History is never appreciated at its true value when it is lived, but his opponents admit that there is something historic about Tadej Pogacar’s coronation, after the world road cycling championship, which the 26-year-old Slovenian cyclist crushed, rather than won, on Sunday, September 29. , in Zurich (Switzerland).
“It is an honor” To finish second, the Australian Ben O’Connor lost, who took second place at 34 seconds, ahead of the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, rejected at 58 seconds. In fact, the protagonists of this World Cup describe themselves as supporting roles or extras in a great epic, or even as complete spectators of the film.
One hundred kilometers away: the first thing you notice is the magnitude of the performance. A record distance in modern cycling, which has however rehabilitated these very long-range offensives.
The Slovenian champion escaped in three stages, over 274 kilometers. He separated from the platoon on Witikon Hill, on the eastern shore of Lake Zurich, with about a hundred kilometers remaining.
Helped by his teammate Jan Tratnik, the future winner joined a group of about fifteen getaways, from which he escaped 77 kilometers from the finish line, this time accompanied by the Frenchman Pavel Sivakov. Finally, Pogacar pushed himself into the lead, 51 kilometers from the finish line.
“Normally it is suicidal to go that far”
The weight of his dominance also has a historical veneer, because it is the first time that Tadej Pogacar “pedals” the set-up of his rivals. There is no excuse for a puncture, there is no excuse for a fall or there is no withdrawal for failure to appear, except that of double Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard. The best in the world were all on the starting grid. And everyone was pulverized, unable to follow the Slovenian in his first acceleration.
Too bad Van der Poel was in the best shape of his life, emaciated from intensive training: his overwhelming performance at Paris-Roubaix in the spring was suddenly crushed by Tadej Pogacar’s solo. Not to mention the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, double Olympic champion this summer at the Paris Games (time trial, road race), who will not even have offered his admirers the illusion of a duel, and who will have to settle for fifth place.
“Any normal runner would tell you that it is too far to start 100 miles from the finish line, but I think this year Tadej is not normal”observed Remco Evenepoel, summarizing the majority feeling of the platoon, intrigued and helpless. “Why is it so strong?” “You have to ask him and I don’t know if he knows that himself.”joked Mathieu Van der Poel.
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