The Fauves burst onto the art scene in France in the early 20th century, bold with colour and wild brush strokes, the ‘wild beasts’ of the art world. In André Derain, Albert Marquet, Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy, among others, there were painters willing to push boundaries, go all out.
Their works are full of vibrant colour and abstract shapes, asking much of the viewers, many of whom were taken aback. The movement didn’t last long, just 1905-1908, but its leaders continued to work, but in a more softened style, particularly Marquet and Dufy, a more mature version of their wild selves.
Tadej Pogačar burst onto the Tour de France scene in 2020, bold with attacking panache, pushing possibilities. He won that first race, did it again in 2021, but was then set back by Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike in 2022 and 2023. 2024 was confirmation that he was back on top, but his fourth Tour crown, this year, came differently. There was still the colour and the wild brush strokes, but there was also maturity, and managing the lead carefully in the final week. This was not the old Pogačar. He is done with Fauvism, moving instead onto a more softened method.
“We were in the lead, we had quite a big gap so we were comfortable in yellow,” the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider said in his post-race press conference. “I was a bit tired in the last week to be honest, but for now I don’t want to speak about what went wrong, now I want to enjoy this yellow jersey in Paris.”
The first two weeks passed with Pogačar dominant, four stage wins, but also with the Slovenian not putting too much energy in, not tiring himself needlessly. The victory in Mûr-de-Bretagne on stage seven, for example, was a last-minute sprint, not a huge attack which could have unbalanced his title charge.
This is a new, 26-year-old Pogačar. Not believing the hype too much: “When you have such a strong opponent, not just Jonas, everyone, you never know what is coming next day, you always have some doubts. It helps to have a strong team around you, to have such support. Even if you have doubts, the atmosphere can clear them away.
“You can go to races motivated, energised, and want to give it all. If you give it all on the road you don’t have anything to regret. You don’t need to doubt yourself. [But] there’s always a bit of doubt.”
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This is a Pogačar who doesn’t know what his next race will be, let alone if he wants to win them all. This has become apparent in the last week, as a tired Slovenian has expressed question marks about his future. It is understandable, so much expression on the canvas that is the road that could lead to exhaustion.
“I’m at this point in my career that if I do burnout I would be happy with what I achieved,” he said. “To be serious, burnouts happen in sport, in a lot of sport, mental and physical burnout. We do train a lot, I think cyclists are a bit too obsessed with training, and we always try our hardest. Everyone wants to train more and more.
“You see some riders have fatigue too early in the season, and the team needs you to race, race, race, and you keep going in this circle and you never recover. Then you get to October and finally a break, then in December you do it all again. Burnouts happen all the time, and it could happen to me as well.”
The Vuelta a España was supposed to be next, but who know: “Anything is possible, but right now I’m not thinking about any other race. It’s getting late and I don’t want to think about other races right now. We can talk about the Giro, Vuelta in the future.”
For now, he just wants to celebrate and get back to his team bus. A fourth Tour de France title has been a lot: “It’s not the goal to win five Tours, and right now I have no clear goals. Maybe the World Championships this year, maybe Lombardia, but no other clear goals. I will enjoy the moment, and then I’ll think about my next goals quite soon.”
Pogačar burst onto the scene, full of life and energy, winning everything. He is still doing that, animating the final stage of the Tour de France like no other yellow jersey of his generation, and dominating the race like few before. However, there is maturity, there is exhaustion, and the early spirit could not last. The new Pogačar could go on to win more Tours, but that is not a conversation for now. Now, he just wants to have a break. It’s only fair.
How long that break is, we don’t know. Is it too early to consider a Pogačar-less world? The Fauves left the scene after just three years. Asked about a possible Slovenian Grand Départ of the Tour in 2029, he gave a revealing answer: “As a Slovenian, it is hard to believe that it is true. If I’m a rider, or not a rider, I will probably be there. It’s exciting news for us, and I’m really looking forward to that. I think it’s going to be beautiful.”
If he’s a rider, if he’s not a rider. Perhaps he won’t be in four years. Fauvism burnt bright and then faded – perhaps Tadej Pogac
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