Hailed as one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Tadej Pogačar has won almost all of the most prestigious races in the discipline - except one: the elite men's road race at the World Championships.
Having recently dipped his toe into the cobbled and Ardennes Spring Classics with astonishing success - winning the Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne, Pogačar is a favourite for the rainbow jersey in Sunday's elite men's road race in Glasgow.
Unlike his main rivals Mathieu van der Poel, Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert, Pogačar did not arrive mid-week to give the road race circuit in Glasgow a thorough preview. He opted to maximize his recovery from a punishing Tour de France and only flew into Glasgow in late on Friday evening, keeping a low profile before Sunday's race.
"Every year is the same, it's the biggest one-day race. This time is a little bit different time of the year just after the Tour. Let's hope for good legs," Pogačar said, in comments sent to Cyclingnews.
The elite men's race begins in Edinburgh and travels 120 kilometres to Glasgow, passing over the 5.6-kilometre Crow Road climb after 96.4 kilometres of racing. The climb has some brutal gradients and, with a criterium-like 14.3km circuit, teams will want to break up the peloton on the 11-minute climb before hitting Glasgow.
Pogačar predicts the race will be "super selective."
"The parcours is really tricky and really hard. The race itself will be super selective. Let's see - it's going to be a super interesting race and I'm super happy to be here with the national team on the start."
A world title is one of the few honours missing from Pogačar's palmares. His best World Championship result is seventh in the under-23 race in 2018. But he dreams of winning the rainbow jersey.
"I always have a desire and a dream to have the rainbow stripes. but it's really tricky to win the World Championships - it's super hard - you need to be the best in the world on that day," he said.
"We'll see. I will keep coming every year and try to make dreams come true."
