"There’s only one guy that can win" - Bruyneel in awe of Tadej Pogacar's world championship defence
Cycling
The men’s road race at the 2025 World Championships in
Kigali will be remembered as the day Tadej Pogacar moved yet another step
closer to GOAT status. The Slovenian attacked with more than 100 kilometers to
go and held the world’s best riders at bay to claim his second consecutive
rainbow jersey. For Johan Bruyneel and Spencer Martin, speaking on The Move
podcast, the outcome was expected but incredible nonetheless.
As Bruyneel put it: “I’m going to say no. I’m going to say
there was nobody able to follow Pogacar. If Ayuso and Del Toro are not able to
follow him then I don’t think Remco would have followed him either.”
Another 100km solo raid
Pogacar’s decisive move came on Mount Kigali with 104 kilometres
remaining. Unlike last year, when he bridged to the remnants of a breakaway,
this time the acceleration was instantly the race-winning move as only Juan
Ayuso and Isaac del Toro could follow momentarily.
“Pogacar does what he did last year but better,” Bruyneel
explained. “Last year he attacked with a little under 100 km. This year he went
with 104 km to go on Mount Kigali… this was straight away the winning move.”
Even for experienced observers, it was a reminder of just
how complete the Slovenian has become. Bruyneel admitted: “Why did I even doubt
Pogacar? This is the biggest confirmation that he’s the best in the world on a
course like this.”
The damage was devastating. “There is no beating this guy,”
Bruyneel said. “He just makes it look smooth… almost everybody else passed the
finish line dead, dead.”
An unlucky race for Evenepoel
Remco Evenepoel, fresh from winning the time trial world
title, was widely seen as Pogacar’s greatest challenger. Yet his day unraveled
on Mount Kigali. He was dropped heavily on Mount Kigali, suffered bike issues,
and later voiced his frustration. Still, the double Olympic champion did manage
to pick up the silver medal.
Bruyneel was clear: “Would Remco have been able to follow
Pogacar? No. He got dropped big time. He was not with the second group and he
was not with the third group.”
Much of the discussion centered on Evenepoel’s bike changes.
“It could be that his disappointment comes down to not being able to
communicate his problems… without those bike changes, he thought he had a
chance,” Bruyneel said.
Yet as Martin pointed out, champions must deal with
adversity: “To be a champion, stuff goes wrong and you have to deal with it.
It’s not going to be perfect.”
The Belgian did still claim silver, but his attitude
afterward drew as much commentary as the ride itself. “Remco is not going to be
happy unless he wins,” Bruyneel noted. “That’s also the quality of a champion,
not happy with second, only satisfied when he wins.”
The hardest course ever?
The Rwandan circuit proved every bit as selective as organisers
had promised. The relentless climbs and cobbled sections prevented recovery and
magnified every weakness.
“On this course there was no recovery. Zero. Once you blow,
it’s over,” Bruyneel emphasised.
What set Pogacar apart was not just power but technique.
“Pogacar looked so smooth on the cobbles… like he was gliding over them, while
everyone else was working the bike,” Bruyneel observed.
UAE politics
For much of the decisive phase, Pogacar was joined by his
UAE Team Emirates – XRG colleagues Isaac Del Toro and Juan Ayuso, though both
eventually cracked. Their presence on the front created a strange dynamic,
mixing professional loyalties with national ambitions.
“It’s clear that between Del Toro and Pogacar, there’s good
vibes. But with Ayuso, that relationship is done,” Bruyneel said, alluding to
the Spaniard’s looming transfer away from UAE to Lidl-Trek for 2026.
Had Ayuso lasted longer, the tension might have exploded
into open rivalry. As it was, Del Toro rode strongly before fading, finishing
seventh, while Ayuso hung on for eighth.
Kigali’s 270-kilometer distance and over 5,000 meters of
climbing ensured only the biggest engines could contend. “If Pogacar
participates, there’s only one guy that can win, and it’s him,” Bruyneel
declared.
He added: “Anything over 250k reduces the guys who can win.
That last hour separates the really huge engines from the merely good ones.”
That separation was visible in the results: Remco Evenepoel
finished nearly 90 seconds behind the winner, Ben Healy took bronze at more
than two minutes, and riders further down the top ten were measured in minutes
rather than seconds.
The GOAT?
Beyond the tactical intrigue and technical issues, the core
message of the race was unmistakable: Pogacar is the undisputed strongest rider
in the world when the terrain turns brutal. He may just be the greatest we have
ever seen.
“When everybody expects you to win and you’re there when
everybody expects you to be there, and you just deliver, and in what a fashion
he delivered,” Bruyneel said.
The way he did it, early, aggressive, and unrelenting, left
little doubt. He is not just a repeat champion but a rider who appears
untouchable in this type of race.
Looking ahead
For the rest of the peloton, the challenge is daunting.
Evenepoel was the best of the rest, but his inability to match Pogacar uphill
raises questions about whether he can ever truly beat him head-to-head on such
terrain.
The younger generation, Del Toro at 21, Ayuso at 23, showed
promise but also their limits. Their time may yet come, but for now, the
Slovenian has a firm grip on both the rainbow jersey and the narrative of men’s
cycling. The course itself highlighted the reality of modern world
championships: with races designed this hard, only the very best can
realistically win. Outsiders and opportunists, once a feature of the rainbow
jersey, have little chance.
Ultimately, Kigali’s world championship road race was less
about suspense and more about inevitability. Pogacar announced his intentions
on Mount Kigali and never looked back. Those who tried to follow were broken,
those who chased never came close.
“There was nobody able to follow Pogacar,” Bruyneel
concluded.
The simplicity of that statement captures the essence of the
day. Cycling’s biggest one-day race was won not through chance or tactical
nuance but by the sheer force of the best rider in the world doing what he does
best: breaking everyone else.
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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