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The Big Four
Tadej Pogačar (left) holding Paris-Nice trophy above his head, Jonas Vingegaard (right) holding flowers.
Tadej Pogačar (left) and Jonas Vingegaard (right)
Primož Roglič wearing pink Giro d'Italia leader's jersey.
Primož Roglič
Remco Evenepoel wearing UCI world champion's jersey with rainbow bands.
Remco Evenepoel

The Big Four is a nickname for the quartet of professional cyclists Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Remco Evenepoel, who dominated stage races in road cycling in the 2020s, particularly at the Grand Tours.[a] Starting with the 2019 Vuelta a España, the four riders have collectively won 12 of 17 Grand Tours, along with many other major stage races.[3] Cycling journalists have described the four as having a "lockdown" on winning cycling's biggest races.[1]

The nickname gained prominence in 2024, particularly in the coverage of the 2024 Tour de France, where all four riders competed. The term reflects the perception that the Big Four are the primary favorites for Grand Tour competition in cycling in the 2020s;[3][10] relatedly, the Big Four have won every Vélo d'Or, one of cycling's highest individual awards, from 2020 through 2024, with each rider winning at least once (Pogačar won in 2021 and 2024).[11][12]

Origin

[edit]

"cycling’s Big Four, the quartet of generational talents winning pretty much every Grand Tour"

Chris Marshall-Bell, writing for Rouleur.[10]

The term Big Four or Big 4 was used in cycling media to refer to the quartet in late 2023 and 2024, such as in forecasts for the 2024 Tour de France, where all four riders were expected to compete.[13][14] A notable early reference came in a January preview for the Tour by Barry Ryan of CyclingNews, who noted "the 2024 Tour has four podium favourites" and quoted Rolf Aldag, directeur sportif for Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe, asking: "Wow, when are we going to see the Big Four clashing together with Primož, Jonas, Remco and Tadej?"[15] In June, as the Tour approached, James Shrubsall of Cycling Weekly acknowledged the term's recent use, referencing "the much-talked about 'Big Four'" in his preview and identifying the four riders as leading contenders.[16]

During the race, the term became shorthand to refer to this group of four leading contenders. Media coverage referenced the group directly, for example reporting that Roglič "was the only one of the ‘Big 4’ GC contenders to lose time" on stage 2,[17] or framing analysis around the grouping: "How are the ‘Big Four’ faring heading into the final week[?]"[18]

Following the Tour, where Pogačar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel comprised the final podium, usage of the nickname persisted. During coverage of the subsequent 2024 Vuelta a España, journalists described the race as much more open due to the absence of three members of the Big Four.[19] Roglič, the sole member competing, won the general classification along with three stage victories.[20]

During the 2025 season, usage of the term continued. Cycling journalists frequently referenced the perceived gap between these four riders and other contenders for Grand Tours.[10][21] Some analyses have suggested that the Big Four have a "stranglehold on the Grand Tours", and that any "second tier" rider outside the group will need a "twist of fate" to win.[1] Even in races without any Big Four members present, such as the 2025 edition of Tirreno–Adriatico, the term was often used in framing the contenders.[22] All members of the Big Four are expected to ride in the 2025 Tour de France, and are widely considered to be the main pre-race favorites for the general classification.[23][24][25][26]

Members

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Primož Roglič

[edit]
Main article: Primož Roglič

Primož Roglič (born 1989) is a Slovenian cyclist who rides for Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe. Roglič has been called the original member of the Big Four, as he won his first Grand Tour at the 2019 Vuelta a España, the same year the other three members debuted at the UCI WorldTour level.[27] Roglič is significantly older than the other Big Four members, born seven years before the second oldest member Vingegaard. Roglič has won five Grand Tours (four Vuelta, one Giro), and finished second at the Tour in 2020, famously losing the lead to Pogačar on the penultimate stage.[20]

Tadej Pogačar

[edit]
Main article: Tadej Pogačar

Tadej Pogačar (born 1998) is a Slovenian cyclist who rides for UAE Team Emirates XRG. Pogačar won his first Tour de France in 2020 at age 21, becoming the second youngest winner in the race's history. He is widely regarded for his versaility, winning four Grand Tours (three Tour, one Giro), nine one-day Monuments, and the 2024 UCI World Championship road race. His 2024 season is considered among the greatest in the history of cycling, as he completed the Triple Crown of Cycling along with two Monument wins.[28]

Jonas Vingegaard

[edit]
Main article: Jonas Vingegaard

Jonas Vingegaard (born 1996) is a Danish cyclist who rides for Visma–Lease a Bike. Vingegaard started his professional career as a domestique for Roglič, before rising to prominence with a second place finish at the 2021 Tour de France. He then won the next two editions of the Tour de France, beating Pogačar twice.[29] His rivalry with Pogačar is considered to be one of the greatest in cycling's history,[30] and some analysts have argued that Vingegaard and Pogačar should be considered "the Big Two" within the four members, thanks to their achievements in the Tour.[18]

