The stage is set for history to be made in Zurich on Sunday. Tadej Pogačar stands poised to become only the third man in history after Eddy Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987 to complete the triple crown of what are arguably cycling’s biggest three pries: The Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the World Championships road race.
Given the way he has crushed all before him this season, a completion of the Triple Crown might feel like a foregone conclusion, but Worlds road races are never so straightforward. And this year’s line-up is truly stacked, with talent from around the world who could upset the script.
Rouleur picks out who we think will be the main challengers to Pogačar.
Contenders
Tadej Pogačar
In a race as messy, unpredictable and chaotic as the World Championships, it’s rare for an overwhelming favourite for victory to emerge. But given the season Tadej Pogačar has had, how can he be considered as anything else? The Slovenian has won virtually every race he’s featured in, usually at a canter, and most recently at the GP de Montréal to dispel any doubts about his form. Not too much should be read into his uncharacteristically unimpressive career record at the World Championships (last year’s bronze medal was the only time he’s ever cracked the top 10) given how suited he is to the tough parcours of this year’s route; with a strong Slovenian line-up supporting him featuring the likes of Primož Roglič, he looks ready to be only the third man in history to complete the triple crown of Giro, Tour and Worlds.
Remco Evenepoel
If anyone can challenge Tadej Pogačar on a route like this, it’s Remco Evenepoel. In races that the Slovenian is absent in, often it's Evenepoel dishing out the same kind of punishment to the opposition with unstoppable long-range attacks, so it will be fascinating to see how they fare in a rare showdown between the two of them. The Belgian squad could have given Pogačar a real headache had Wout van Aert not been ruled out due to injury, but still boast a strong squad to try and unsettle him. And having already won the time trial at the weekend, and both the road race and time trial at the Olympics in the summer, Evenepoel is gunning for an unprecedented double-double.
Mathieu van der Poel
While Pogačar is hoping to achieve a historic Triple Crown, defending champion Mathieu van der Poel is striving for an even rarer feat — to become only the second man (after Tom Boonen in 2005) to win the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships in the same season. The odds are less in his favour, however, what with the tough parcours, though in the lead-up to this race he has reportedly lost weight specifically to deal with the climbs. He’s largely disappeared off the radar since his near-perfect spring, but has a habit of rising to the occasion for the biggest races, and cannot be discounted.
Marc Hirschi
In the last month or so, Marc Hirschi has at last rediscovered the form that saw him burst onto the scene four years ago, when a bronze medal was among a string of top results. He enjoyed a remarkable run between mid-August and mid-September, when victory at San Sebastian was the first of five consecutive wins. Those results might have come up against weaker opposition than he’ll be up against on Sunday, but will nevertheless give Swiss fans hope for a home champion in Zurich.
Tom Pidcock
On the rare occasion in recent years that a major one-day race has been won by someone other than Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel and Mathieu van der Poel, often it’s Tom Pidcock who instead takes the glory. He hasn’t done the Worlds road race since 2021, when he finished sixth place, but should be well-suited to this route. While he can blow hot and cold (and has tended to blow cold lately), on his day the Brit is a match for anyone.
Julian Alaphilippe
While some riders taking part on Sunday have experienced winning the World Championships before, Julian Alaphilippe is the only man to have done so twice. This is a race that has always suited the 2020 and 2021 winner’s punchy characteristics, and he’s aided by smart tactics and the strength of the French line-up, which this year will also feature Romain Bardet, Romain Grégoire and Olympic silver medalist Valentin Madouas. While he’s not scaled the heights of those successes in the years since, a recent runner-up finish at San Sebastian and third at the GP de Montréal suggest he has the form to compete for the medals.
Other contenders
Normally 2019 champion Mads Pedersen would be counted among the favourites for a Worlds road race, but the difficult route means that his Denmark team are instead rallying behind Mattias Skjelmose, fresh off his fifth-place finish at the Vuelta a España. The parcours also means it’ll be tough for fast finishers like Biniam Girmay and Michael Matthews to stay in the mix, even if both are in promising form following their first and second-place finish at the GP de Québec.
The route means that climbers more associated with stage races than Classics might be in with a shout, such as the American duo of Matteo Jorgenson (who was lively during the recent Canadian classics) and Brandon McNulty. Spain also looks strong in this respect, with Juan Ayuso eager to race having been snubbed by UAE Team Emirates for the Vuelta, and Pello Bilbao looking in great form following his second-place finish behind Pogačar at GP de Montréal, while Aleksandr Vlasov could go under the radar. Look out also for Ben Healy’s trademark attacks, while Belgium has plenty of other cards to play beside Evenepoel in Tim Wellens, Jasper Stuyven, Maxim Van Gils and Tiesj Benoot.
Prediction
It really is impossible to look past Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian has perfected a way of winning that he has repeated over and over this season, attacking early knowing that nobody can produce the watts to keep up with him. And on a parcours like Sunday’s, the terrain will likely be too difficult for anyone to do anything to stop him.
