Tadej Pogačar will head to Rwanda for the UCI Road World Championships later this week, buoyed by his performance at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal after revealing he missed almost a week of vital training in early September.
Pogačar will target the elite men's time trial on Sunday, with Remco Evenepoel his biggest rival, before staying in Rwanda for the elite men's road race on Sunday September 28.
Pogačar won the road race world title in Zurich last year with a long solo breakaway and a dominant performance. Slovenian national coach Uroš Murn is quietly hoping Pogačar can complete a rare double in Rwanda, with the tough circuits for both races expected to suit him.
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"Our first goal is of course to repeat last year's success. Everything that comes along will just be an addition, we mustn't be greedy," Murn told Slovenian television before preparing to travel to Rwanda on Wednesday.
"This year will be harder than last year, because all the national teams will be attacking only us."
Pogačar arguably faces a difficult task to retain his road race title in the 267.5km, 5,400m elevation gain race.
The likes of Tom Pidcock (Great Britain), Giulio Ciccone and Giulio Pellizzari (Italy) and Juan Ayuso (Spain) all showed their form at the Vuelta a España, while Julian Alaphilippe (France) impressed by winning the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Evenepoel showed some form at the Tour of Britain.
Pogačar also faces' internal' rivalry from his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates such as Jay Vine (Australia), Pavel Sivakov (France) and especially Isaac del Toro (Mexico).
Before the Canadian WorldTour races, Pogačar hadn't raced since the Tour de France and so was looking for answers about his end of season form.
"I want to peak for the World Championships," he said before the races, using the days in Canada before the races to complete an extra block of training.
Pogačar was only 29th at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec after he and the peloton failed to catch Alaphilippe and a few others who attacked with 75km to go in order to anticipate any late attacks from the Slovenian.
It was Pogačar's worst result in a one-day race this year and he and UAE Team Emirates-XRG raced hard in Montréal to ensure they were in the thick of the action. Pogačar attacked with 35km to go, waited for Brandon McNulty, and then generously gifted the American victory. For Pogačar it was more important to have regained his form.
"It was a fantastic day, as always here in Canada. I love racing here. I'm happy that I'm in great shape, and I'm even happier that Brandon won," he said, admitting he
“Before coming to Canada, I was a bit worried that my form wasn't great, because I was sick all week leading up to it. I couldn't do all the training as planned. That's why I was a bit apprehensive about this.
"In Quebec, my legs weren't great, but I raced well there and found some rhythm. In training and in Quebec, I regained my motivation and confidence. Looking back, I'm glad I went to Canada.”
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