Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogačar crowned himself the undisputed king of professional cycling today with a rampaging ride through the streets of Zurich, Switzerland to a World Championship title. Pogačar, as the great ones often do, launched his aggression from so far out — 100km — that he was able to surprise even those most wary of his presence. He made it up the road to a small group, which he ditched later, until finally going solo from Latvian Tom Skjuins at 51km to go. His lead never grew to insurmountable lengths, but rarely was he threatened, even when the chase got serious. The likes of Enric Mas, Mathieu van der Poel, Marc Hirschi and of course Remco Evenepoel strained to reel in Pogačar, but never drew closer than half a minute. Ben O’Connor escaped late for silver and Van der Poel won the sprint for bronze.
Pogačar’s victory, his first world title at any level, is a career-defining moment, even for as brilliant a rider as him. The list of people who have matched his accomplishments was once a cycling history honor roll, but now it is down to two riders: Stephen Roche and, of course, Eddy Merckx. Not Anquetil or Hinault, not Coppi or LeMond, not any other rider from the pantheon of cycling. Roche is the interloper on this list, a wonderful rider who got out of injury jail long enough to pull off a mythical season that would make Tuatha Dé Danann blush. [I admit I had to look that one up.]
Merckx though… that is undoubtedly who Pogačar has in his sights. While nobody can match Merckx victory-for-victory in this modern era, Pogačar is nonetheless building a case for matching Merckx’s level of excellence. He has shown excellence in the Cobbled Classics, on the gravel surfaces, and of course in grand tours where, in seven starts, he has never failed to finish on the podium, he has won four times, and nabbed 26 stages across all three tours. It is impossible to imagine a race he can’t win; it is merely a question of which ones he has time to devote his full energies toward.
Today was a breakthrough, though, for all his successes listed above came with his Team UAE jersey on; never before has he ridden the neon green kit of the Slovenian National Team to a win. And in fact, if you are wondering how he can bring his career to a new place, tune in roughly four years from now when he pursues the Olympic gold medal. Maybe they will learn the lesson of today and mark him from 120km out. Maybe, like today, it won’t really matter.
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Van der Poel and Evenepoel were also seeking milestones of their own, but must be contented with wonderful seasons by any non-Pogačar standard. Both flashed their prodigious talents with searing attacks in the hopes of reeling in the Tour/Giro Double winner, but did so accompanied by a crowd of people alerted to their presence. Both are all-world attackers from the front of the race, but not known for succeeding from a defensive position. Pogs put them all on defense, to their shock — Evenepoel saying he thought the initial thrust was “suicidal” — and there was nothing they could do about him.
Look for Pogačar to show off his new rainbow jersey close to home, in northern Italy, before calling it a season. He already has three Lombardia trophies on his shelf, so however tired he may be, it will certainly be a comfortable place for him. His next scheduled race is the Giro dell’Emilia next Saturday, and while he would be forgiven if he wanted a break, that’s not his style. For Tadej Pogačar is exactly the kind of person you would want to refer to as world champion: he races for fun, and if anything he probably wishes he had more than three races left on the season.
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