Imperious Pogacar wins Worlds with epic solo attack

Tadej Pogacar won the men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships for the second year in a row, leading his team’s lead over his close second.

Pogacar, 27, a four-time Tour de France champion, finished in Rwanda one minute 28 seconds clear of Belgian Remco Evenepoel in the title race.

Ben Healy of the Republic of Ireland placed third, followed by Tom Pidcock of the United Kingdom, in 10th place, nine minutes, five seconds, on Pogacar.

With only 70 kilometers left to go on the 264. 5 km course, which includes laps around Kigali, Pidcock was a part of a determined four-man effort to find him.

For the first time in a week, thousands of local fans lined the streets of Rwanda’s capital city as the week’s week-long road championships were held in Africa.

I was relieved to make it because I was left alone quite early and going solo like I did last year and fighting myself.

You still have to pedal a lot, so [my] energy resources were going toward the end because the laps were getting harder and the downhills were getting harder and harder.

Instead of his more regimented, explosive riding that he frequently uses in one-day races, Pogacar’s masterful performance was a study in endurance and strategic efforts.

With 100 kilometers to go, he rode away from the crowd in the company of two of his UAE-Team Emirates trade team-mates over Mount Kigali in the middle of a steep course that included more than 5, 000 meters of climbing.

However, the defending world champion was soon abandoned in the grip of imperious isolation after Juan Ayuso of Spain was soon replaced by Isaac del Toro, who was 30 kilometers away.

Pogacar applied more force to the punishing Cote du Kimihurura climb than his rivals, holding a gap of just over a minute between Pidcock, Evenepoel, Healy, and Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose, who were all still in the lead.

Pogacar has dominated men’s cycling for the past three seasons, frequently winning the sport’s biggest one-day competitions by more than a minute and the sport’s three-week Grand Tours by more than five minutes.

Pogacar has won eight of the 13 races he has entered this year, but he only finished fourth in the World Championships Time Trial, with Evenepoel even passing him in the standings despite two minute-staggered starts.

The final cobbled climb on the circuit, in 26C heat, paid for Pidcock’s hopes, who finished third at the recent Vuelta a Espana, who had finished third.

Pidcock, 26, had predicted that success in Kigali would lead to success, but despite having an eight-man Great Britain team with him at the crucial moment, he finally ran out of energy with about 40 kilometers to go.

It was “the worst race of the year,” Pidcock remarked.

There isn’t much to say about the race’s success story, but I started coming around the race before just completely blowing up. utterly brutal

“When five of us left behind Tadej, I once believed anything was possible before my legs fell off.”

Evenepoel, the double Olympic champion, had to change his bike more than once throughout the race, which caused the frequently irate rider to kick the ground and yell at his team car in disbelief.

Healy led the pack with a fantastic season that included a stage win at this year’s Tour de France and a stint in the leader’s yellow jersey.

The 25-year-old is Ireland’s first Irishman to reach the podium since 1987’s Stephen Roche victory over Sean Kelly in second place.

The women’s elite road race champions from Canada, Magdeleine Vallieres, finished 27 seconds ahead of Mavi Garcia of Spain and 23 seconds ahead of Niamh Fisher-Black of New Zealand.

1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) 6 hrs 21 m 20 secs

2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) + 1 min 28 secs

3. Ben Healy (Ire) + 2min 16secs

4. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) + 2 min 53 secs

5. Tom Skujins (Lat) + 6 min 41 secs

6. Giulio Ciccone (Ita) + 6 min 47 secs

7. At the same time, Isaac del Toro (Mex).

8. Juan Ayuso (Spa)

9. Afonso Eulalio (Por) + 7 minutes, 6 seconds