Tadej Pogačar tried to forget about his disappointing time trial ride at the Road World Championships with some final training rides in Rwanda, opting to ride with partner and Slovenian teammate Urška Žigart.
On Monday, Pogačar posted an Instagram video of him, Urška and several riders from the Rwanda national team riding together and captured the moment when a local cyclist caught and passed them on a climb. On Tuesday, Pogačar and Urška did a longer ride.
Pogačar is expected to complete a final block of training and a second long ride before tapering and recovering for Sunday's hilly 267.5km race.
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He was not expected to beat Remco Evenepoel in Sunday's elite men's time trial, but he finished 2:37 down on the Belgian, missed out on a podium place and was even caught by Evenepoel, who started 2:30 behind him.
Pogačar's performance sparked a huge debate about a recent illness, a lack of an altitude camp before the World Championships and suggestions of fatigue after an intense and successful 2025 season.
He dominated the 2024 World Championships road race in Zürich, winning after a 100km solo attack. A repeat of that strategy seems unlikely on Sunday, with the likes of Tom Pidock, Juan Ayuso, Isaac del Toro and especially Evenepoel on form and targeting the world title.
"Pogačar suffered a heavy defeat. It's a blow that hurts," wrote Slovenian website EkipaSN, reflecting the surprise at home after a rare and significant defeat.
Pogačar was more sporting, even if the time trial defeat was on his 27th birthday.
"Of course, I am disappointed that Remco caught me, but it is incredible how good he is in this discipline. Chapeau for the good ride by him," he said post-race.
"For sure, it was a hard one to swallow, but he's Remco, and he is so good in this discipline. I hope that he prepared 100% for this discipline and that he will be 99% ready for next Sunday."
Pogačar's performance sparked questions about his racing and training since he won the Tour de France and what his time trial performance means for Sunday's road race.
However, he remains Slovenia's only hope of success, even if Primož Roglič will fly in this week to be part of the team for the elite men's road race.
"The race will undoubtedly be very difficult. We can all see how Tadej Pogačar is doing lately. We just have to give him space so that we don’t get in his way too much. For the rest of us, it will be a big fight to get to the finish line," Roglic told 24ur.com from his altitude camp at Sierra Nevada before travelling to Africa.
Pogačar only returned to racing at the Canadian WorldTour races, but impressed in Montreal when he attacked and then waited for teammate Brandon McNulty and then gifted him victory. However, he revealed he had been ill before the trip to Canada, which disrupted his time trial training.
"After I got sick before Canada, I didn't give up on the TT, but I had to skip a few important training sessions," he revealed.
"I knew that if I wanted to be 100% for the road race, I had to go to Canada. I think Canada was good conditioning for the road race."
Pogačar's travel to Rwanda was delayed, and he perhaps suffered with the altitude in Rwanda. This week will be vital if he is to recover and freshen up for the road race.
"I've been enjoying the last few days here, training and racing, and I'm looking forward to the road race. Now I need to do two more hard trainings and then I will be ready for Sunday," he said.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG team manager Mauro Gianetti will travel to Rwanda on Thursday. He knows Pogačar better than most people.
"I'm sure it won't affect him. Tadej's not like that," Gianetti told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Remco is an extraordinary time trialist and prepared perfectly for the world championships. Tadej went close to the bronze medal, which would have been a different result.
"We've become used to Tadej doing what he does and so sparking comparison with Merckx, but that's sport."
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