Stat Attack: 8 records to keep Tadej Pogačar from boredom at the Giro d'Italia

Everyone knows Tadej Pogačar will win the 2024 Giro d’Italia. Nothing ever goes wrong in cycling. Nobody ever crashes or gets ill. The strongest rider on the start list always wins the race.

Pogačar knows all this better than anyone. The Slovenian superstar’s only real obstacle for the duration of the three weeks will be boredom.

Once he takes the pink jersey on the opening day and has already wrapped up several stage wins and the general classification before we’ve reached the second week, how will Pog possibly keep himself interested and occupied for the remainder of May?

Well I am here to give him some focus, to provide for him some excitement he can add to his otherwise joyless winning rampage.

Here are eight Giro records which are available for him to break during his three-week cycling holiday in Italy.

• Read more: A beginner’s guide to the Giro d’Italia

Most stage wins in a single Giro - 12

This record currently belongs to Alfredo Binda, who set it in 1927. There were only 15 stages in the entire race back then, so Binda did quite well that year. There are 21 stages in the 2024 Giro, so there is massive margin for error for Pogačar. This should be an easy one.

Consecutive stage wins - 8

Again, a record that belongs to the legendary Alfredo Binda. In 1927, he egregiously allowed freeloaders to interrupt his stage winning streaks which meant six in a row was the best he could manage. He had learned his lesson by 1929. Despite allowing the ageing Gaetano Belloni to win the opening stage (Belloni smashed the record at the time for becoming the oldest ever Giro stage winner at the age of 36. Age is a real flaw for Pogačar and something he really needs to work on if he is to challenge these types of records in future), Binda won the following eight stages to set the record which has stood for nearly 100 years. This one will require focus, but if Pogačar is serious, he could have this one checked off before the first rest day.

Most stage wins of all time - 42

It’s probably harsh to include a record that Pogačar cannot possibly break in this edition of the Giro. It took Mario Cipollini 13 editions to set this benchmark. But again, if Pogačar is really taking his duties seriously as the best cyclist in the world - by the time he gets to Rome, he could be in a position to at least equal Cipollini’s record next year.

Fastest ever road stage - 51.23km/h

The 2024 season so far has seen speed records being obliterated. Pogačar will be up against the winner of Stage 7 of the October Giro in 2020, Arnaud Demare if he wants to set the record for the fastest ever road stage. This was over a distance of 143km. It will be fascinating to see if Pog tries to break this record by breaking away alone or if he will indulge the rest of the bunch by dragging them along with him.

Fastest ever time trial - 58.874km/h

Rik Verbrugghe set this record in the prologue time trial at the 2001 Giro. Verbrugghe only had to maintain this speed for 7km. The two time trials on the menu for Pogačar are both over 30km long. Although if he wants to challenge himself, he should really be aiming to break this fastest speed on one of the road stages to put this record beyond doubt.

Longest solo breakaway - 223km

There is an opportunity for Pogačar to streamline some of these efforts by combining them. While he tries to break the fastest stage record he could consider doing it on his own on the longest stage - thereby also setting the record for the longest successful solo breakaway in Giro history. This currently stands at 223km, set by Nino Assirelli on Stage 15 in 1953. This is going to be a tricky one for Pogačar this year because 223km is longer than the longest stage of the race. The closest he can get is the 220km offered up by Stage 15 to Livigno. Perhaps if he attacks in the neutralised zone he can make up the extra kilometres.

Winner of all three jerseys

Eddy Merckx did manage to win the Giro overall, the points classification and the mountains classification in 1968, his first Grand Tour victory. However, Merckx made the mistake of doing this before an actual jersey was introduced for the mountains prize. It was only a prize, not an actual jersey. It only became a jersey in 1974. Which means when Pogačar wins everything on offer he will technically become the first to win all three jerseys at the Giro (although Pog has made his own mistake here by becoming too old to also win the young rider’s classification - his first Grand Tour where he will no longer be eligible).

Biggest winning margin - 1h57m26s

Set by Alfonso Calzolari in 1914 when he beat Peirino Albini into second place. This is widely considered to have been the toughest Grand Tour of all time given the length of the stages, the treachery of the route and the apocalyptic weather throughout. The long term weather forecast for Italy in May is fine, so Pogačar should have no excuses for this one.

What would be exciting...

Focusing on these eight tasks should be more than enough to keep Pogačar occupied for three weeks. The rest of us can sit back happy in the knowledge that we are witnessing greatness. And maybe, if he gets really really bored, he could try and beat Fiorenzo Magni’s record of winning the Giro with the smallest winning margin, just 11 seconds in 1948. Now that would be exciting.

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the history of the race to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.