It was the catch heard around the world.
Alex Dowsett, commentating for the BBC, branded it an annihilation. Journalist Thijs Zonneveld opted for iconic, and said it was a “humiliation”. Cycling’s corner of the internet, meanwhile, erupted in disbelief.
Five years and two days after inflicting his own devastating time trial defeat on Primož Roglič, on the torturous slopes of La Planche des Belles Filles, Tadej Pogačar finally got a taste of his own medicine.
The four-time Tour de France winner, celebrating his 27th birthday, entered yesterday’s world time trial championships in Kigali as one of the big favourites, after skipping the Vuelta a España to target a double rainbow jersey triumph in Rwanda.
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But on the brutal, jarring cobbles of the Côte de Kimihurura, it happened. Pogačar, off the pace from the opening kilometres, looked across and saw Remco Evenepoel – the undisputed master against the clock – roar past him, the Belgian having bridged the two-and-a-half minute gap between the pair at the start.
The Slovenian attempted to hold the Belgian’s infernal pace on the 11 per cent gradients, but was ultimately forced to relent.
Evenepoel stormed on to his third consecutive world time trial title, while Pogačar was forced to settle for fourth, a second down on bronze medallist, and Remco’s Belgian teammate, Ilan Van Wilder, as Jay Vine secured a very impressive silver.
And let’s just say the images of Pogačar – the greatest rider of his or any generation – beaten, caught, annihilated set the online cycling world ablaze.
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“Hang it the Louvre,” said John Maguire.
“A beautiful sight,” added another BlueSky user.
“This is cathartic,” said Goldblue, while Tim summed it up simply with: “Bloody hell, Remco.”
And then Ned Boulting came along to add some perspective: “It is, after all, the greatest possible compliment to Pogačar that this moment, made possible by the brilliance of Evenepoel made us catch our breath.”
True.
And while our collective jaw dropped at the sight of Remco easing past the greatest cyclist of the modern era as if it were a local club 10 on a Tuesday night, for the Belgian himself, that particular moment doesn’t matter all that much.
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“On a day like today it doesn’t matter who it is,” he said at the finish. “I just wanted to push as hard as possible from the first climb on and try and recover on the descents.
“Of course, on the cobbles when I saw I was coming close quite quickly I knew I had to push through, but I have to say I knew it was really tough on the false flat part at the end, so I didn’t want to go over the limit because I knew that last 400m were hard.
“Then the first climb of the day was quite hard, together with the last two ones, so I pushed it there. After that first climb I could see I had quite a big gap so I just wanted to keep it at a pace that I could hold to the bottom of [penultimate climb] Côte de Péage and then I just went flat out on every climb.”
And while some fans are dreaming of a Remco rainbow double next Sunday, Evenepoel is only thinking about making it four time trial world titles in a row next year, which would bring him level with Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara at the top of the all-time list, after tying Michael Rogers’ record of three yesterday.
“It’s a big honour for me to step up there with Tony and Michael,” he said. “Next year I guess I have to go for another one because I want to be the first one to get four in a row.”
Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
For Pogačar, however, defeat – and the manner in which it was inflicted – was “hard to swallow”, he admits.
“For sure, it was a hard one to swallow, but he’s Remco, and he is so good in this discipline,” the Slovenian said.
“Of course, I am disappointed that Remco caught me, but it is incredible how good he is in this discipline. Chapeau for all the ride by him.”
But, in classic Pog fashion, he’s already looking forward to next Sunday’s rematch in the road race.
“I hope that he prepared 100 per cent for this discipline today and that he will be 99 per cent ready for next Sunday,” Pogačar said.
“This year, I don’t want to spoil myself to win today, so let’s try to win on Sunday.”
Somehow, I reckon he’ll be fine…