"If it went wrong, he would have made one of the biggest mistakes in World Championships” - Tadej Pogacar 'only rider' who'd win with 100km attack says Adam Blythe

Tadej Pogacar fulfilled his ultimate cycling destiny on Sunday afternoon in Zurich, taking his first-ever Rainbow Jersey in style with a 100km attack for one of the greatest victories in World Championships history.

“I think that was like a softener, just to try and get things rolling a little bit,” a stunned Adam Blythe reflected afterwards on Eurosport's coverage of the 2024 World Championships. “There were a few people ill positioned behind, who I think would have been able to follow but they were so far back. He didn’t expect to go at that time, he’s just admitted it, but I don’t think anyone else did."

Although a 100km out attack had the element of surprise, much more than that was needed to ride all the way to victory. “The legs that boy has on him are just exceptional. I don’t think even he realised just how good he was actually feeling," Blythe assesses, admitting that had it gone wrong, the attack could've been viewed a lot less favourably. “It paid off for him, luckily, but he’s probably the only rider in the world that can make a move with 100km to go and win the World Championships. I just cannot believe he went on the attack with 100km to go in the World Championships. Who does that?”

“You have to remember there’s so many riders on top of their game, look at Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel, all these riders are aiming for this one win," continues the former British national champion. “He did it and if it went wrong, he would have made one of the biggest mistakes within the World Championships.”

“He’s been making history his whole career but that was some ride. Boy, did he have to work for that, he had to go so, so deep,“ added Matt Stephens, before Dani Rowe concluded the Eurosport analysis. “It was such a spectacle and it really did keep us on the edge of our seats. Tadej Pogacar doing Tadej Pogacar things, going with 100km to go, solo with 51, but he was in so much pain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pogacar fight as hard as he did today, he truly turned himself inside out. It was just true class, which we see time and time again from this man.”