Tadej Pogačar cemented his place in cycling history by winning the men’s elite road race at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships in Zurich. The Slovenian superstar launched a daring attack with 100 kilometres to go, riding solo to victory and adding the rainbow jersey to his already impressive 2024 haul, which includes wins in both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
The race started with a sombre moment as the peloton observed a minute’s silence in memory of Swiss junior rider Muriel Furrer, who tragically died following a crash earlier in the week. Once the flag dropped, the early kilometres saw several unsuccessful breakaway attempts. After nearly 40 kilometres, a group finally formed with riders like Silvan Dillier (Switzerland), Luc Wirtgen (Luxembourg), and Piotr Pekala (Poland), alongside former World Time Trial Champion Tobias Foss (Norway). The break opened up a gap of four minutes, while the peloton, led by Slovenia and Belgium, kept things under control.
The real action began once the peloton reached the seven laps of the hilly circuit around Zurich. At this point, a counter-attack group featuring Jay Vine, Laurens De Plus, and Stevie Williams broke away from the peloton, eventually catching the early escapees to form a leading group of 16 riders. With teams like Denmark, Spain, and the USA now chasing, it looked like the break could be brought back.
But then, just over 100 kilometres from the finish, Pogačar made his move on a steep climb. His attack caught the peloton off guard, with only Pavel Sivakov managing to follow. As the pair powered away, Pogačar’s teammate Jan Tratnik dropped back from the leading group to support his leader, briefly providing the Slovenian with additional firepower before Pogačar went solo with 50 kilometres remaining.
As Pogačar extended his lead to over a minute, the peloton scrambled to organise a chase. Belgium, led by Remco Evenepoel, worked hard to close the gap, but their efforts fell short as Pogačar continued to hold his advantage. A late chase group formed, including Marc Hirschi, Ben O’Connor, and Evenepoel, but they couldn’t close the gap.
Pogačar crossed the finish line in Zurich with a 31-second lead, securing Slovenia’s first-ever world road race title. O’Connor claimed silver, while defending champion Mathieu van der Poel won the sprint for bronze.
Photo Credit: GettyReactions from the riders
Speaking after the race, Pogačar could barely contain his emotions: “I cannot believe what just happened, after this kind of season, I put a lot of pressure on myself for today. We came here for the victory… It’s an incredible day, I can’t believe what happened.”
He admitted that his long-range attack was not planned: “Of course, it was not planned. We had planned to keep the race under control… I went with the flow and luckily I made it, but it was so tough.”
Ben O’Connor, who finished second, was equally stunned by Pogačar’s audacity. “To come out with second is a huge, huge result for me and for the Aussie team… It’s something I’ve done all my career, it was perfect timing.”
Mathieu van der Poel, who claimed the bronze, also acknowledged Pogačar’s dominance. “I saw him going, but my plan was to try to save as much energy as possible… Tadej was just too strong for everybody.”
Even Remco Evenepoel, who placed fifth, praised the Slovenian’s performance. “When he went on the top of the climb, I was sitting next to Mathieu [van der Poel]. We were thinking it was a suicide move… But in the end, he was on a good day, he rode as fast as we did in the back, so he deserved it.”
Pogačar’s victory adds yet another chapter to his extraordinary 2024 season, as he becomes the first male rider in 37 years to win the Giro, Tour, and the World Championships in a single year. Annemiek van Vleuten famously completed the same set during the 2022 season.
2024 Men’s World Championships Road Race
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
