"I actually thought he was throwing away his chances of the world title" - Mathieu van der Poel recalls shock at Tadej Pogacar's 100km out attack

Despite a brilliant, battling effort, Mathieu van der Poel couldn't quite retain his Rainbow Jersey in the road race at the 2024 World Championships in Zurich. Instead, the Dutchman had to admit defeat to a simply incredible Tadej Pogacar.

Leaving all his rivals stunned, Pogacar attacked clear of the peloton with 100km to go and was not seen again until the finish line. "I saw it happen when he rode away. I actually thought he was throwing away his chances of the world title, but it turned out that wasn't the case," laughed a somewhat stunned Van der Poel in his post-race interview.

Inside the final 20km, it looked momentarily as if the efforts of the day had started to catch up with the Slovenian as his advantage dropped from over a minute to around 30 seconds at one point. "Suddenly the sign appeared that said 35 seconds," Van der Poel recalls of that time, where victory fleeting flickered back into view. "Then it seemed like we were getting a bit closer, but then he pulled away again. I think this is one of the toughest numbers I have ever experienced."