'He's so fast' - Classy Pogacar hails Evenepoel's TT masterclass in Kigali

Starting two minutes and 30 seconds ahead of his Belgian rival, Pogačar began his effort at the BK Arena with the ambition of jousting Evenepoel from his perch, the two-time defending champion in the discipline.

It wasn’t to be, however, for the Slovenian who had to settle for fourth on the day, and faced the cruel fate of being caught and passed by the rampant Belgian on the punishing slopes of the Côte de Kimihurura, and was unable to do anything to stop it. 

Being a great champion both on and off the bike, Pogačar was full of praise and respect for Evenepoel when speaking to reporters after the race, as he reflected on his first outing in Rwanda.

"I gave my everything. Of course, I'm disappointed Remco caught me, but he's so fast, it's incredible how good he is in this discipline and yeah, chapeau really, what a ride by him," Pogačar told reporters at the finish.

Pogačar was disappointed to find out he had only finished 1 second off Ilan Van Wilder in 3rd, and was unaware on the course, leaving the Slovenian to rue the fact he came inches away from another medal, and missed out on joining Evenepoel and his trade teammate Jay Vine on the podium. 

Once more, Pogačar remained measured in his assessment of this outcome, illustrating his resilient character.

"I saw I'm one second off the podium, which is really bittersweet because maybe if I knew I'm one second behind in the last kilometre, I would maybe have a bit of extra motivation. But I didn't know, and today I'll probably regret, but tomorrow's a new day," he added.

The Slovenian also acknowledged that his preparation for the time trial wasn't ideal after falling ill before the Canadian races in Quebec and Montreal, forcing him to skip key training sessions on his time trial bike. He was asked if, in hindsight, he would have skipped the two Canadian races for his time trial chances, despite the team success with a 1-2 featuring Brandon McNulty and the Slovenian in Montréal.

"If we speak in circumstances for the TT, yeah, I would definitely need to skip Canada, but after I got sick before Canada, my focus was…, not that I gave up on the TT, but yeah, I had to skip a few big important training rides on the TT bike," he explained. “But I knew that if I wanted to be 100% for the road race, I had to go to Canada, so I think Canada was a good decision for the road race.”

Despite the disappointment, Pogačar remained upbeat and maintained his trademark good humour, even joking about being passed by his Belgian rival.

"For sure, it's a hard one to swallow, but he's Remco, he's so good in this discipline. Well, I hope that he really prepared 100% for this discipline today, and that he will be 99% ready for next Sunday," Pogačar said with a smile.

When asked about the demanding route that was on the menu, Pogačar described it as challenging but enjoyable, noting that "it's really nice parcours, it's one to have really good legs, to have really good position as well because the downhills are very important today, and the high speed sections, really fast roads, we're on altitude which plays an affect also."

With the time trial now behind him, Pogačar’s focus shifts entirely to defending his rainbow jersey in next Sunday’s road race. Pogačar’s 27th birthday fell on the day of the time trial, and when a reporter wished him well, the Slovenian responded with optimism, suggesting the gifts would be saved for next week.

"Yeah, I mean last year, I won the World Championships on the birthday of my brother, but this year, yeah, I don't want to spoil myself on my birthday to win today, so let's try and win on Sunday."