The favorite was unique and the challenge was enormous. Tadej Pogacar, watched by all, wanted to add this Sunday a record that, to date, only Eddy Merckx and Stephan Roche held. The Slovenian was looking to add, in the same season, his first rainbow to the Giro and Tour won in the first part of the year.
The weather, favorable, also smiled to a Slovenian team that, for greater security, counted in its structure with men of the category of Roglic or Tratnik to support their beloved leader. The Slovenian team did not have the problems that accompanied Spain from the early stages.
First it was Pello Bilbao, Spain’s best asset, who went to the ground in a very silly situation. He would end up abandoning with 75 km to go. After that accident it was Mikel Landa who got caught in a clog, got hit by a rival and had to put his foot down (as you can see in this video from @CSSpoiler). They weren’t the only illustrious ones to drop out: Almeida, Alaphilippe, Girmay… the list ended up being remarkable.
Nor could Pascual Momparler’s team get one of its eight men into the day’s breakaway led by Dillier, Foss, Geschke, Rui Oliveira, Wirtgen and Pekala.
Then another group jumped to embrace the first convoy. There were Cattaneo, Tratnik, Sivakov, Stephen Williams, Lipowitz, Jay Vine… and Castrillo, who was one of the most prominent Spaniards, could not be there. He tried his best to make the cut, but did not make it.
Pogacar moment
With 100 kilometers to go came the expected attack by Pogacar. The Slovenian wanted to catch the rest of the riders off guard, to see what they would do. And he succeeded. Only Bagioli could follow his wheel for a few minutes.
Castrillo, who could not be in the previous cut of Tratnik, also sought to get into that cut. But the ‘green monster’ plays in another category. The Spaniard exploded and was soon reabsorbed by the group, where Van der Poel, Hirschi and Evenepoel, the other big favorites, were traveling surprised.
Belgium’s legs were starting to get stiff. With Tratnik’s help, Tadej caught the frontrunners like someone drinking tea after lunch. And, true to his lunatic streak, he went solo with 89 km to go. What in any other cyclist would be recklessness, madness for the sake of the gallery or in search of the limelight on television, in his case, thanks to his great engine, always turns out to be a certainty.
This time, Tadej came to his senses to ask for more effort from his breakaway companion for at least 4 kilometers. On the next slope, ‘Poggy’ attacked again to go with Sivakov, teammate (UAE) to whom he could ‘give’ a medal if he was able to hold his pace.
Behind, Remco was in anguish. The Belgian, now without teammates, attacked in desperation to make his chances last. He did not drop his rivals, although the group was considerably reduced. Adrià and Enric Mas were still hanging on.
The Balearic, very brave, was in the medal race until the last breath. Remco was suffering. In addition to Mas and Evenepoel, O’Connor, Van der Poel, Hirschi, Healy and Skujins were in that group.
Ben, podium during LaVuelta after his heroics in the Yunquera, went ahead to find a few meters that served to give him the silver. Behind, Van der Poel made good his condition of fast man to take the bronze. Mas (8th) could not be in a drawer ruled by a Pogacar who, despite suffering in the last kilometers, reminded without a doubt who is the king of cycling.
The Acoiris, for the favorite
It had been 35 years since a Tour winner repeated the same season with the World Cup. Lemond did it in 1989. Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) had previously won the Triple Crown that Tadej now craved and who, to achieve it, decided to absent himself from LaVuelta.
He rested after the Tour and prepared this event thoroughly to be able to make an exhibition like the one he did in Zurich. It helped him to win his first rainbow and to debut for his country in the World Cup. A new check in a list that seems endless.
Zurich 2024 World Cup rankings
1st Tadej Pogacar (ESL) 6h. 27:30″.
2nd Ben O’Connor (AUS), at 34″.
3rd Mathieu van der Poel (PIB), at 58″.
4th Tom Skujins (LET), m.t.
5th Remco Evenepoel (BEL), m.t.
6th Marc Hirschi (SUI), m.t.
7th Ben Healy (IRL), at 1:00″.
8th Enric Mas (ESP), at 1:01″.
9th Quins Simmons (USA), at 2:18″.
10th Romain Bardet (FRA), m.t
Source: Taken from Marca