Tadej Pogačar, crowned world champion in the road race for the second year in a row, had his great achievement overshadowed by the strong performance of Latvia's Toms Skujiņš – our southern neighbor finished in the top ten at the World Championships for the third consecutive year, this time in fifth place. Rare consistency. Last year, Skujiņš finished fourth at the Zurich World Championships and eighth at the Glasgow World Championships two years ago.
"The World Championships are always special, but this year was more special. Especially difficult and especially tough, but luckily I had the best team by my side. Latvian cycling definitely exceeded expectations, and that makes me proud!" shared the 34-year-old Skujiņš his emotions on social media. "Fifth place was the best I could do today, so I'll take it. I will definitely remember this year."
Skujiņš found himself in chase groups that formed and broke apart. He eventually crossed the finish line 6:41 behind Pogačar, finishing 6 seconds ahead of a group that included Giulio Ciccone (Italy), Isaac Del Toro (Mexico), and Juan Ayuso (Spain).
"In the end, it was like a triathlon – I think everyone finished individually. It was clear that it would be a very tough race. I didn't see much, but it was clear Tadej was on another level – many simply didn't have the legs to follow him, and he showed again that he is the best in the world," said Skujiņš.
When asked to comment on the fact that only climbers made it into the top ten, Skujiņš chuckled: "I think I'm the world champion of the 70+ category – 70 kilos plus – so I'll take that."
Pogačar (Slovenia) weighs 66 kg, silver medalist Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) 63 kg, Ben Healy (Ireland) 65 kg, and Mattias Skjelmose (Denmark) 65 kg. Giulio Ciccone (Italy), who finished sixth, weighs 58 kg, and seventh-placed Isaac del Toro (Mexico) weighs 64 kg.
