titled in Zurich, Tadej Pogacar heads to Africa

The Slovenian won the Road Cycling Worlds in Zurich this Sunday with a number he has the secret to. Long hoped for, this title looks like the first in a long series, especially since Pogacar will benefit next year from two courses that perfectly match his qualities, on the new and exotic roads of Rwanda. These will be the “most difficult championships in history”, assures the International Cycling Union.

Tadej Pogacar played and he won. The Slovenian obtained his very first rainbow jersey on Sunday and brilliantly concluded the World Road Cycling Championships in Switzerland marked by the death of Muriel Furrer and sometimes dire conditions, except on this last day of competition. He attacked 102 kilometers from the finish when his teammates weakened and he relied on his compatriot Jan Tratnik present at the front to get back on a group of escapees.

Once present in the breakaway, the rider from the UAE Team-Emirates team quickly broke away. Only Pavel Sivakov, his faithful lieutenant for the rest of the season, managed to keep up the pace, not without the help of his usual leader ready to slow down to wait for him. But 50 kilometers from the goal, Tadej Pogacar took sole control of the race and no one saw him again, not even his main rivalssurprised by his distant attack and who despite everything thought they could catch him in the last kilometers, the Slovenian being marked by his efforts.

Tadej Pogacar therefore achieved the triple crown, namely winning the Giro, the Tour de France and the Worlds in the same year, like Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) before him. But the best at the Worlds is undoubtedly to come for the three-time winner of the Grande Boucle, uncompromising on the Swiss roads. This week in Zurich was an opportunity for the International Cycling Union (UCI) to formalize the routes for the 2025 World Championships organized for the very first time in Africa. It will be in Kigali, Rwanda and there will be mountains, lots of mountains.

The route for the 2025 road race seems even more formidable than the one proposed in Zurich this year. It will have nearly 5,500 meters of elevation gain, more than in Innsbruck in 2018. Only the Sallanches edition in neighboring France in 1980 experienced more relief. The UCI assures that it is the “most difficult route in history”. Mount Kigali – 6 kilometers at 7%, and its summit at almost 1800 meters above sea level – will be a highlight of a day of tobogganing at altitude.

However, the Slovenian could make even more history. Because the individual time trial – one of the rare titles he is now missing – will also present a formidable course. A particularly rare fact in this discipline. The one in Zurich was already considered difficult, with an elevation gain of around 400 meters for an effort of 46 kilometers. Shorter in Rwanda (40 kilometers), the route will be more rugged (680 meters of elevation). There will be four hills to climb and the event will end at the summit. An atypical and ideal profile for the Slovenian, excellent in time trials, but incapable of competing outside the Grand Tour against specialists in solo efforts.

Tadej Pogacar opened his victory counter at the World Championships in Switzerland. This is only the beginning of his brilliant story with this competition.

The 4th edition of the Geneva Urban Trail (GUT), a foot race through the city of Geneva, was held last Saturday on three courses (6 km, 9 km and 16 km). Close-up on a discipline mainly intended for amateurs.

Do you think urban trail running is about running along sidewalks? Well, not at all! It is actually a trail, but in an urban environment (as its name suggests). However, it is not limited only to paved roads. In reality, participants progress through varied routes in the heart of the city, mixing asphalt and natural trails.