Belgian newspaper refers to Women’s WorldTour cyclist Urška Žigart as “Pogačar’s girlfriend”
The Jayco AlUla rider almost won at the Tour de Suisse Women
Photo by:
Team Jayco AlUla
Urška Žigart came agonizingly close to winning Stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse women on Monday, only to be referred to as “Pogačar’s girlfriend” afterwards.
The Slovenian cyclist, 26, launched a fierce assault on her breakaway companions with just 13 km to go and looked like she might snag the win, until the peloton caught her with less than 100 m to go. The victorious moment instead belonged to Eleonora Gasparrini, the Italian sprinter from UAE Team ADQ.
But the drama didn’t end at the finish line. The coverage from Het Nieuwsblad, the same newspaper that sponsors a famous race in the spring, had a curious take on the rider.
“Girlfriend of Pogacar stranded 75 (!) meters from the finish in Switzerland, Eleonora Gasparrini wins the sprint and puts an end to SD Worx’s winning streak,” read the headline.
As you can imagine, people were not thrilled at the cyclist being reduced from a fellow pro cyclist, to simply a partner of one.
Tour de Suisse Women Stage 3: Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini wins, Canada’s Olivia Baril 12th
José Been, the GCN commentator, summed it up best with her tweet. “Isn’t it great when a female athlete who almost wins her first UCI world tour race loses her own name and only goes by “girlfriend of Pogačar”?
After the race, the Slovenian said that she had hoped to win, but will try again.”It was a headwind all the time, which completely drained me,” she said in a post-race interview on her team’s Twitter account. “All in all I see it as a good attempt, there will be more opportunities. It was tough enough, but after such a hot day it only got harder.”
Pog himself also praised the rider’s performance on his Instagram story. “Inspiration, my hero Urška Žigart. Couldn’t be more proud,” he posted.
The Tour de Suisse finishes up today with the fourth and final stage. Marlen Reusser
(Team SD Worx) leads the overall, and Olivia Baril (UAE Team ADQ) sits in tenth.
Isn’t it great when a female athlete who almost wins her first UCI world tour race loses her own name and only goes by “girlfriend of Pogačar”?
— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) June 19, 2023
