"We've seen riders do ridiculous things in recent years, but the physical difference, the superiority with which he rides..." - Thijs Zonneveld on Tadej Pogacar

As if it was ever really in doubt, Tadej Pogacar emphatically proclaimed himself the best rider on the planet last Sunday in Zurich, taking a first-ever Rainbow Jersey in scintillating style, winning the men's elite road race at the 2024 World Championships with a 100km attack.

Understandably, in the aftermath of such a spectacular display of dominance, the praise has been raining in on Pogacar from all sides. One of those stunned experts is Thijs Zonneveld. "We've seen riders do ridiculous things in recent years, but never before has the difference been as big as with Pogacar. The physical difference, the superiority with which he rides..." Zonneveld begins his post-race analysis via the In het Wiel podcast.

"His pace, even though he can only ride eighty percent of what he normally can, is still so high that the group behind him, if they ride around normally, still doesn't get any closer," continues Zonneveld, stunned by the ease of which Pogacar held off the field, even as the time gap threatened to close in the final 20km. "They have to ride flat out to even keep up with him. In that last lap he loses three quarters of a minute on the climbs, but on the plateau he keeps on grinding."

Despite this though, Zonneveld was also left a little disappointed in the chase of the Slovenian. "Those were mainly the Belgians. They said that they were able to ride at the front for too short a time, like Tim Wellens or Quinten Hermans. They really did say that it could have been better," he explains. "They did indicate that they tried to close the gap as quickly as possible. They may have burned out too many riders too quickly. There are hardly any Belgians who finish, anyway. Show more patience. So don't immediately take control of the race and ride flat out, but maybe they should have found some supporters. That they could shop around with the Netherlands: don't you want to put two of them in front too?"

So where now does Pogacar rank in the alumni of cycling greats after this latest display of brilliance? "Eddy himself has passed on the crown in that respect, so from now on we have to say: 'This is the new Pogacar.' But if Merckx says so himself, then we're there, right?" Zonneveld concludes. "He trains more seriously, his nutrition has become much more serious than before. The material, the aerodynamics... But in the races he still rides on a kind of instinct and it is not always tactical choices that are very planned."