Remco Evenepoel

[edit]
Main article: Remco Evenepoel

Remco Evenepoel (born 2000) is a Belgian cyclist who rides for Soudal–Quick-Step. Evenepoel dominated at the junior ranks, before breaking out in the 2022 season, where he won the Vuelta a España as well as the World Championship road race. He is also a renowned time trialist, winning an Olympic gold medal in 2024, and world championships in 2023 and 2024.[31] Some analysts have questioned Evenepoel's inclusion in the Big Four, stating that while the other three all have multiple Grand Tour victories, Evenepoel is "far less proven at the grand tour level."[2]

Career statistics

[edit]

The Big Four have won a combined 12 Grand Tours: Roglič with five, Pogačar with four, Vingegaard with two, and Evenepoel with one. Since the 2019 Vuelta a España, they have collectively won every Grand Tour where one of the four was present, excluding the 2023 Vuelta a España, where Vingegaard and Roglič placed second and third respectively behind their teammate Sepp Kuss. The 2025 Giro d'Italia where Roglič crashed out.[3][1]

Members of the Big Four have also achieved significant success in major one-day championships: collectively, they have won three Olympic gold medals (Roglič: 2020 time trial; Evenepoel: 2024 time trial and road race) and four UCI World Championship titles (Pogačar: 2024 road race; Evenepoel: 2022 road race, 2023 and 2024 time trial).[32]

The following tables show a combined performance timeline for major races, showing the best result of the four members for each race edition.[33][34][35][36]

Key
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
NH Not held
Bold Bold denotes a top-3 (podium) finish
General classification combined performance timeline
Grand Tour general classification results
Grand Tour 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Giro d'Italia — 3 — — — 1 1 DNF
Tour de France 4 — 1 1 1 1 1
Vuelta a España — 1 1 1 1 2 1
Major stage race general classification results
Race 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Paris–Nice — — — 15 1 1 2 DNF
Tirreno–Adriatico 29 1 — 1 1 1 1 —
Volta a Catalunya — — NH — — 1 1 1
Tour of the Basque Country 1 6 1 4 1 DNF —
Tour de Romandie 1 1 — — — — 5
Critérium du Dauphiné — — 4 — 1 1 1
Tour de Suisse — — NH — 11 3 —
Major championships combined performance timeline
Event 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Olympic Games Time trial Not held 1 Not held 1
Road race 3 1
World Championships Time trial 2 — 3 3 1 1
Road race 18 6 37 1 3 1

