UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogačar put in a monumental ride at the World Championships road race in Zurich, Switzerland with the 26-year-old staying away solo after more than 100km on the attack. Second was the Australian Ben O’Connor (Australia) +34” and third was Mathieu Van Der Poel (Netherlands) +58”.
The action began at -100km when Pogačar surprised his rivals by attacking with still four laps remaining. He would build a slender lead of no more than a minute with assistance from his teammate Jan Tratnik (Slovenia) who helped to pull Pogačar across to the original breakaway groups which had merged ahead. With little cooperation happening out in front, Pogačar struck out with only Pavel Sivakov (France) for company though the lead over the chasers would never rise much over 40-50 seconds.
As the advantage waned and groups behind began to form, Pogačar persevered to arrive to the line alone after a remarkable season which now includes the Giro D’Italia, Tour de France and now the coveted World Championships title. He becomes only the third rider in history, after Eddy Merckx and Stephen Roche, to win the Giro, Tour, and Worlds Triple.
