Defending road race champion Tadej Pogačar's World Championships in Rwanda may not have got off to the start that people were expecting, as he suffered a heavy defeat to Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) in the time trial last Sunday and was overtaken on the road, but as his rainbow jersey defence approaches, his confidence has returned.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Pogačar discussed his full acclimatisation to the tough conditions in Kigali and how several mid-week training sessions have seen him feeling back to 100%.
He was and still is the heavy favourite to claim a second road race world title in succession, but Evenepoel, who started 2:30 after him last Sunday and still blasted past on the road to an emphatic ITT victory, has slightly dented his standing with his flying form.
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Pogačar, as open and bullish as ever though, is expecting the very best from his form, offering a lack of "rhythm" as a partial explanation for the somewhat shocking defeat in the race against the clock.
"I think it's a little bit different to last Sunday to this Sunday that is coming up," said Pogačar, sitting alongside Slovenia national coach Uroš Murn as they spoke on Thursday afternoon.
"Obviously, I am here in general for the road race, so the expectations are high; I expect a lot from my legs, and we should aim for the best result. I think we have one of the strongest teams here, so we should be considered as top contenders.
"When I arrived here, I trained for two days on the TT bike, then I raced, and I didn't catch my rhythm, I didn't catch my legs, but after Sunday, I switched to my road bike and I don't have any issues now this week. I think I've got used to the environment, the altitude, the weather, just everything, so now the legs are turning pretty well every day."
Pogačar was asked whether he would be looking for revenge after the now iconic moment when Evenepoel overtook him on the cobbled climb to the finish, and he noted how the road race could provide an instant opportunity to put that moment to bed.
"Probably Remco also wanted maybe revenge for the Tour de France when he was caught by Jonas on the mountain TT, so I think that was good for him," said the Slovenian star.
"He ticked off one bad moment of this year. Now on Sunday, maybe it can be my turn to tick off and put away that not-so-bad day, but bad feeling when somebody catches you."
With one of the hardest World Championships courses in history presenting itself, with 5500m of elevation gain and 268km to tackle in and around Rwanda's capital city, Pogačar picked out a few rivals whom he will be keeping close watch of during the road race.
"Theres going to be a lot of guys who will be eager from far away, and then there will be guys who just look at me," he said, before of course listing Evenepoel, Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) and two of his trade UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates as riders to watch – Isaac del Toro (Mexico) and Pavel Sivakov (France).
"We will see. We shouldn't care too much about the opponents but focus on our race, because it's so long and so difficult, and you need to save your energy throughout the whole race and be smart in every way."
While Pogačar signalled the tough Mount Kigali climb (5.9km at 6.8%), which arrives inside the final 100km of the race, and the two cobbled climbs which quickly follow its completion, as the section of the course that suits him best on paper, he was less confident about launching an all-out assault early as he did in Zurich in 2024.
"There's always an option to attack wherever you want if you have the legs. It's a shame they put Mount Kigali so early in the race, it would be much more fun, less painful if it were later or as soon as possible, but here, it's just after the middle, for sure, some people will think it's close enough to the finish," he said.
"For me, the best part on paper would be the longer climb – Mount Kigali, and the next two climbs, which are cobbled, short and sweet, but the only problem with that is it's quite a long way to the finish."
While the cycling world has become accustomed to Pogačar attacking at will, be it at Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders or during Worlds last year, he admitted that a similar move would not be possible unless he has several riders to shelter behind or help, as he did in Switzerland.
"You cannot do it every time," he said. "I also had Jan [Tratnik] in the group in front, and then it was with 20 riders or something, so I got some shelter. Then I had Pavel [Sivakov] with me, so it was not being alone for 100k, it was always with a bit of shelter from somewhere.
"100km is not an easy job to do, even if you have help, so it's a little bit far."
While the time trial result has highlighted the usually imperious Pogačar's vulnerability at this point in an already tough season, the Slovenian will also be wary of going to early and running out of steam, which happened at Amstel Gold Race earlier this year. On that occasion, it was Evenepoel who brought him back after going solo in the last 40km of racing, before Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark) outsprinted them both.
"When you race so much and you race always for the win, a lot of eyes are on you, most of the eyes are on you all the time in the big races, so obviously you can make mistakes, you have to try different things as well and you cannot always do the same thing."
He may have ridden in the rainbow jersey for a final time this week, but Sunday brings him an immediate opportunity to earn a second stint in one of cycling's most iconic jerseys, and with his teammates now arriving in Kigali, too, Pogačar is ready.
"I did the last rainbow training on Tuesday this week, but next week… We will see," he said.
"I feel ready. I did a few good training sessions here now already, and I've got used to the surroundings and everything, so I've started to really enjoy being on the bike.
"I think I've got the extra boost now for Sunday, and today, my teammates arrived also, which gave another boost of energy and motivation because you see the group, the friends, and it's just in general really good – we are all looking forward to Sunday."
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