Pogacar, left to pick up the pieces, could only manage fourth – and cruelly missed the podium by a single second, finishing just behind Belgian Ilan Van Wilder.
“I gave my everything, I’m disappointed Remco caught me, but he’s so fast, it’s incredible how good he is in this discipline, chapeau really for the ride by him,” Pogacar told reporters, including TNT Sports, after crossing the line.
He added: “For sure, it’s a hard one to swallow, but he’s Remco, he’s so good in this discipline. Well, I hope he prepared 100% for this discipline for today and that he will only be 99% ready for next Sunday.”
The road race now looms large on September 28. Pogacar will line up as the defending champion, desperate to flip the script on Evenepoel after his humbling on the time trial.
‘I gave my everything’ – Pogacar explains shock Evenepoel overtake in time trial
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Slovenian also revealed he had no idea how close he came to the podium until it was too late.
“I saw that I’m one second off the podium, which is really bittersweet because maybe if I knew that I was one second off in the last kilometre, maybe I would have a bit of extra motivation – but I didn’t know,” he said.
“Today I will probably regret it, but tomorrow is a new day and I can be happy with how I suffered today.”
Pogacar’s build-up to Rwanda was far from ideal. After battling sickness following his Tour de France defence, he travelled to Canada last week, where he allowed UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Brandon McNulty to take victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The trip, combined with illness, meant Pogacar had to cut short his time trial training block ahead of the World Championships.
“It was not my best performance, but given the circumstances before Canada, I couldn’t finish my block of training on the TT bike I can be satisfied and I’m looking more forward to Sunday’s road race anyway,” he explained.
Asked whether skipping Canada might have been the smarter call, Pogacar admitted it would have helped his time trial but insisted the road race was always his main target.
“If we speak in the circumstances of the TT, yes, I would definitely need to skip Canada,” he said.
“But after I got sick before Canada, my focus was…not that I gave up on the TT, but I had to skip a few big important training sessions on my TT bike.
“I knew that if I wanted to be 100% for the road race I had to go to Canada.”
How to watch the 2025 UCI Road World Championships
All the races from the 2025 UCI Road World Championships will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.Stream the UCI Road World Championships live on TNT Sports and discovery+