"You doubt a little, but you have to keep moving forward and hope for the best": Pogacar explains how he won his second rainbow jersey

Tadej Pogačar once again signed a masterpiece to proclaim himself world champion on the road for the second consecutive year. The Slovenian conquered the demanding circuit of Kigali after a devastating attack on the Mont Kigali 104 kilometers from the finish line and resisted solo for 66 kilometers until the finish line. A triumph that he described as "one of the toughest" of his career.

Doubts haunted Pogacar until the end

"It was my main goal of the season to defend the rainbow jersey. The route was one of the most demanding I have done in a World Championship, so it was a huge challenge and I am really happy to have achieved it," explained Pogačar after crossing the finish line.

The Slovenian acknowledged that the plan was to toughen up the race on the Mont Kigali and form a small group with Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, his UAE teammates in the peloton. "I think the route was designed for this, I expected a small group to form, like with Juan and Del Toro. It was the perfect combination, a dream to be able to ride together as far as possible as a trio," he recounted. However, his teammates' problems left him without allies early on. "Juan had difficulties very early on the Mur de Kigali on the cobblestones, and Isaac suffered from stomach problems. So I was left alone quite early, like last year, fighting with myself. I am so happy to have done it."

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The last kilometers were torture. "The climbs were getting harder with each lap, and there was no rest on the descents either, you had to keep pedaling. My energy was running out towards the end. It was very difficult in the last laps. Of course, you doubt a little, but you have to keep going and hope for the best," he confessed.

In the final stretch, Pogačar was forced to manage not only the effort but also the uncertainty without radios. "I received conflicting information, that Evenepoel was in the group, that he was ahead or behind... You don't know much, you just focus on the time difference and keep pedaling. I saw that he changed bikes twice, so it was also impressive what he did to finish second."

The experience in Rwanda, the first African host in the history of the World Championships, was very special for the Slovenian. "Since I arrived, I have enjoyed my stay a lot. I trained with my national team teammates and we prepared to give our best. It was an incredible experience and, overall, a very successful week," he valued.

With his second consecutive rainbow jersey, Pogačar confirms himself as the great dominator of his generation and fuels the debate about whether he already deserves to be compared to Eddy Merckx. Meanwhile, he prefers to summarize it simply: "Today I was alone, fighting with myself. And I made it."