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"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

Cycling
by Kieran Wood
Monday, 30 September 2024 at 10:10
tadejpogacar mathieuvanderpoel
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."

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1 POGAČAR TadejSlovenia6:27:30
2 O'CONNOR BenAustralia0:34
3 VAN DER POEL MathieuNetherlands0:58
4 SKUJIŅŠ TomsLatvia,,
5 EVENEPOEL RemcoBelgium,,
6 HIRSCHI MarcSwitzerland,,
7 HEALY BenIreland1:00
8 MAS EnricSpain1:01
9 SIMMONS QuinnUnited States2:18
10 BARDET RomainFrance,,
11 ADRIÀ RogerSpain,,
12 MOLLEMA BaukeNetherlands,,
13 PEDERSEN MadsDenmark3:52
14 HOELGAARD MarkusNorway,,
15 ZIMMERMANN GeorgGermany,,
16 ONLEY OscarGreat Britain,,
17 MCNULTY BrandonUnited States,,
18 HINDLEY JaiAustralia,,
19 VERMAERKE KevinUnited States,,
20 VACEK MathiasCzech Republic,,
21 RYAN ArchieIreland6:04
22 MADOUAS ValentinFrance,,
23 WANDAHL FrederikDenmark,,
24 CORT MagnusDenmark6:36
25 CICCONE GiulioItaly,,
26 AYUSO JuanSpain,,
27 VALTER AttilaHungary,,
28 LIPOWITZ FlorianGermany,,
29 GROßSCHARTNER FelixAustria,,
30 YATES AdamGreat Britain,,
31 KELDERMAN WilcoNetherlands,,
32 VLASOV AleksandrIndividual Neutral Athletes,,
33 GAUDU DavidFrance,,
34 JORGENSON MatteoUnited States,,
35 SIVAKOV PavelFrance6:40
36 GESCHKE Simon Germany7:01
37 KÜNG StefanSwitzerland,,
38 GRÉGOIRE RomainFrance,,
39 POWLESS NeilsonUnited States12:09
40 TEJADA HaroldColombia,,
41 JOHANNESSEN Tobias HallandNorway,,
42 COSTA RuiPortugal,,
43 ROTA LorenzoItaly,,
44 CÔTÉ Pier-AndréCanada,,
45 ZAMBANINI EdoardoItaly,,
46 SCHULTZ NickAustralia,,
47 SHEFFIELD MagnusUnited States,,
48 ULISSI DiegoItaly,,
49 OOMEN SamNetherlands,,
50 STEINHAUSER GeorgGermany,,
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