There was more than a bit of bewilderment in the peloton when Tadej Pogačar launched his attack at in the men's elite road race at the World Championships on Sunday. Hours later, the Slovenian soloed to historic victory by a margin of 34 seconds.
Remco Evenepoel, a man who knows something about winning big races from distance, said: "The moment he went, I was saying to Mathieu [van der Poel] that it was a suicide move and that everything was going to come back together."
Pogačar attacked from 100km out, first to bridge up to the breakaway, and then he went alone from just over 50km to go. These numbers sound mind boggling, but it has become expected from the man who stretches what is normal.
"It was a very long way to go," Evenpoel continued. "Every normal guy would say 100km to go is way too far, but I think Tadej this year is not normal."
Third-placed Van der Poel, for his part, added: "I thought he was throwing away his chances for a jersey, because the situation was not that ideal at that moment, and his team couldn’t take advantage. I thought it was more of a panic attack, but he was so strong that he could make it work until the end."
The Dutchman told him he was "crazy" after the pair had finished.
"I saw him going, but my plan was to save as much energy as possible," he continued. "Normally, that’s the clue for a good Worlds, to save your energy. Especially when Belgium took control, I thought they were going to close it. In the end, he was just too strong for everybody. The smallest gap we saw was 36 seconds on the board, and we thought maybe he was at the end of his power, then he had 45 again, so he was accelerating again."
There was a lot of this genre of disbelief. "I think it was a pretty tough moment in the race, 100km left to go, everyone is thinking it's too much to do," Ben Healy explained post-race. "He went, and I don't think anyone expected it. Then it was the whole Belgian team chasing them down, so I think with 100km left everyone thought it was a bit much, even for Tadej. He proved us wrong again."
"I don't think we were ever getting back to Tadej to be honest," Healy added, despite at one point being in a move about 40 seconds behind the Slovenian.
His attack came as such a surprise that some didn't even notice. "I didn't even know he'd gone, to be honest," Oscar Onley said. "Then I heard at some point, and then [Pavel] Sivakov had 40 seconds. It's just really impressive what he does, today and the whole year. It's another level. It's just impressive."
The distance from the finish might have been extreme, but it wasn't unexpected. Pogačar has completed one of the all-time seasons with victory at the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and now the Worlds. He won six stages apiece at the Tour and the Giro. He is the third man in history to complete this unlikely treble. It's staggering, really, but that's Pogačar.
"If anyone is surprised that Pogačar won this race then I don’t think they follow cycling," Quinn Simmons pointed out.
However, this is not the end, we are now firmly in the Pogačar era.
"It seems like this is just the beginning, he’s stronger than ever," Van der Poel said. "I would say he’s a deserved world champion. If you see his season, it’s the only one that deserves to wear it. I think he’s going to be an incredible world champion."
