It is an additional demonstration, a new moment of history, which should amaze and surprise. But are we still surprised? This Sunday, Tadej Pogacar added one more major race to his (already) immense record by winning the rainbow jersey, during the Road World Championship in Zurich, Switzerland. Once again, the Slovenian was not content with winning, he shocked the statistics and achieved an extremely rare feat by attacking 100 kilometers from the finish, spending 90 km at the front of the race including the last 51 alone. After Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987), he is the third man to achieve the Giro, Tour and Mondial triple in a calendar year. All while also having won the Strade Bianche, the Tour of Catalonia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Montreal GP.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t even dream of wearing this jersey one day. I just hoped to be able to participate in a World Cup or a Tour de France. Just being on the starting line would have thrilled me. But here I am with the rainbow!”rejoices the new World Champion. Until now, Tadej Pogacar assures that he had not “never been able to really prepare for a World Cup” for various reasons. But this time, all the planets seemed aligned to win the gold medal. “The course suited me well and I was able to specifically prepare for this meeting, for once. It’s a dream come true”.
A BULLET IN EACH FOOT… WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE
Accustomed to solo numbers, the 26-year-old athlete assures that he had not anticipated such an early attack today. “It was stupid, that’s all. I shouldn’t have attacked so early”. But then, why did you do it? Because he panicked to see such a group at the front and/or he felt that his team was weakening, as Mathieu Van der Poel supposed (read here) ? “You don’t decide to do something stupid. When you’re stupid, you do something stupid without thinking about it first. And that’s why it’s stupid, it’s the principle”he said, making some journalists present at the Palais des Congrès, where the press conference was held, laugh.
Still, after “excellent work” of his (others) “fantastic” compatriots, Tadej Pogacar was able to count on the valuable support of Jan Tratnik, who intelligently allowed himself to be released from the breakaway. “Jan moved to the front not to anticipate my attack but because he followed an important running movement. But initially, it was not planned that he would be in a breakaway. In the end, fortunately that was the case because he was of great help. He brought me back to the front and then worked well to maintain the gap”. With a group of favorites which remained less than 50 seconds behind for a long time. “At a World Cup, with such a distance and this type of circuit, 30-40 seconds is quickly a lot. We don’t take them back so easily”.
AND NOW, THE QUADRUPLET IN LOMBARDY?
However, Tadej Pogacar decided to do it again quite quickly, 70 km from the finish, thus isolating himself with Pavel Sivakov, his usual teammate at UAE and therefore the last survivor of this initial movement. “I was happy to have him with me for a ride. It was easier to shoot with two people”. But he still ended up getting rid of the Frenchman to take fifty kilometers alone at the front, cheered by a massive crowd on each of the small climbs distributed throughout the Swiss course. “I shot myself in the foot for the first time by going out alone on the counter so far from the finish. Then another bullet in the other foot, isolating me very quickly too. But hey… There was still a chance that it would. I never gave up, I gave everything until the line and in the end, it was an incredible day”.
As always or almost, the man with now 86 victories among the pros – he is only 26 years old – had fun, without calculating. Despite a more than hazardous strategy and the quality of a counter group including his two main rivals Remco Evenepoel and Mathieu Van der Poel, he hovered over Zurich as he will have already done at least once on the almost all of the most prestigious races on the calendar. “Stupid” and astonishing. Or not, or more. But it’s probably not over yet. Triple title holder at the Tour of Lombardy, he will most likely aim for the quadruple in two weeks, this time and for the first time, the rainbow jersey of World Champion on his shoulders. Who would be surprised to see the Slovenian race to 40, 80, 120 – and more if there is an affinity – to the finish line to push the limits of the possible and the imaginable again and again? Probably not many people.
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