Serge Pauwels praises Matej Mohoric for his honesty: “His interview really comes very close to what a rider feels day in and day out"

After his breakaway victory in a photo finish ahead of Kasper Asgreen on stage 19 of the 2023 Tour de France, Matej Mohoric gave an open and honest interview that has drawn plaudits across the cycling world, including from Sporza's Serge Pauwels.

“He summed it up very nicely. His interview really comes very close to what a rider feels day in and day out," says Pauwels to Sporza as part of their coverage of the Tour de France. “The level is so high and everyone wants to fight hard for that stage victory, because that means so much in a career. The fight from the start is so brutal. Then the best riders come forward and the race starts again."

"It doesn't stop and in the final there are new attacks and you have to go through that pain threshold again. It's always a mental fight and today it paid off for Mohoric," he continues. “The days are ticking away, every night you're late in bed and you're tired. The next day you're back at the start and it's that same fight again. You have to recharge every time. That is what makes the sport so brutally hard.”

The thing that most impressed Pauwels was the honesty of Mohoric in admitting his self-doubt, something that everyone has but most try to hide. "He really expressed the doubt that he sometimes has the feeling that he doesn't belong here," says Pauwels. "That's very normal. Bradley Wiggins said that afterwards. Everyone looked at him as the one who had won the Tour and been an Olympic champion, but deep down he was also a doubter and not sure if he could do it."

"That is very recognizable. I have never reached the level of someone like Mohoric, but every time you are at the starting line and you are almost muttering prayers. Hopefully it will work today, they are not riding too fast," admits Pauwels. "You have to mentally throw yourself into the fight to be part of the breakaway and to take risks, knowing that all the other riders are also planning to do the same."