For several years Matej Mohoric has been given as one of the best descenders in the peloton over the last few years, however he himself argues there are other riders who master the art even better.
“No, I’m definitely not the best. I think I’m pretty good, but no, I’m not the best, there are others who are better and faster than me," Mohoric said in an interview with CyclingWeekly. “Julian Alaphilippe is pretty good, some sprinters are pretty special, then Tom Pidcock of course, he’s pretty fast," he answers, giving notoriety to the sprinters who often blast down the mountains in order to make it within the time limit of the mountainous races but never feature on the TV cameras.
Like many other things in cycling, it's a skill: "I think you’re born with it or you’re not, you either have it or you don’t, that’s the lack of fear I guess. Then it’s just the practice that makes the difference, especially from a young age and learning from your mistakes."
Inbetween his successes, the Slovenian took advantage of his quality in the downhills. His biggest career win, this year at Milano-Sanremo, was largely due to the risks he took and speed he carried down the technical descent of the Poggio, which allowed him to get a gap that was to never be closed. There were also discussions on his use of a dropper post, more commonly used in mountain biking.
Mohoric revealed that one of his mechanics - Filip Tišma - was the one to come up with the idea and convince the Slovenian to execute it. “He is in charge of research and is a committed mountain biker himself, and knows that the dropper post has an advantage in mountain biking. He was wondering about the advantages on the road and came to me and asked me about the idea. I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I was happy to test it over the winter.”
“Already the first time I used it, I saw a big opportunity. I thought it could make quite a significant difference and be an advantage but wasn’t sure exactly how much. Milano-San Remo seemed like the perfect place to use that advantage because the race can be decided on that final descent.” Sure enough, the Bahrain - Victorious rider flew into his first monument win, one that has marked the season.
Mohoric reveals how there was a lot of planning and thought behind the strategy: “We had thought about using it before, but then we decided to save it for the big one. I love that race and had dreamt of winning it one day, even without a dropper seatpost, so that was just something that could help me. We thought that we would be the only ones using it on that day and it worked.”
“To have a plan come together like this is probably a once in a lifetime experience. I was just amazed, proud and happy for the whole team and everyone around me. More people know you for winning stages at the Tour de France. Although from an athlete's perspective, it’s probably easier to win two stages at the Tour than to win a monument, especially in that way,” he concluded.
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