From the Pogačar Craze to the Promotion of Road Cycling in Taiwan: What Star Power Can Bring, and What We Still Lack

After the 2026 Tour de France concluded, Taiwan’s cycling community was noticeably livelier for a while. Tadej Pogačar claimed his fifth career Tour de France overall title, matching Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, and Indurain to become the fifth rider in history with five wins; in the same year he also took his first Milan-San Remo victory, a third Tour of Flanders title, and a fourth Liège-Bastogne-Liège, bringing his Monument tally to 13, the second most in history.

Performances at this level spill over into a “craze.” The question is: What can a craze leave behind for road cycling in Taiwan? And what does it expose about what we’re still missing?

1. Does the star effect actually work? Yes, but only to a limited extent.

Let’s start with what works.

1.1 It creates “a reason to get started”

Most people don’t start riding because they read a training science paper; they start because of an image. On Stage 19 of the 2026 Tour de France, Pogačar was timed at 35 minutes 27 seconds on Alpe d’Huez by Reuters, with reports calling it a record and more than a minute faster than Marco Pantani’s old mark—numbers like that get shared, and someone will ask “how long does it take to ride Wuling.”

The quality of the initial motivation doesn’t matter; getting started itself matters. Whether people stay depends on the environment.

1.2 It brings in the narrative that “a small country can produce top riders”

Pogačar comes from Slovenia, a country with a small population. He won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2018, and in 2019, at age 20, won the overall title at the Tour of California, becoming the youngest UCI WorldTour overall winner in history.

This path is relevant for Taiwan: Youth racing is a ladder to the pros, not an optional accessory.

1.3 It drives an entire commercial chain

His partners span frames (Colnago), cycling shoes (DMT), helmets (MET), tires (Continental), sports nutrition (Enervit), the virtual riding platform (MyWhoosh), and the Slovenian Tourist Board. In 2025 his income was reported by outlets such as BikeRadar and Velo at around €12 million, and he was nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year twice (2025, 2026).

Note the last item: A national tourism body uses a top rider as a vehicle for tourism promotion. Taiwan is a hub for the cycling industry, yet rarely packages “riding” into a complete international tourism narrative—that’s a clear gap.

1.4 It only works with “rivals”

A single star can’t sustain the long-term heat of a sport; rivalry can. Pogačar lost to Jonas Vingegaard in both 2022 and 2023; in one-day races he has been locked in a long battle with Mathieu van der Poel (Monuments 13 to 8, with both far ahead of other active riders); in 2026 he lost Paris-Roubaix to Wout van Aert and beat Tom Pidcock by only half a wheel at Milan-San Remo. Former Tour de France winner Óscar Pereiro even described his rivalry with van der Poel as the best since the 1990s.

What Taiwan needs is not one hero, but a group of riders in competition with one another.

2. What Taiwan is still missing

The following is compiled from observations of actual riding and racing, without accusing any specific organization, but rather laying out the “gaps” clearly.

The road environment is the most fundamental item

This has to come first. Taiwan’s climbing routes are of high quality—Provincial Highway 14A to Wuling is the highest point on Taiwan’s road network (approximately 3,275 meters above sea level), and the Beiyi Highway, Yangjin P-shaped Road, Fengguizui, Datun Mountain, and County Road 106 each have their own character. But all of them are open roads.

This means two things:

1. The first priority for promotion should be safety, not speed. No form of road racing should happen on public roads; if you want to race the clock, sign up for an official event with traffic controls.
2. The ceiling for the sport’s growth is determined by whether “families think cycling is dangerous.” Whether right-of-way and driver education are done well determines whether the population can stay long-term more than holding a few more events.

The gap in the race system

A pro rider’s development curve needs stages built layer by layer. Pogačar had already built results in international youth racing before age 20, and only then entered the WorldTour. If Taiwan has only a few large mass-participation events and lacks a regularized system of graded competition, talented riders will struggle to be seen systematically.

This can’t be fixed in the short term, but the direction is clear: Only with a sustainable season can there be sustainable riders.

3. Three practical things for everyday riders

The craze will fade, but what individuals can do will not.

1. Make safe riding a community consensus. Ride single file in group rides, use hand signals, don’t chase on descents, don’t cut corners across double yellow lines. Your example has far more influence on newcomers than any campaign.
2. Bring one newcomer into the sport. Accompanying someone once to Fengguizui or the riverside is more effective than recommending ten videos. What beginners need most is someone to tell them “this is normal.”
3. Support local races and bike shops. If races can be held and shops can survive, the sport has infrastructure.

Summary

As of 2026, Pogačar still has unfinished goals—a Paris-Roubaix title, a Vuelta a España overall title, an Olympic gold medal. Even a five-time winner is still missing several pieces, which is actually a healthy metaphor: Taiwan’s road cycling doesn’t need to rush to declare itself mature. Mark out the gaps one by one, and start filling the most fundamental one—road safety.

A star brings a door; whether you walk through it depends on whether there’s a path behind it.

Related Reading

• From Two Laureus Nominations to Mainstream Visibility in Road Cycling, and Taiwan’s Promotion Challenges
• The Fifth Member of the Five-Win Club: Pogačar’s 2026 Triumph, Standing Alongside Four Legends at the Tour de France
• From “Mini Tour” Champion to the Top of the Pros: Pogačar and the Lessons of the Tour de l’Avenir
• A Country of Two Million, Producing the World’s Strongest Rider: What Taiwan Can Learn from Pogačar’s Small-Nation System