Sunday September 29, 2024 at 5:10 PM
Tadej Pogacar impressively became world champion in Zurich. The Slovenian attacked just over a hundred kilometers from the finish and rode the last 52 kilometers solo. Ben O’Connor rode to silver. The sprint for third place was won by Mathieu van der Poel, who took bronze.
The Cycling World Championships concluded on Sunday with the road race for elite men. Tadej Pogacar was the top favorite, but the competition was not small. Remco Evenepoel and defending champion Mathieu van der Poel were seen in advance as the Slovenian’s main challengers.
All these tenors would compete against each other on a 273.9 kilometer long course. The start was in Winterthur, after which it went to the local circuit in Zurich in about seventy kilometers. This 26.8 kilometer long lap had to be completed seven more times after the first finish passage. The circuit contained two climbs with the Zürichbergstrasse (1.1 km at 8%) and Witikonerstrasse (2.3 km at 5.7%) where the difference could be made, but these slopes were early in the round. The last five kilometers it didn’t go up anymore.
Six early escapees
But first the run-up from Winterthur, where the weather was a lot better than the previous World Cup days. The dry and sunny weather conditions inspired many riders to attempt an exit. Yet everything was still together when the peloton reached the Buch am Irchel (4.8 km at 4.2%) after a good twenty kilometers. There was some separation here: a large group including Sam Oomen made a gap. However, the Slovenes saw the danger and closed the breach.
After forty kilometers a group was given space. It involved eight riders: Silvan Dillier (Switzerland), Luc Wirtgen (Luxembourg), Piotr Pekala (Poland), Ivo Oliveira (Portugal), Tobias Foss (Norway), Simon Geschke (Germany), Markus Pajur (Estonia) and Roberto Gonzalez (Panama). The leading group quickly thinned out to six drivers. On the Kyburg (1.2 km at 12%), Pajur went overboard and not much later it also went too fast for Gonzalez. This left us with six riders at the front.
The leading group including Geschke and Foss – photo: Cor Vos
Assignment Julian Alaphilippe
While the six built a lead of five and a half minutes, there was a crash in the peloton. There are two contenders for the title: Pello Bilbao and Julian Alaphilippe. Bilbao was quite battered, but was eventually able to continue on its way again. For Alaphilippe the verdict was a lot heavier. The two-time world champion had to retire with a dislocated shoulder and was taken away by ambulance. Not much later, Mattias Skjelmose, João Almeida and Mikel Landa would also give up.
Once at the local round, Belgium took the initiative. It was Victor Campenaerts who pulled the crowd onto a ribbon. With the help of Slovenia, the peloton quickly came closer to the escapees. The lead of the six dropped to under three minutes. Then they were given some more space, until the race opened up on the third Zürichbergstrasse, with about 130 kilometers to go. Pablo Castrillo threw the ball into the woods. He was soon grabbed by the wrists, but the game was now over.
Campenaerts did a lot of head work – photo: Cor Vos
The Netherlands misses the mark
On the Witikonerstrasse an attack by Jay Vine (Australia) led to a counterattack of ten. With Jan Tratnik and Laurens De Plus, Slovenia and Belgium respectively had a man, unlike the Netherlands. However, the orange shirts did not immediately put themselves at the head of the peloton. The other countries also did nothing, leaving Vine, Tratnik, De Plus, Mattia Cattaneo (Italy), Magnus Cort (Denmark), Pavel Sivakov (France), Stephen Williams (Great Britain), Kevin Vermaerke (United States), Johannes Staune -Mittet (Norway) and Florian Lipowitz (Germany) took three minutes in no time.
Despite Cort’s presence up front, it was the Danes who eventually started to pick up the pace. On the fourth Zürichbergstrasse, Slovenia also started to cooperate. The lead of the sixteen front runners – the pursuers had now caught up with the early escapees – thus decreased somewhat. When the gap was still two minutes, Kasper Asgreen attacked, with Wilco Kelderman in his wheel. This attack was neutralized by Slovenia, after which Quinn Simmons tried it.
Lipowitz leads the chasers – photo: Cor Vos
Very early attack Pogacar
None other than Roglic closed the gap for Pogacar, who went on the attack himself with one hundred kilometers to go. Simmons tried to hook his cart, but was driven right off the wheel. Only one man could follow: Andrea Bagioli. For a little while, at least. The Italian stayed with the top favorite for a few minutes, but had to let go on an apparently not too difficult stretch. Pogacar had a good pace, which was also evident from the difference with the leaders. He quickly closed within forty seconds. At that moment he also received support from Tratnik, who had dropped out.
