Rad World Cup: Revanchions in Rwanda: Pogacar to Soloritt again world champion

Dis your arms, but overjoyed, bike star Tadej Pogacar after the climbing show in the land of the thousand hills and was flanked flanked by droves to fans in Rwanda. The Slovenian exceptional driver made his second World Cup triumph perfectly at the first World Cup in an African country after an impressive 66-kilometer solo and successfully defended the title. He also took revenge for the memorable bankruptcy in time trial against the Belgian Remco Evenepoel.

Pogacar defied the hard conditions of the street race on Sunday and triumphed after an extremely successful season, including Tour-de-France victory in the capital Kigali. The best driver of his generation mastered the demanding 267.5 kilos and 5475 meters of altitude with over a minute ahead of Evenepoel and the Irish Ben Healy. Last year Pogacar celebrated his first World Cup title in Switzerland after driving around 100 kilometers at the top.

Pogacar distances competitor Evenepoel early

Fueled by tens of thousands of deafening fans on Mont Kigali, the Slovenian laid the foundation stone for his second World Cup victory. Even 100 kilometers before the finish, it became clear that there would be no expected duel between the four-time Tour-de France champion and the three-time world champion Evenepoel. As has often been the case before, the Belgian, who ran for the German Red Bull team in the future, showed problems with long climbs.

For this, after the mountainous cobblestone challenge on the Mur de Kigali, a team-internal duel between Pogacar and the Mexican young star Isaac del Toro developed. Both drive for the UAE racing team. At this year’s Giro d’Italo, del Toro caused a sensation with his second overall.

Meanwhile, Evenepoel lost further valuable seconds when his bicycle had a defect and he waited annoyed for his replacement. Almost 66 kilometers before the finish, Pogacar drove away from the exhausted del Toro and started his next Soloritt. Unvenepoel surprisingly came back to Pogacar’s chasing group. However, the distance between the Slovenia and the small group remained constant at about a minute.

Pogacar may have enjoyed the revenge for his clear bankruptcy in time trial in Rwanda a week ago. The Belgian was 2:37 minutes faster. Although he started two and a half minutes later, he had overtaken the Slovenes.

Stomach problems slow down Germans

The route of the street race at the first World Cup in an African country was tough: even demanding climatic conditions at around 28 degrees in the approximately 1,500 meter high demands tok. Hundreds of thousands of fans from the cycling-loving country experienced the spectacle on the roadside.

The Germans meanwhile experienced a day to forget, nobody arrived at the finish line. Three of the four German professionals rose from the bike early. According to information from the German Press Agency, stomach problems were primarily responsible. The German road master Georg Zimmermann, Jonas Rutsch and Felix Engelhardt were all part of the race half ago. At the beginning, Marius Mayrhofer drove in the top group for a long time, but was caught up almost 115 kilometers before the finish. He also did not experience the final finish.

German cyclists had already complained about stomach problems during the week. Liane Lippert, for example, had to skip the mixed race on Wednesday and reported on Saturday that she had to hand over during the street race. In view of the conditions, it was expected before the race that only a small part of the professionals will end the race.

Medal -free World Cup from a German perspective

The Germans had little chance of a top position in the street race anyway. Without the top stars Florian Lipowitz, which stayed at home for various reasons, who became sensational at the Tour de France, and Pogacar’s noble helpers Nils Politt started the black, red and gold line. Maximilian Schachmann, who had not started in Rwanda, recently celebrated the best placement when he became ninth at the Corona edition 2020 at the street race, before that André Greipel last won a medal in 2011.

The Germans ended the historical World Cup in an African country without a medal. Since the reunification in 1990, with the exception of the Corona edition 2020 only held in the professional sector, there have always been at least one German medal at the world championships.