I was putting on the finishing touches on an article about how INEOS needs to attack today (Stage 15) to be able to take this Giro from Pogačar. I was laying out the tactics that they needed to implement to win. Then Pogi attacked with under 15km to go… My feed cut out right with 2km to go, so I don’t know if he’s going to catch Nairo at the line but wow…

That’s when it all dawned on me, as to what we’ve been seeing for the last 2 weeks. And it is the most incredible thing we’ve seen in a long time. I want to remind you of three key elements of this Giro.

First thing we’ve seen is a much more conservative Pogačar. He hasn’t been attacking every climb, and aside from leading out Molano once or twice, he’s been very calm and collected and taking the seconds where he can. Analysts were buzzing as to whether he’s found religion in efficiency and conserving his energy for the Tour. I shared that line of thinking and was really excited to see it.

Second was his out of character sharpness with the media after stage 12 or 13. Where Pogačar had said that it was a diplomatic decision to let the breakaway win and he didn’t like it. Previous to this, he’s always been positive and rode with emotion but spoke with poise and grace.

Finally the sniffles… The media has been sharing that he’s been coughing, sniffling and looking pale. That’s what brought me to start writing the article of how AG2R and INEOS could defeat Pogačar on today’s stage… (SPOILER) the stage he just won…. that stage.

But anyway… the Pale Pink Panther looked like he was fading as he tends to do at the end of tough Grand Tours. But then he attacked and took the stage adding a HUGE margin.. nearly doubling his lead, behind the rest of the GC contenders.

That’s when it hit me… we are watching Game 5. We are watching Game 5 of the 1997 NBA finals. Most Americans will remember, that’s when Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, had a DEVASTATINGLY strong performance while having diarrhea and vomit-inducing influenza! It’s probably Michael Jordan’s most famous game of his career. Is that what we are seeing from Tadej Pogačar? He looked incredible today, as if the last conservative week (while still leading in the leader’s jersey…) wasn’t a tactic, but rest for Tadej while he recovered from the flu. In time for the queen stage attack and devastate the rest of the GC?

There is still plenty of racing to go… but this was such a solid performance from that Slovenian Unit that I don’t think there is a single team in the Giro that is strong enough to even challenge a sick Pogačar. It’s a shame we saw Visma with such bad luck with the flu this Giro. I was excited to see Uijterbroeks up against Pogi in this race, as well as Koij against Jhonathan Milan but thems the breaks.