The road race of the World Cycling Championships was won by Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian launched his attack a hundred kilometers before the finish and did not see his closest competitors again. Ben O’Connor came second, ahead of a battling Mathieu van der Poel who took bronze.
The riders started a sunny day on the bike. That was different on Saturday, where Lotte Kopecky extended her title in the pouring rain. The gentlemen started their 274 kilometer ordeal from Winterthur, where the local circuit with two heavy climbs marked the course. The peloton would cross the Zürichbergstrasse (1100 meters with sections of 17 percent) and the Witikonerstasses (2.3 kilometers at 5.7 percent) seven times. It was a course full of possibilities for climbers, but unpredictability seemed to be the asset: everything was possible.
After a nervous opening phase, eight men managed to pull away, but soon only six men remained: home rider Silvan Dillier (Switzerland) was accompanied by Tobias Foss (Norway), Simon Geschke (Germany), Rui Oliveira (Portugal), Piotr Pekala (Poland) and Luc Wirtgen (Luxembourg) were given space. This completed the flight of the day, but the chaos was not over yet. After about fifty kilometers of racing there was a crash. João Almeida and Pello Bilbao were in a lot of pain, but it was Julian Alaphilippe who had to say goodbye to the World Cup with a shoulder injury. A huge loss so early in the race.
It was not the only shadow favorite that had to leave the race in the first hundred kilometers. Mattias Skjelmose was the leader of Denmark, but he injured his back before the start and stepped down. Mikel Landa also had to give up after a crash, and Almeida was also unable to recover after his crash. The race was marked by bad luck early on. Michael Matthews also lay on the asphalt shortly afterwards. The Australian appeared to have suffered no damage and was able to continue his journey.
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Pogacar opens the final with one hundred kilometers to go
Halfway through the race the race broke open. After an earlier acceleration by Spaniard Pablo Castrillo, it was Jay Vine who opened up a gap. The Australian was accompanied by nine men: Pavel Sivakov (France), Stephen Williams (Great Britain), Florian Lipowitz (Germany), Magnus Cort (Denmark), Mattia Cattaneo (Italy) and Johannes Staune-Mittet (Norway), but it was mainly Laurens De Plus and Jan Tratnik who were prominently present. For example, the Belgians and the Slovenians had someone with them, but the Netherlands did not. With a hundred kilometers to go, the dangerous group joined the leading group: so we had sixteen men at the front, with a three-minute lead.
The Slovenians were up to something: they saw a strong group where Tratnik was not the favorite. So they started to pick up the pace. The lead shrank rapidly. Just over a hundred kilometers away, on the Witikonerstrasse, it was time for Pogacar’s inevitable attack. At first only Andrea Bagioli could follow, but the Slovenian was soon alone. With the help of Tratnik, he bridged the gap to the leading group in no time. Behind it, the Belgians took responsibility in the pursuit. The Netherlands, and Van der Poel, still kept quiet.
And so it was the Belgians who were forced to chase. Evenepoel, the co-favourite, did not go along with Pogacar and put his team in front. As a result, the gap remained fairly limited: the Slovenian’s maximum lead was one minute. At the top, everyone left the work to the green brigade, and the Netherlands also started to contribute. The lead shrank so much, but the road quickly went up again and so Pogacar attacked immediately. On the Zürichbergstrasse only a strong Sivakov could keep up with him. The Slovenian wanted his French teammate from UAE Team Emirates there and so he held back for a while. So we had two leaders: the peloton followed within a minute.
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Pogacar solo, Van der Poel chases
Behind the two at the front there was a rush and a halt. We saw the first action from Van der Poel and Evenepoel, but they could not get away. A group was formed on the plateau on top of the Witikoner climb. Seventeen men, with Evenepoel, Van der Poel and Mollema but also Matteo Jorgenson, Ben Healy, Jai Hindley, Enric Mas, David Gaudu, Mads Pedersen and others. With two laps to go, Healy pulled away, together with Oscar Onley and Toms Skujins. Behind it, Van der Poel started his pursuit. He sneaked away from the Evenepoel group and released his fellow escapees on the steepest sections. By now Pogacar was solo: Sivakov was there for the effort.
Van der Poel clearly had a difficult time on the longer climb of the day. He tried to connect with the pursuers, but it was Evenepoel and his fellow sufferers who just came back to the Dutchman. Slowly but surely the lead of the lone leader increased. Onley had now been released from the pursuers and so an Irishman and a Latvian teamed up to chase a Slovenian. However, the two of them didn’t get any closer. The winner of the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France entered the final round alone.
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Pogacar shrugs, behind which the pursuers find each other
Behind the lone hero, Hirschi accelerated. On the steepest stretch of the day he placed his attack and immediately created a gap. The Swiss tried to get to the pursuers, but the group behind them was not far either. They came closer again: that was the point for Mas to leave. He immediately went to the Swiss in front of him. Behind it it was a battle between Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Quinn Simmons, Roger Adriá, Ben O’Connor and Romain Bardet. Evenepoel made a frantic attempt to drive towards the men in front of him: the defending champion jumped along. O’Connor also joined in there. The battle for the medals was still exciting.
At the top of the Witikonstrasse, Mas and Hirschi joined the pursuers and the three behind them also returned. Little by little, the seven came closer to the Slovenian leader. He had arrived at the difficult plateau: there he could recover a bit in the short descents. As a result, he finished again, despite the good cooperation of the riders behind him. On the last stretch before the descent, Van der Poel made one last attack: he brought Hirschi and Skujins with him. Evenepoel was completely empty and initially had to let him go. However, everything came back together on the descent.
The pursuers were busy with the medal battle. Hirschi attacked on the last sloping strip, but Healy countered. No one gave each other a meter: it was Pogacar who crossed the line solo. In the end, O’Connor was the most cunning. The Australian pulled away at the right time and took silver. The bronze medal went to Van der Poel, who won the sprint for bronze. The defending champion was allowed onto the podium, a consolation prize.
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