Cycling races are generally won by the fastest guy on the road, with the big sprinters taking out flat races and beanpole climbers winning once things get steep. However, over the weekend at the Tour of Slovenia, two professional cyclists decided who would cross the line first with a quick game of “rock, paper, scissors” as they approached the finish.
Let’s set the scene. Stage 4 of the Tour of Slovenia began in the charming spa town of Laško and was set to cover 156 kilometres and more than 2,400 metres of climbing as they approached the mountain top finale at Velika Planina. After winning Stage 3 ahead of his UAE Team Emirates teammate Rafał Majka, two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar from was in the overall lead of the race and was the favourite to also win Stage 4 as well.
As the Tour of Slovenia is Pogacar’s home race, he’s been known to use the five-day stage race as a training block for the upcoming Tour de France. This year was no different, and with 5 kilometres of climbing till the finish, Pogacar and his teammate Majka lit the rest of the peloton up.
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Without so much as an exerted expression on his face, Pogacar (with some solid assistance pacing from Majka) simply rode away from the other 126 professional cyclists in the race, showing exactly why he’s regarded as one of the best bike riders in the world in 2022. After climbing for 17 minutes, the UAE Team Emirates pair neared the finish line with a 30-second gap, when the unexpected happened.
After giving Majka a high-five for destroying the rest of the field with him, Pogacar held his hand up in a fist and let Majka know how he wanted to decide which of their front wheels should cross the line first. Once Majka understood what Pogacar wanted to do, he obliged the “rock, paper, scissors” and comfortably beat Pogacar with a classic paper-beats-rock play that saw him take the top step of the podium.
Perhaps it was all for show, given they were on the same team, Pogacar was pretty much guaranteed the overall win and taking out the stage would mean more to Majka. But if it wasn’t, Pogacar needs to sort out his “rock, paper, scissors” strategy ahead of the Tour de France in a couple of weeks, because it’s clearly an area he need to improve in.
Check out the full “rock, paper, scissors” play in the video above from the 22:54 mark.
