"I don't feel like an exceptional racer" - Matej Mohoric on battling 'Impostor Syndrome' and peloton's 'aliens'

This year Matej Mohoric, a Bahrain Victorious athlete, has added the 19th stage of the Tour de France, a stage in the Tour of Poland and the Gravel World Championship to his palmares, but he doesn't see himself as a rider among the so-called "absolute top" cyclists.

However, Matej Mohoric, who would certainly be on that honorable list, explains to the Belgian website Bahamontes, how the peloton sees the greatest cyclists of the moment. "I don't feel like an exceptional racer and I don't belong to the 'aliens': Pogacar, Van Aert, Evenepoel, Van der Poel. That's what we call them in the peloton: 'the aliens'. I'm usually one of the first mortals, but put me on the list and you'll see that my results aren't as good as theirs."  

"There's a big difference between how I look at myself, how I mainly see my failures, and how the outside world sees me. Racers are mainly known for their successes, their victories. The Impostor Syndrome is common to many cyclists, up to 40%, I think. Sometimes they don't know how good they are."

"I exploit the discrepancy between my own vision and that of others in order to win. If I'm on the edge, about to explode, many runners think that I won't be able to maintain an unsustainable pace for long. But that's not true. At the end of a race, whether it's easy or difficult, mental strength and the psychological game is the deciding factor," he concludes.

*Article written by Carlos Silva