INTERVIEW | "I don't think I got any of the results I really worked hard for" - Matej Mohoric opens up about disappointing 2024 and shares his take on cycling safety and downhill risks
Cycling
CyclingUpToDate was able to talk one to one with several of the leaders of Bahrain - Victorious. In Altea, we met up with classics specialist and former Gravel World Champion Matej Mohoric, who talked to us regarding a disappointing 2024 season; his thoughts regarding descending safety and the mentality behind taking risks; and where he intends to take his first wins in 2025.
2024 was a year that on the results sheet does not portray a bad year at all, but on the road there were several 'what ifs'. Mohoric won right at the start of the year at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana; was fifth at Strade Bianche; sixth at Milano-Sanremo; won the time-trial national championships in Slovenia and finished on the Top10 of the Tour de Pologne and Renewi Tour.
However he was close to taking a big one, repeating his win at Sanremo in March. He believes this didn't happen because of Alpecin-Deceuninck's tactics. "I was really close in Sanremo, I think if [Jasper] Philipsen was not in our group then van der Poel would race for himself, maybe that attack in the final kilometers would have worked. But Mathieu [van der Poel] rightfully closed the gap for Jasper and Jasper won the race, so played out perfectly for them [...] It was a season for me to forget but I am moving on and working hard to be even better next year".
Compatriot Tadej Pogacar is going all-out to win the Italian monument, and is said to have extra focus on taking the perfect lineup to attack the hills in 2025. This could benefit the 30-year old as well. "Yes potentially, even though there are some sprinters specially Philipsen and Pedersen who are really strong and can make it over even though the tempo is super hard, but definitely a benefit for me that not all of the sprinters can make it across in the first group".
But in the cobbled classics, disaster struck as he crashed out of Flanders, and the injuries that ensured prevented him from racing Paris-Roubaix. "The highlight of the year was the crash in Flanders which destroyed my classics ambitions. It was not really a good season for me, I don't think I got any of the results I really worked hard for". The Tour de France also did not go well for him, he didn't manage to get any meaningful result.
In 2025 he's aiming big. He doesn't yet know where he will start his season, but he will already race a bit before the 'Opening Weekend' (Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurnw) where he aims to win. "It's not pinned down just yet but I guess I will do one or two races before I go to Belgium for Omloop and Kuurne which are the first two important goals for me".
Despite the presence of a stage into Slovenia at the Giro d'Italia this year, the plans will not change for Mohoric in the bigger picture in 2025. "I think it's going to be similar to the past couple seasons. I'm going to focus on the spring classics, then a small break and Tour de France".
The team had 9 new signings, all young riders, and many are riders who can potentially race well in the classics including compatriot Zak Erzen. Mohoric looks with excitement towards his new teammates: "I think we have a lot of new talent and I'm eager to see them and how they perform at the top level. Some of them are really strong in training but that doesn't always necessarily translate to success on the road, but I really really hope that they will prove that we can have success on the road as well".
We asked him if he considered Mountain Biking or Cyclocross due to his extremely talented bike handling skills, but he assures it's too much to link together with his goals on the road. "I was Gravel World Champion last year and I did some gravel races in 2024, it was fun it was something different but it was quite demanding on top of my road schedule so I don't know if I'm gonna keep racing gravel in 2025," he reveals.
"I'm most definitely not going to go into any other discipline races like Mountain Bike or Cyclocross because I am with team Bahrain - Victorious we are a road focused team, our goals and ambitions are on the road and it's unlikely that you'll see me in a mountain bike or cyclocross race".
Lastly, we questioned Mohoric about safety in cycling. As one of the very best downhill experts in the peloton - ever since he showed himself, winning the under-23 World Championships in 2013 with a downhill move - he's been one of the most thrilling riders in the bunch. "It's always going to be racing, we as racers are willing to put a lot, to risk a lot to win a race, it is a very competitive sport and the rewards are pretty big so... It's like with your suitcase, if you buy a bigger suitcase you're just going to put more in it," he responds.
"In the end it comes down to us to access the risks but to stay on the safe side, but sometimes we do risk too much, it's in our nature, it's always going to be like that. There's not a lot you can do, cycling is not a sport that happens in a controlled environment, in a stadium or race track so it has it's limits, I don't think it's an option that we start racing in a full protection gear, or maybe a small amount of it I don't know".
But he does admit that he has lowered the amount of times he is willing to take such risks. "Most of the time if it's not down to winning a big big race for me, I really try to stay within my limits, I never would risk anything for a 7th place in a race, and I for sure never take any risks if I just want to finish the race. Of course when I was trying to win Sanremo I tried taking a lot of risks in the final corner and I almost had a bad crash... But it was my personal decision and nothing happened in the end I managed to stay upright but if I did just a small mistake or was not able to correect the mistake I did I would've probably ended up in a wall and had a really really bad crash".
"When you are younger you take much more risk because you have less experience and you don't know what can go wrong. As you get older you make more mistakes and you learn from them, and you learn to take risks only when it matters and you limit your risks in training or when it really doesn't matter," Mohoric concluded.
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- He is definitely among the best, but marred by bad luck the past few years. With Pogi, MvDP, Remco and Wout dominating the classics, the likelihood for him to win in the classics is slimmer these days even if he's back to his best shape. I like his attacks, more strength to his elbow.
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