Tadej Pogačar cemented his status as cycling’s biggest star with a devastating solo attack to win the men’s road race at the world championships on Sunday.
The three-time Tour de France champion surged ahead just over 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the end. The 26-year-old Slovenian appeared to be in tears after crossing the line in Zurich, putting his hand on his mouth, then covering his face with both hands before pumping his arms in the air.
He crossed the line 34 seconds ahead of Australian Ben O’Connor and 58 clear of defending champion Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands, who finished third in a sprint to the line ahead of Latvian Toms Skujins and Belgian contender Remco Evenepoel in fifth place.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself for today. The race unfolded pretty quickly,” Pogačar said. “I never gave up. It was an incredible day, I cannot believe what just happened.”
Pogačar achieved the rare treble of winning the worlds, the Tour and the Giro d’Italia in the same year. He also won the prestigious Liege—Bastogne—Liege classic and the Strade Bianche, both with similar solo attacks.
“After many years fighting for the Tour de France and other races I never had the world championship as a clear goal, but this year everything went smoothly,” Pogačar said. “After the perfect season it was a really big goal to win the world championship and I can’t believe it happened.”
On Sunday, he had a prestigious teammate on the road: Primoz Roglič, the record-equaling four-time Spanish Vuelta champion.
But he didn’t need him and it was Pavel Sivakov of France who joined Pogačar as he made a breakaway 100 kilometers (62 miles) out.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Pogačar said. “But I went with the flow and luckily I made it.”
The peloton — led by a determined Van der Poel — tried to counter them with about 70 kilometers left.
The front two maintained their lead of around 40 seconds, with Van der Poel now joined by Evenepoel, the 2022 world champion and reigning Olympic champion. But Evenepoel, who won last weekend’s time trial, had no teammates with him.
After Pogačar dropped Sivakov, he rolled through the countryside leading to Zurich and the title after finishing third last year.
He completed the 274-kilometer (170-mile) route, which started from Winterthur and had elevation gains of 4,470 meters, in 6 hours, 27 minutes, 30 seconds.
Two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe of France went out of the race early on. The Soudal Quick-Step rider was caught in a crash and hurt his left shoulder.
