Why Tadej Pogacar is riding with white hair these days

For those who don’t scroll through social media every day, it might have been a surprising sight after the finish: Tadej Pogacar now sports a blonde hairstyle. But what’s the reason behind his unusual haircut? It all has to do with one of his musical heroes.

The UAE Emirates XRG rider—who impressively soloed to a new, record-breaking victory at Strade Bianche on Saturday—already went viral in January with his bleached hair. At the time, he proudly shared several photos of his new look on Instagram, inspired by the world-famous rapper Eminem, one of Pogacar’s favorite artists.

"Slim Shady introduced me to hip hop. When I was twelve, I had about 200 songs downloaded on my music player. They were all by Eminem," he wrote in his post. "From that moment on, I started loving hip hop. Right now, my playlist mostly features Slovenian rappers."

After Strade Bianche, he was asked again about his hairstyle. "I’ve already gotten compliments on it," he told VTM. "Why not, right? Maybe I’ll keep it like this," he replied with a broad smile.

"I’m a big fan of Slim Shady (the alter ego of rapper Eminem, who also bleached his hair, ed.). It was the first music I downloaded on a phone when I went to races. Do I look like him? No, no. We look completely different. The nose, the eyes, the chin... Everything is different."