Sometimes in sport, you have to sit back and reflect on what you have just witnessed. In cycling we can talk of Coppi and Bartali, Hinault and Merckx and Froome — or we can talk of Tadej Pogacar, who is already quite possibly the greatest cyclist of all time.
The 27-year-old Slovenian made what was arguably the hardest Road World Championships ever look like a Sunday coffee ride by demolishing the field in Kigali, Rwanda, with a 105km attack in the road race. In doing so, he took the rainbow-banded jersey once more and became the first man to have done the Tour de France and World Championship double two years in a row.
After Remco Evenepoel of Belgium caught Pogacar on the Cote de Kimihurura during the elite time-trial last Sunday, the Slovenian was determined not to be humiliated again. “It’s a hard one to swallow,” he said last week. “[But on] the road bike it’s not a question that I can perform well.”
The attacks came almost immediately as the peloton rolled out of Kigali to the sound of tens of thousands of fans who cheered, danced and banged drums. A small group got away on the open and smooth tarmac but Slovenia and Belgium kept things under control. The breakaway was doomed and by the single ascent of the 6km Mont Kigali they had been reeled back in.
Pogacar followed Del Toro in the breakaway before the Mexican rider faded
DAVID RAMOS/GETTY IMAGES
Few really believed Pogacar would attack with 100km to go like he did in Switzerland last year, not on a route that was 270km long with 35 climbs and 5,500m of elevation, but he simply cannot help himself, even on a parcours so hard that 135 riders abandoned and only 30 reached the finish.
“[It was the] most unenjoyable race of the year, it was so hard,” said Tom Pidcock, Great Britain’s sole finisher in tenth place. “I didn’t feel so good in the start and then I was coming round and into the race and then I completely blew and it was survival to the finish. It was absolutely brutal.”
After Pogacar’s Slovenian team-mates set a hard pace up the long, dragging Mont Kigali, he took over and attacked. Only Spain’s Juan Ayuso could go with him initially and Evenepoel was forced to drop back. As they topped the climb and settled into the descent, Mexico’s Isaac del Toro joined his two UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mates.
But soon the trio were on the Mur de Kigali, an infamous 300m, steep and cobbled climb. Del Toro put down the pace which Pogacar happily matched but Ayuso, who leaves UAE for Lidl-Trek in 2026, was dropped — he could do no more. With 66km to go, it was then Del Toro’s turn. The 21-year-old Mexican — the apprentice to Pogacar’s master — had nothing left to give, and couldn’t keep up with Pogacar’s infernal pace.
“I think the parcours was designed for [an early attack],” Pogacar said after the race. “I was hoping a small group would form like we did with Juan and Del Toro. I was like, ‘This the dream, no?’ To ride as far as possible as a trio. But Juan had a problem on the cobbles and Del Toro had some stomach problems in the race so I was left alone quite early so I was solo like last year just fighting with myself.”
Healy, right, with Evenepoel and Pogacar, took bronze — the first elite world championship medal won by an Irishman in 36 years
SHUTTERSTOCK
It was then a straight battle between Pogacar and the chasers behind, a small group that included Evenepoel, Pidcock and Ireland’s Ben Healy. After Evenepoel changed bikes twice, clearly unhappy with his saddle, he led the chase and one by one the group reduced. The course had taken its toll and it was Evenepoel who was left to chase Pogacar alone — in reality, he was riding for second place.
The Slovenian never once looked in trouble, he never once looked tired. He looked behind him as he approached the finish line, as if someone might have somehow sneaked up on him, but he had plenty of time to raise his arms as he crossed the line. “It was an incredible experience altogether,” he said afterwards. “Let’s say it was a success for me.”
Evenepoel took second place 1min 28sec behind Pogacar, with Healy in third, 2min 16sec back. In doing so, the 25-year-old, who won a stage of this year’s Tour de France and wore the Yellow Jersey for two days, won Ireland’s first elite world championship men’s medal since Sean Kelly in 1989 and showed once again that he deserves to be considered a real threat in the biggest races.
Road World Championships elite road race results
1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) 6hrs 21mins 20secs
2 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) +1m 28s
3 Ben Healy (Ire) +2m 16s
4 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) +2m 53s
5 Tom Skujins (Lat) +6m 41s
6 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) +6m 47s
7 Isaac del Toro (Mex) +6m 47s
8 Juan Ayuso (Spa) +6m 47s
9 Afonso Eulalio (Por) +7min 6secs
10 Tom Pidcock (GB) +9min 5secs