See also

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Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Multiple sources, such as articles by Jim Cotton in VeloNews and Robyn Davison in Cyclist, explicitly analyze the Big Four grouping and its implications.[1][2][3] Many other cycling outlets and news agencies have adopted the term in reporting on the riders and relevant races.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Cotton, Jim (6 February 2025). "Breaking the Big 4 Lockdown: Can Any 'Other' Rider Win a Grand Tour in 2025?". VeloNews. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b Cotton, Jim (4 March 2024). "Is Remco Evenepoel Part of Pro Cycling's 'Big Four'? Paris-Nice Will Provide Pointers". VeloNews. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Davidson, Robyn (31 January 2025). "Who could be the next men's Grand Tour winner outside the Big Four?". cyclist.co.uk. Cyclist. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Alastair (27 June 2024). "TOUR'24 Rider Preview: Who Of The BIG Four Will Win? Or Is There Someone Else?". PEZ Cycling News. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  5. ^ Whittle, Jeremy (10 July 2024). "Jonas Vingegaard pips Tadej Pogacar on stage 11 to ignite Tour de France GC race". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2025. [T]he big four of Pogacar, Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel traded blows on some of the steepest, roughest roads in the Massif Central
  6. ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (30 March 2024). "High stakes all around: Why the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country matters to Vingegaard, Roglic and Evenepoel". CyclingNews. Retrieved 6 May 2025. If that were not an interesting enough scenario in itself, the additional presence of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) will make Itzulia Basque Country the first time that three of the 'Big Four' contenders for the Tour de France cross paths in 2024
  7. ^ Daheron, Vincent (5 July 2024). "Pogacar stays on track for Giro/Tour double as Evenepoel wins time trial". Reuters. Retrieved 6 May 2025. Another Slovenian, Primoz Roglic, was third, 34 seconds off the pace, with Vingegaard in fourth place three seconds further back as the 'Big Four' showed their strength on the roads through the Burgundy vineyards.
  8. ^ James Shrubsall; Chris Marshall-Bell; Adam Becket; Tom Davidson; Tom Thewlis (29 June 2024). "Tour de France 2024: Five predictions from our experts". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 6 May 2025. This was supposed to be the Tour de France of the 'big four'.
  9. ^ Puddicome, Stephen. "Pogačar has pole position, but the GC fight at the Tour de France looks finely poised". Rouleur. Retrieved 8 May 2025. Each representative of the so-called big four have lived up to their billing, and now occupy all four top spots on the GC
  10. ^ a b c Marshall-Bell, Chris (31 March 2025). "'We hope the engine burns a bit longer' – Primož Roglič definitely isn't slowing down". Rouleur. Retrieved 1 April 2025. For the past few years, Roglič has formed part of cycling's Big Four, the quartet of generational talents winning pretty much every Grand Tour.
  11. ^ Mikkelsen, Sebastian (24 October 2023). "Road cycling: Jonas Vingegaard and Demi Vollering win Vélo d'Or awards as the best riders of 2023 - Complete list of winners". olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  12. ^ Lamoureux, Lyne (7 December 2024). "Lotte Kopecky, Tadej Pogaçar win 2024 Vélo d'Or awards". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 9 December 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  13. ^ Zhasil, Ondrej (25 December 2023). "ANALYSIS: The 'Big Four of GC' to clash at Tour de France, Olympic Games and World Championships". cyclinguptodate.com. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  14. ^ Farrand, Stephen (28 February 2024). "Tadej Pogacar 'racing for the win' on season debut at Strade Bianche". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2025. Pogačar has been training at home in Monaco in recent weeks as rivals Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard impressed with early-season stage races. Fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglič will also make his debut this weekend at Paris-Nice on Sunday, the last of the big four Tour de France contenders to start his season.
  15. ^ Ryan, Barry (13 January 2024). "Tour de France 2024 - Four contenders, four different paths to the big showdown". CyclingNews. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  16. ^ Shrubsall, James (27 June 2024). "Tour de France 2024 contenders: the Big Favourites form guide". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  17. ^ Farrand, Stephen (30 June 2024). "'Damage limitation' - Roglič, Pidcock and Bardet curb Tour de France stage 2 losses as Pogačar attacks". CyclingNews. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  18. ^ a b Davidson, Robyn (16 July 2024). "How are the 'Big Four' faring heading into the final week of the Tour de France 2024?". cyclist.co.uk. Cyclist. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  19. ^ Wood, Kieran (16 August 2024). ""Without Vingegaard, Pogacar & Evenepoel, La Vuelta will develop in a different way" - Richard Carapaz confident he can benefit from big name absentees". Cyclinguptodate. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  20. ^ a b "Primož Roglič". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 18 February 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  21. ^ Hood, Andrew (24 February 2025). "'Big 4' Scorecard: Vingegaard Powers Up, Roglič Stalls, Evenepoel Still in Limbo". VeloNews. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  22. ^ Price, Matilda (5 March 2025). "Tirreno-Adriatico 2025 contenders – UAE Team Emirates-XRG can still dominate without Tadej Pogačar". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025. With Jonas Vingegaard opting for Paris-Nice this year, and Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and the injured Remco Evenepoel skipping racing at all this week, the racing in Italy looks to be very open with the second tier of GC riders getting a chance to lead their teams. In place of the so-called big four ...
  23. ^ Mitchell, Mathew (24 November 2024). "Tour de France 2025: The Very Early Favourites". ProCyclingUK. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  24. ^ Price, Matilda (17 March 2025). "Who will win the 2025 Tour de France? Rankings the form of the favourites after Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico". CyclingNews. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  25. ^ Wilson, Ewan (30 October 2024). "Cyclist's way too early Tour de France 2025 predictions". Cyclist. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  26. ^ "Tour de France 2025: All you need to know". CyclingWeekly. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  27. ^ Cotton, Jim (31 March 2025). "'We Still Kick': Old Dog Roglič Reaffirms Who's the OG of the 'Big 4' with Catalunya Raid". VeloNews. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  28. ^ "Tadej Pogacar - Riders". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 7 March 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  29. ^ "Jonas Vingegaard - Riders". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 14 January 2025. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  30. ^ Jary, Rachel. "It's time for round four: Is Pogačar vs Vingegaard cycling's most iconic rivalry?". Rouleur. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  31. ^ "Remco Evenepoel - Riders". CyclingNews. Archived from the original on 8 February 2025. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  32. ^ Multiple sources:
  33. ^ "Results for Tadej Pogačar". procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  34. ^ "Results for Jonas Vingegaard". procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  35. ^ "Results for Primož Roglič". procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
  36. ^ "Results for Remco Evenepoel". procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
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