969 to 1974, and had such a ruthlessness he was nicknamed 'The Cannibal'.
Pogacar does not want to be compared to legends of the sport, insisting he should be allowed to plot his own career path.
"The new Cannibal? I don't like to compare myself to other riders," he said. "Each rider has his own style and personality. Every rider is unique. I don't think there is anything left. I just enjoy life, I work hard, I love cycling – and those are the most important things."
Pogacar did not quite secure a sweep of the Tour honours, with the green jersey – the points classification that rewards the best sprinters – going to 36-year-old Deceuninck-QuickStep star Mark Cavendish.
Cavendish's four stage victories took him level with the record of 34 that Merckx had owned exclusively for over 40 years.
"Ten years later, again with the green jersey, it's fantastic, it feels like getting younger," Cavendish said. "I'm back. It's a dream."
Llori Sharpe claims historic gold for Jamaica at the 2024 Elite Caribbean Cycling Championships
Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) donates JMD$1 million to Jamaica Cycling Federation for equipment upgrade
The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has made a significant contribution to the development of cycling in Jamaica by donating JMD$1 million to the Jamaica Cycling Federation. The grant, aimed at boosting the sport’s progress, was used to purchase vital racing and training equipment, including state-of-the-art smart trainers.
The Jamaica Cycling Federation expressed its gratitude for the financial assistance, highlighting the importance of this investment in elevating the sport’s standards. Smart trainers have become increasingly popular in cycling programs worldwide due to their advanced capabilities, which are integral to modern training methods.
“These smart trainers are game changers,” said a spokesperson for the Federation. “They allow riders and coaches to approach training in a more scientific manner, offering features like measuring and tracking energy output, simulating race routes, and even enabling coaches to remotely access training data.”
This technological upgrade not only enhances training efficiency but also opens up new possibilities for coaches to closely monitor and optimize athletes' performance. The equipment's ability to simulate real-world racing conditions and provide accurate data on rider performance will help Jamaica’s cyclists prepare for international competition with cutting-edge tools.
The JOA's donation represents its ongoing commitment to supporting the development of underrepresented sports in Jamaica. “This contribution from the JOA is truly appreciated and confirms the continued support for the growth and development of sports like cycling,” the Federation said.
The equipment is expected to help Jamaica’s cyclists better prepare for regional and international competitions, as the nation continues to push for excellence across various sporting disciplines.
Dream on: Paul urges young T&T cyclists to keep pushing for Olympic feat as 2028 LA Games in sight
While looking ahead to possibly making another Olympic Games appearance in 2028 in Los Angeles, Trinidad and Tobago’s cycling stalwart, Nicholas Paul, is also hopeful that he will be able to share that occasion with a few more riders from the twin island republic.
Well aware of the depth of the talent that Trinidad and Tobago possesses, Paul, who relished a second-consecutive Olympic Games appearance at the just-concluded Paris showpiece, believes it is very much possible for those cyclists to also achieve their dreams of competing at the global multi-sport event.
The decorated Paul, who has numerous championship medals under his belt, and Kwesi Browne represented Trinidad and Tobago with much gusto and pride in Paris, as they gave their all on the track in both the sprint and keirin events, though both failed to make the finals.
“Team sprint, sprint, Keirin, team pursuit, I just want as many cyclists as possible to be able to make it on the Olympic stage,” Paul told the Express.
“It’s a big, big, big pool of talented young cyclists coming up. I have been trying to be a good role model for them, to let them know that they can come out here because the dream is possible. You just have to work hard. We can make a good driving force from juniors straight up to the elite,” he added.
Having contested both the Sprint and Keirin quarterfinals in Paris, Paul expressed an even deeper desire to improve his standards going forward, especially after watching Australian Matthew Richardson and Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen erase his previous world record of 9.100 in the flying 200 metres.
Lavreysen stopped the clock at 9.088 seconds, mere minutes after Richardson clocked 9.091 seconds.
“It (the quarterfinals) was not the outcome I wanted, but you live, you learn, and you come again. But I’m happy for Harrie. That was a great ride, and at the same time, it’s giving me more hunger to get back on that length to be able to break the world record and get that fast again,” Paul noted.
However, for now, the 25-year-old pointed out that the focus is on rest and recovery ahead of his next major assignment, the UCI Track World Championships scheduled for October 16-20 in Denmark.
“I think I’ll back off a bit, have a bit of a rest, and then go into Worlds. I’m really hungry, but at the same time, the build was until Paris. It was a bit stressful, so I have to ease off and then go into Worlds with as much form as possible,” Paul said.
On that note, Paul also expressed gratitude for the support from Trinidad and Tobago’s sporting enthusiasts, though some comments were not welcoming of the athletes’ overall efforts in Paris.
“I never think about the negatives because we could only work with the positives, and we have a lot of positives to work with. Moving forward, us athletes should come together and try to make Trinidad and Tobago better as a whole. Athletics, cycling, and every sport; to raise the level not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but in the Caribbean,” he ended.
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