Giro 2024: Tadej Pogacar now completely in pink

There has been a lot of fuss in recent days about the unusual color combination of rosette wearer Tadej Pogacar. The UAE Emirates rider rode with purple pants on Monday, started with black pants a day later after interference from the UCI and is racing completely in pink today.

It was a striking image during the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. Classification leader Pogacar rode to the finish town of Fossano wearing purple pants. It turned out to be a tribute to the players of Torino FC, who died in an air disaster in 1949. The purple pants are a reference to the garnet red clothing in which this very successful team played their matches.

This rubbed the UCI the wrong way. According to the international cycling union, it was against the rules. Some UCI commissioners were not at all pleased with the unusual color combination of the Slovenian leader. Not only did they call UAE Emirates on Monday evening, according to Cyclingnews they also warned the team that Pogacar would be disqualified if he were to wear the purple pants again in the stage to Andora.

And so the rose jersey wearer rode again on Tuesday in the fourth stage in a normal combination of (black) pants and a (pink) shirt. However, this also turns out to be short-lived, because Pogacar can be admired today in a completely pink outfit.