Tadej Pogacar: World Championship course is ‘tough and actually laborious’
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Hailed as probably the most versatile riders of contemporary biking, Tadej Pogačar has gained nearly all the most prestigious races within the self-discipline – besides one: the elite males’s highway race on the World Championships.
The Slovenian is barely 24 however has already amassed a palmares that might make any skilled bicycle owner proud: two total Excursions de France and 11 stage wins, Tirreno-Adriatico twice, UAE Tour twice, and Paris-Good. He is gained races from February to October, and with wins in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, and Il Lombardia and a bronze within the Olympic Video games highway race, displaying he’s nearly as good at one-day races as he’s at stage racing.
Having lately dipped his toe into the cobbled and Ardennes Spring Classics with astonishing success – successful the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, he may be thought-about a favorite for the rainbow jersey in Sunday’s elite males’s highway race in Glasgow.
In contrast to his major rivals Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert (amongst others), Pogačar didn’t arrive early sufficient to offer the highway race circuit in Glasgow an intensive preview. He opted to maximise his restoration from a punishing Tour de France the place he completed second to Jonas Vingegaard for the second yr in a row, this time after a suboptimal preparation attributable to a damaged wrist suffered throughout Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Flying in late on Friday night, Pogačar despatched Cyclingnews a short assertion on his ambitions for Sunday’s elite males’s highway race.
“Yearly is similar, it is the largest one-day race. This time is a bit bit completely different time of the yr simply after the Tour. Let’s hope for good legs,” he mentioned.
The elite males’s race begins in Edinburgh and travels 120 kilometres to Glasgow, passing over the 5.6-kilometre Crow Highway climb after 96.4 kilometres of racing. The climb has some brutal gradients and, with a criterium-like 14.3km circuit, groups will need to break up the peloton on the 11-minute climb earlier than hitting Glasgow.
Pogačar predicts the race will probably be “tremendous selective”.
“The parcours is de facto tough and actually laborious. The race itself will probably be tremendous selective. Let’s examine – it may be an excellent fascinating race and I am tremendous pleased to be right here with the nationwide workforce on the beginning.”
A world title is likely one of the few honours lacking from Pogačar’s outcomes – his high end was seventh within the under-23 race in 2018 – and one which he desires of successful.
“I at all times have a want and a dream to have the rainbow stripes. however it’s actually tough to win the World Championships – it is tremendous laborious – it’s good to be the perfect on this planet on that day.
“We’ll see – I’ll hold coming yearly and attempt to make desires come true.”
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