Pello Bilbao talks about the World Championships, Spain's plan and Tadej Pogacar: "He is predictable, he doesn't attack you by surprise"

With just a handful of hours to go before the start of the elite men's road race at the Zurich 2024 World Championships, Pello Bilbao gave an interview to Marca, where he spoke about his options, his current relationship with coach Pascual Momparler, the tactics of the Spanish team for the race and Tadej Pogacar, who he said is usually predictable, but still you can't follow him.

"I was looking forward to coming to a World Championship with guarantees and experience, with an attractive circuit. We have reason to be excited. We will have a strong team for Sunday."

The group

"The way the race is expected to be, with so much aggressiveness, I think that in many moments it will be good to have several tricks and to be able to move early in phases a little before the most decisive one. It is clear that, in the end, we are many experienced riders. Almost all of us have had good results in the last few races. It's difficult for the coach to organize all this."

Spain's tactics

"We haven't talked too much yet about strategy. It could be. In the end, the course fits me like a glove and I come with the confidence of a good result in Montreal. It was one of the best moments of the season. I'm fresh to face 270 kilometers. I'm well prepared."

His relationship with Momparler

"It was a spur of the moment thing. I am not a spiteful person. It's true that, at the time, we didn't understand each other well. And the decision didn't sit well with me, but that's how it stayed. Although people want to turn it around and think that, on subsequent occasions, I have not gone with the national team because of a bad relationship, that is totally wrong. There have simply not been times when I felt confident to go to the World Championships because of the routes or the time of the season, but this year I told him from the beginning that I wanted to come. He agreed. We've had it in mind from the start and the fact that I dropped out of the Tour has made me come more in progression and maybe with more freshness."

Bringing down Slovenia

"I think we have to provoke the situation from afar. I see that, if we allow Slovenia to lead the road tied up until the last kilometers, it will be impossible to stop Pogacar (or even Roglic). We have a team with several assets to send people ahead. We are aware that we are not used to racing for selections. It's strange because this group doesn't work together all year. Situations can arise that are difficult to foresee."

Tadej Pogacar

"Normally, he is predictable. He doesn't attack you by surprise. He even often says where he's going to attack. But it's practically impossible to follow him. In fact, sometimes a rider tries to follow him and he's not even able to follow the next group. You feel so much superiority from him that you start to think what is the next best option."