"It could have ended up with a medal" - Matej Mohoric narrowly misses out on podium in defence of Gravel World Championship

The 2023 Gravel World Championships winner, Matej Mohoric's preparation for this year's edition was far from ideal. As such, despite losing his Rainbow Jersey and even missing out on the final podium completely, the Slovenian isn't totally unhappy.

"I'm happy about what I showed today in the race," he said afterwards in conversation with Cycling News, having crossed the line in 7th, losing out to Quinten Hermans in the sprint for third place from an elite group. "It could have ended up with a medal. It wasn't to be. I went too early in the final sprint, but yeah, I'm still happy with the performance."

The thing that all but ruined Mohoric's hopes of back to back victories was a crash in Girona ahead of what was expected to be his last race in the Rainbow Jersey. "I didn't like the crash in Girona. It was unnecessary. I was just not switched on. I was not pushing the limits. I was going relaxed," he recalls of the incident. "I slipped out on a corner because I guess I'm not used to riding gravel that much, and I turned as if I was on the road bike. It took approximately one week after they've stitched it up to heal from the inside, so I could make a fist with my hand. Before, I wasn't able to do that. I had to miss quite a few days of training after the crash. I'm still a little bit struggling with my condition."

Although his main goals have now passed, the 2024 season isn't completely finished for Mohoric just yet. "I have some more racing to do in the following weeks. I will go to Italy now to Gran Piemonte, and then some other races, perhaps," he concludes. "We will regather. We didn't have the best season with the team, but we know, we know what we can do better, and we will focus on getting things back into place for next year. And hopefully be a little bit more lucky."