Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar shrugged off a lukewarm start at his Road Cycling World Championships journey this year to secure a back-to-back road race title on Sunday.
The final day of the world championships saw riders fight it out on a 267.5 kilometre route in the land of a thousand hills to try and snatch the coveted gold medal.
But it was Pogacar who had the upper hand, beating tough rivals like Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel and Ireland’s Ben Healy, who had to settle for silver and bronze, respectively.
Redemption road for Pogacar
It had been a humiliating defeat for Pogacar at the start of the championships when he finished fourth at the opening time trial race on September 21.
Evenepoel managed to quip Pogacar on that route to grab his third-straight victory in the elite time trial – a race that the Slovenian had described as a “hard one to swallow.”
However, Pogacar dusted off the disappointment and attacked with more than 100km to go during the road race on Sunday in a candid display of dominance, endurance, and resilience.
He covered the last kilometres on his own, maintaining a gap that stretched to more than a minute to his closest rival, Evenepoel, who struggled with mechanical issues along the way and never managed to close that distance until the finish line.
“I was alone quite early, and I was fighting with myself like last year,” Pogacar said in a report from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
“I’m so happy I made it. For sure, I doubted. The climbs were getting harder and harder every lap.
“The final laps were so hard…But you have to push through and hope for the best. It was an incredible experience all together and a successful week.”
Pogacar made history when he secured the rainbow jersey in Switzerland’s Zurich and won the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in 2024, becoming the third rider to do so.
With his victory again this year, he became the first rider to consecutively win both the Tour and the UCI worlds.
Magdeleine Vallieres Mill grabs gold in first for Canada
Meanwhile, Magdeleine Vallieres Mill dominated rivals to secure the gold medal in the women’s elite road race on Saturday – a first for Canada.
The 24-year-old Canadian attacked with just two kilometres left on the cobbled ascent, ultimately outpacing New Zealand’s Niamh Fisher-Black, who finished second.
Spain’s Mavi Garcia completed the podium finishers.
“The girls believed in me, and so I had to believe in myself. I prepared well, and I knew I was in good form, so I just tried,” Vallieres Mill said after the race in a report from the Olympics website.
She called the victory a dream of hers, saying she didn’t want any regrets.
“It was a big goal of mine this year.”
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Rwanda concludes Road World Championships
The elite road races capped off a week of battles for the 2025 UCI Road World Championships, which were held in Rwanda’s Kigali for the first time.
Under-23 individual time trial crowns went to Zoe Backstedt from Great Britain for the women’s and Jakob Soderqvist of Sweden for the men’s event.
The Netherlands’ Megan Arens and Michiel Mouris snatched the junior individual time trial victories.
Meanwhile, Australia secured the crown for the Team Trial Mixed Relay, defeating France in second and Switzerland in third.
Road races began on Thursday, with Spain’s Paula Ostiz Taco and Harry Hudson from Great Britain grabbing the win for the junior categories.
France’s Celia Gery and Italy’s Lorenzo Mark Finn completed this year’s winners, coming home with gold for the U23 road races.
Earlier, Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser grabbed victory alongside Evenepoel in the elite time trial races.
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