Tadej Pogačar and Magdeleine Vallieres. Two totally different riders, at two totally different levels, in two totally different races. But on Sunday night, they are not totally different, as they are both the new elite road race world champions, and their successes have more in common than you might think.
On Saturday, Canada's Vallieres came from almost nowhere to surprise the peloton – and the world – with her victory from a late breakaway, truly an outsider underdog turned world champion.
On Sunday, Slovenia’s Pogačar started as the defending champion, the overwhelming favourite for the men's road race, and considered by most as the best in the world. And he duly delivered, attacking exactly where everyone knew he would, and soloing 66km to the world title many already considered his.
Totally different stories, right? Well, of course, yes, but also no, if we think about what these two races taught us about how the World Championships are won. In both races, it became clear that tactics, strategy and game-play – things that might net you wins in other races, in other parts of the season – go out the window in the World Championships.
This event is designed to crown the best rider in the world – not the most tactically astute, or the most race intelligent, just the best. And that's what happened this weekend. It wasn't the cleverest riders who won; it was the two who just went for it, who believed in themselves, and relied on their pure strength to deliver them to their line. In fact, their rivals' attempts to try and outsmart each other to win probably even played into the hands of our new champions.
Towards the end of the race, several attacks, including the one Vallieres was in, went away, whilst the pre-race favourites like Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney all sat back. This wouldn't usually be an issue, as most top contenders had a teammate up the road, but suddenly the leaders' advantage ballooned out, whilst the favourites continued to just watch each other.
Vallieres, on the other hand, raced her race completely differently. Sure, there are strategies you need to employ to be successful, like not overworking yourself and using your efforts at the right moments, but there was no real gameplay in the group with Vallieres, Niamh Fisher-Black and Mavi García, who would eventually take the medals.
In the men's race, the story was, of course, different – the overwhelming favourite won instead of throwing the chance away – but the philosophy was the same. Pogačar came into the race with all eyes on him, knowing everyone knew when he was going to attack, and knowing everyone would be working against him, but that didn't stop him.
His main tactic for victory was to attack over the top of Mont Kigali and just go for it from there. The same distance from the finish as his winning attack last year, and the longest climb in the race, it was a plan literally every rider foresaw and was ready for, and that didn't help them.
When he was away, teams did try to play the tactical game again, and it got them nowhere. A big chasing group couldn't quite get organised, as no nation seemed to want to use their matches and inadvertently help another rider, and so they didn't, and they didn't catch him. Many of the riders in that group didn't even finish. They tried to ride tactically, and proved that in a race like this, that's just not what is important.
Pogačar put in one acceleration on Mont Kigali and rode away, taking two riders with him at first and fairly quickly whittling that down to none, going solo 66km from the finish to take his second world title. It wasn't a particularly inventive or creative tactic that got Pogačar in front; it was just a show of brute force, raw power, and – in a less tangible sense – boldness.
Boldness is not a factor we talk about too often in cycling, and many races are more tactical, more controlled, more strategic, but when it comes to the World Championships, these races that are just different from everything else, and manage to crown the best rider regardless of the course, I think boldness is the intangible thing behind it.
Some riders just don't have it, or have less of it. Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, Lotte Kopecky, and Annemiek van Vleuten – these are all riders who are bold and buoyed by self-belief. They worry less about tactics and strategy, and more about giving it a go, and having the faith in their legs. It should be no surprise that these names have taken many of the rainbow jerseys over the last few years.
Whether they are always actually the strongest doesn't matter – Vallieres probably wasn't, on paper, stronger than the Grand Tour winners chasing her – but what does matter is believing in your ability to win, and having the determination to put yourself in a position to do that.
The World Championships are a unique event, and as such, it takes a unique rider to win a world title. What's clear after eight days in Kigali, culminating in a pair of truly fascinating road races, is that what you cannot do is use tactics to try and help you to a rainbow jersey.
On these brutal, relentless courses, raced by the best riders in the world, as soon as you're trying to play a tactical game, you've probably already lost. Whilst you're thinking about the strategy, a stronger rider has probably already attacked in front of you. These are races won by brute force, so if you want to take that title, the best you can do is go out there, race hard, and be bold.
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