photo credits @ UCI
Tadej Pogačar became the first rider in 37 years to follow up this season’s victories in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France with a gold medal and the rainbow jersey in the UCI World Championships Elite Men’s road race today.
The Slovenian claimed cycling’s Triple Crown in devastating style, breaking away from the main peloton with 100 kilometres to go, blasting through a 16-rider move then going solo some 50 kilometres from the line.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Ben O’Connor broke away from the chasing group to power to second place, only 35 seconds behind, to bring the curtain down on another excellent season for the Vuelta runner-up.
Defending champion Mathieu van der Poel outsprinted the remnants of the elite chasing group for bronze, with Remco Evenepoel, the 2022 champion and other major favorite, settling for fifth.
The new rainbow jersey appeared shell-shocked and emotional speaking after the race, possibly one of the most grueling of his already superb career.
“I don’t know [how it feels to win], I cannot believe what just happened. After this kind of season I put a lot of pressure on myself for today, I had pressure from myself and the team. We came here for the victory.
“The race unfolded pretty quickly, there was a dangerous breakaway in the front. I maybe did a stupid attack but luckily Jan [Tratnik] was there with me and I never gave up until the final. It’s incredible, I can’t believe what just happened.
Asked whether the 100km attack had been planned, he said, “No, of course not. We had planned to keep the race under control, but the race went quite early and I don’t know what I was thinking, I just went. Luckily I made it but it was so tough.
“For sure [it means a lot to win the world title]. After many years fighting for the Tour de France and all the races I never had the World Championships as a clear goal. This year everything went smoothly already and after a perfect season, it was a really big goal to win the World Championships.
“I can’t believe it happened. I have to thank all the team – without them, it wouldn’t be possible. I’m super proud of the national team. Let’s go!”
Race Highlights
The race took shape over the final four 26.8km laps with multiple attacks ebbing in and out of the peloton.
Pogačar caught the peloton off guard launching his attack with 100km to go with only Italy’s Andrea Bagioli following the Slovenian superstar.
The three-time Tour de France champion still had a breakaway of 16 riders in front of him, and he reeled them in with each pedal stroke. Pogačar distanced Bagioli in his shadow before compatriot Jan Tratnik dropped back from the break to provide support.
The duo caught up with the breakaway with 89km to go as they worked together to create more distance from the chasing peloton.
With three laps of racing remaining, the lead pack held a precarious 35-second advantage over the peloton, with the Belgian team leading the chase.
Pogačar launched another attack with 78km to go splitting the lead group with only France’s Pavel Sivakov able to stay on his wheel.
The Slovenian reluctantly moved to the front of the race where he had to navigate the headwinds with Sivakov tucking in behind him with the duo leading the chasers by 50 seconds.
Behind them, riders made turns launching mini attacks which ultimately chiseled away at the peloton but were of little threat to Pogačar.
The trio of Oscar Onley, Toms Skujins, and Ben Healy peeled off from the peloton to erase Pogačar’s lead.
With 51.5km to go, Pogačar put the needle down again dropping Sivakov for what would be a solo effort en route to his maiden world title.
By this time the chase had splintered with Skujins and Healy riding together and Van der Poel shortly on their heels.
At the bell, Pogačar held a one-minute lead over Skujins and Healy and nearly a minute-and-a-half over the third chasing pack.
The final 20km turned into a frenetic chase with only a minute separating Pogačar from all the chasers with seven riders made up of Healy, Skujins, Evenepoel, O’Connor, Marc Hirschi, and Enric Mas Nicolau, and defending champion Mathieu van der Poel coming together.
The chasers reduced the Slovenian’s advantage to less than 40 seconds as Pogačar looked like he was taking strain.
But Pogačar consolidated his lead in the downhill following the last big climb, leaving the chasers to jockey for positions as he entered the final 10 kilometers of the race.
With a kilometre to go Pogačar had the title all but sealed and as he entered the final stretch he shook his head in disbelief before throwing his arms up in victory.
Behind him, O’Connor’s attack paid dividends as he claimed a comfortable second place with Van der Poel winning a chase to the line for the bronze.
“I cannot believe what just happened. I put a lot of pressure on myself for today and we came here for the victory,” Pogačar said.
“The race unfolded pretty quickly. There was a dangerous breakaway in front, and I maybe did a stupid attack, but I never gave up until the end. It is an incredible day. I don’t know what I was thinking but luckily I made it.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