With his early attack, Pogacar forced the other favorites into the defensive, but Evenepoel still had five helpers with him: Tim Wellens, Maxim Van Gils, Tiesj Benoot, Quinten Hermans and the tireless Campenaerts. The last two ensured that Pogacar and Tratnik’s lead was limited to one minute. The Slovenian duo meanwhile joined the first group, but no one was willing to help them. So it was Tratnik against Hermans and Campenaerts.
Pogacar goes 100 kilometers from the finish – photo: Cor Vos
Pogacar on the road with Sivakov
The Belgians drove faster for the time being. With three laps to go, the gap was reduced to 35 seconds. Moreover, Belgium now received help from the Netherlands, in the person of Bart Lemmen. Pogacar decided not to wait any longer and continued on Zürichbergstrasse. His fellow escapees went overboard one by one. Pavel Sivakov was the last to go overboard, but Pogacar held back after the top to allow the Frenchman – his teammate at UAE Emirates – to come back. This left us with two frontrunners.
Their lead had now increased to fifty seconds compared to the peloton. Maxim Van Gils already had to work there. The shadow leader of the Belgians was able to keep the difference stable for a while, but no more. Evenepoel felt the threat and therefore decided to attack himself. He made a small gap, but Mathieu van der Poel managed to jump to him, after which things fell silent again. There was now no control in the thinned out peloton.
Pogacar tolerates Sivakov in his presence – photo: Cor Vos
Running and standing still
Several attacks followed, including from Michael Woods, again Evenepoel and then Giulio Ciccone. However, no one got away, so they had to run and stand still. Yet the difference with Pogacar and Sivakov remained within limits for the time being. It was good news for the Slovenian that the Frenchman – after a few kilometers of recovery – now took over. Together they had three quarters of a minute on the chasing group, which was split into two parts. Mollema, Van der Poel and (eventually) Evenepoel were in the first part.
Even in that first part it continued to rain attacks. Ben Healy (Ireland), Toms Skujiņš (Latvia) and Oscar Onley (Great Britain) found each other and started hunting for the leading duo. Going into the penultimate lap, their gap was 42 seconds. Ten seconds later a quartet followed with Van der Poel, Frederik Wandahl (Denmark), Kevin Vermaerke (United States) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Norway). A frustrated Evenepoel, together with Mollema, Marc Hirschi and David Gaudu, followed within a minute.
Pogacar goes solo
On the Zürichbergstrasse, Sivakov could no longer hold Pogacar’s wheel. The Slovenian started a solo with 52 kilometers to go. Behind him, Van der Poel blasted away from his companions. The Dutchman reached the released Onley, but he could not catch Skujiņš and Healy. In fact, he started to lose ground and, together with Onley, fell back to the chasers. It was now Evenepoel who took the initiative. However, the difference with Pogacar was big, one minute and twenty seconds. Healy and Skujiņš were at fifty seconds.
When the bell rang for the final round, ten seconds were added for both groups. So it seemed possible for Pogacar. Healy and Skujiņš still had to fight for the medals, because Hirschi gave up in group three. No one was able to follow the Swiss, not even Van der Poel and Evenepoel. Together with Enric Mas, Romain Bardet, Quinn Simmons, Roger Adrià, Ben O’Connor and a strong Mollema, they kept Hirschi in sight on the Witikonerstrasse. The home rider in turn saw Healy and Skujiņš riding.
Mollema rode a hell of a race – photo: Cor Vos
Will Pogacar still collapse?
Later on the climb, Mas crashed into Hirschi, after which Evenepoel, Van der Poel and O’Connor also tried to cross. We got the well-known accordion effect. Sixteen kilometers from the finish, Mas and Hirschi first joined Healy and Skujiņš and then Van der Poel, Evenepoel and O’Connor joined this quartet. Now suddenly seven men were chasing Pogacar, who seemed to be having a more difficult time. His lead dropped to under forty seconds.
But the Slovenian recovered. He extended his lead again, making it clear at ten kilometers from the finish that the pursuers were fighting for second place. Or did Van der Poel think there was more to be achieved? In any case, the defending champion went all out on the last steep climb. He opened a gap together with Hirschi and Skujiņš, but after the descent the rest came back. On the last climb, Hirschi, Healy and Skujiņš tried in succession. Even after that, almost everyone tried it again.
Gold for Pogacar, bronze for Van der Poel
Meanwhile, Pogacar entered. After victories in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, the Slovenian impressively crowned himself world champion. The first to cross the line after him was Ben O’Connor. The Australian managed to slip away from his opponents in the final kilometers. The sprint for third place was started early by Skujiņš, but Van der Poel managed to catch up with the Latvian. The Dutchman thus captured the bronze.
photo: Cor Vos
