7 conclusions from the Worlds elite men's road race 🌈
Pogačar has no equal, O'Connor caps an exceptional year, as Evenepoel and van der Poel are left scratching their heads
Hi Subscribers,
That was one for the ages, and possibly the best one-day performance of the modern era, with Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) winning the elite men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships after a 100km attack.
Few could believe it when the Slovenian attacked from so far out but a thrilling final lap saw his rivals almost make the juncture before an exciting battle for silver and bronze played out. There’s lots to dissect from the men’s race, starting with these seven conclusions.
Tactics are irrelevant when Pogačar does this 🇸🇮
Coming into the race it was clear that Pogačar wanted the Worlds to be a hard affair, and a long-range attack - like the one he made at Strade Bianche - was always on the cards. However, few expected such an effort 100.8km from the finish, and with all his rivals still enjoying full quotas of support.
At the finish, the new world champion described his attack as ‘stupid’ but in reality, his acceleration from that far out was more nuanced than that. It was, to put it another way, the hardest but safest way for him to win.
Pogačar knew that his team wouldn’t have the numbers of the Dutch and Belgians in the final if the race panned out with a series of attacks in the final two laps. Therefore, rather than be outnumbered and outgunned, Pogačar’s best tactic was to attack from long range.