Cycling World Championships: Pogacar’s absence sets the stage for a battle between Evenepoel, Van Aert and Van der Poel
Without the Slovenian champion, Montreal’s challenging course becomes a hunting ground for his main rivals and an opportunity for Italia to make a comeback
‘When the cat’s away, the mice will play’, as the old saying goes – and it applies just as well to cycling. We’re talking, as you’ll have realised, about the ‘cannibal cat’, that Tadej Pogacar who, due to the after-effects of his crash at the Vuelta, will have to pull out of the Road World Championships taking place this Sunday in Montreal. A very demanding race that will be run over a 273 km course with 3,803 metres of elevation gain.
With Pogacar – the reigning world champion (he has won the last two editions) and the almost unrivalled dominant force of recent seasons – absent, there is inevitably a rather disconcerting void. It is difficult to fill, but highly stimulating for a group so accustomed to his overwhelming presence that they often seem resigned to playing a secondary role. Especially if the route is as gruelling as this one in Montreal.
This is nothing new. It had also happened with Eddy Merckx, who – not coincidentally – was considered the one and only true ‘Cannibal’ of cycling before the Slovenian champion burst onto the scene. With the Belgian, too, a sort of ‘pre-emptive dominance’ had developed – that is, such a fear of standing up to him that it fuelled his greed even further. There were very few rebels, who on the odd occasion managed to give Eddy a run for his money. Among them, alongside our own Gimondi, were the Spaniard Ocana, the Frenchman Thevenet and the Belgian De Vlaeminck.
They were the only ones – almost taking turns – who managed to stand up to the Cannibal. The others, with a few exceptions, stayed well hidden in the heart of the pack, trying to carve out a few remaining days of glory for themselves.
The World Cup is wide open again
On the eve of this World Championships with no clear favourite, there is the same sense of excitement and even a certain pleasure in finally finding ourselves back in the spotlight, free from the iron grip of the Slovenian, who may well be exceptionally talented and a true sportsman, but who, in the end, with his extraordinary feats, overshadows even champions such as Evenepoel, Van Aert and Van der Poel – riders who are incredibly tough but not quite versatile enough to keep up with Pogacar throughout the season. That’s why this World Championship is so intriguing. Because for once, we’ll see a World Championship without a pre-crowned king.
