‘I clearly flew too close to the sun’ – Awe and resignation in Zurich as Tadej Pogačar burns off Worlds field

The results sheet doesn’t record it, but the story of a day like this could never be fully told by a simple list of names and numbers. In decades to come, Pavel Sivakov will occupy his own modest place in the legend of Tadej Pogačar’s outrageous solo victory at the World Championships in Zurich. He was the last man standing.

Even though this era of cycling often seems unrecognisable from those that have come before, there are always some faint echoes of the sport’s history. In Lugano in 1953, Fausto Coppi had Germain Derycke in tow for much of his indelible raid, with the Belgian eventually distanced after repeated ascents of the Crespera. In Sallanches in 1980, Gianbattista Baronchelli managed to resist Bernard Hinault’s onslaught as far as the final ascent of the Côte de Domancy.