A week on from being caught in the individual time trial at the Kigali World Championships, Tadej Pogačar — like he has done so often in his career — utterly dominated one of the sport’s biggest races, taking a second consecutive rainbow jersey at the road race. On a course that promised attrition and rewarded an early move, the race was always likely to suit the Slovenian. The route around the Rwandan capital, with its undulating terrain and punishing ramps — especially the cobbled killer of Mont Kigali — seemed tailor-made for a rider of his pedigree and daring style. This was not a parcours for the faint-hearted. In fact, fewer than 30 riders making it to the finish line meant it was locked down by Pogačar early on. 

In other scenarios, like in the elite women’s race on Saturday won by Magdeleine Vallieres the lack of control caused by countries, rather than trade teams competing for the win, can allow earlier moves to gain enough ground, while the pre-race favourites look at each other. However, perhaps learning from the women’s race, the cohesive Slovenian squad, with the outright favourite, kept a close leash on any move.

So, it was down to Pogačar making the first move among the main contenders, splintering the race. And with just over 100km left to race, there was a brief period where three (current) UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders (Pogačar, Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro) were off the front together and some form of tactics — albeit not the kind we are used to for the rest of the cycling calendar — may take hold. However, it soon became apparent that tactics were not going to play any further role. There was only going to be one winner. 

“I think the parcours was designed for this,” said the triumphant Pogačar at the finish. “I was hoping a small group would form, like we did with Juan and Del Toro. It was a perfect combo, I thought ‘this is a dream’ to ride together as far as possible as a trio, but Juan had a problem quite soon on the cobbles and Del Toro had some stomach problems in the race, so I was left alone quite early. I was solo like last year, just fighting with myself, but I am so happy I made it.”

The attack on the hardest climb of the day was a signature Pogačar move — his seated power virtually unmatchable. With only Ayuso able to follow initially his move, before Del Toro joined later. Behind him, a fractured chase splintered and choked. By the final lap, it was theatre. Kigali, already vibrating with a week of cycling fever, could celebrate one of the greatest sportspeople of all time gracing their World Championships. The sight of Pogačar soloing toward the line was pure poetry. A rainbow jersey earned in a solo move.

Pogačar, who earlier in the week had praised the course design, admitted it wasn’t an easy win: “The climbs were getting harder and harder. On the downhills, it wasn’t so fast so we had to pedal quite a lot. It was so hard in the final few laps. You have to push through and hope to do the best. It was an incredible experience all together. Let’s say it was a successful week.”

For the fans hoping for more suspense in the final couple of hours, there had been a glimmer of hope when the chase pack was whittled down to the cooperative trio of Ben Healy, Remco Evenepoel and Mattias Skjelmose. The latter two were the last two riders to claw a Pogačar move back in a race when they dramatically returned to the world champion at the Amstel Gold Race in April. 

After Evenepoel’s storming time trial seven days earlier, Belgian fans were dreaming their star could repeat what he achieved in 2022 in Australia where he claimed a road race rainbow jersey. This year the TT champion was Pogačar’s biggest challenger at the road race, but he himself was in and out of the running for a medal for the last 100km, appearing to be suffering from mechanical issues. He did manage to clip off the front of the chase group to claim silver, a just reward for his exploits.

Behind it was Healy who got the better of Skjelmose, for Ireland’s first elite men’s road race medal in decades. But, as so often has been the case in the past five years, this was Pogačar’s day. Like last year, where a Giro-Tour-Worlds triple was undoubtedly one of the best ever seasons, the usual talking points between fans will remain — Is he better than Eddy Merckx? Does he have to win a fifth Tour de France before he is considered the greatest of all time? Should World Championship routes try and favour more open racing? Or the debate that is more contentious and divides opinion more: is his dominance less entertaining to watch? 

These conversations are played out in the living rooms — or more often on social media channels, and ultimately comes down to differences in opinion. One thing is not subjective, the reality on the road is that Pogačar is in a league of his own and he will be in rainbows for another year. 

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