"I cannot wait to start" – Tadej Pogacar puts world championship title on the line in Rwanda

Tadej Pogacar lines up in Kigali as the defending world champion, ready to test himself once again on cycling’s biggest one-day stage. Speaking before the race, the Slovenian admitted the atmosphere felt familiar. "It feels good. It feels like, it's just the same as last year before the race. So, uh I'm really excited and I cannot wait to start," he told Cycling Pro Net.

The 27-year-old arrives in Rwanda carrying both ambition and the sting of recent disappointment. Just a week ago, he was caught and dropped by Remco Evenepoel in the individual time trial, a race where he ended up fourth and outside the medals. Evenepoel’s dominance reopened questions about form and momentum heading into Sunday’s road race, but Pogacar has been quick to look forward.

Preparation since that defeat has been sharp, he said, with training alongside partner Urška Žigart and recon rides with his team. "Yeah, been really good. I did some really really nice trainings with Urska and then the team came. We did again some nice coffee rides and one good training some recons and uh yeah it went really fast this last uh since the TT and yeah I think I'm ready."

On the Kigali course, which features repeated climbs and punishing altitude, he sounded both eager and cautious. "Yeah. I am really excited, maybe too excited because it's really hard section of the race but it's so early in the in the race as well."

Last year Pogacar stunned the field with a long-range move from 100 kilometers out, winning solo to take the rainbow jersey. When asked if instinct would again dictate his race, he acknowledged both planning and improvisation will matter. But will we see that version, the very best version of the Slovenian today?

"I mean we have a good plan but in cycling especially in world championships it's hard to execute into perfection the plan. A lot of things can go uh can go wrong. A lot of things can affect your plan. Uh there's 165 riders on the start line that have a different plan. So yeah, we will try to keep as a team to together as long as possible and uh do our thing."

For Pogacar, defending the rainbow jersey was always high on the list of priorities. "It was a yeah really big big goal. This year I had, I had two big goals, the tour and this," he said.