The great achievement of Tadej Pogačar, who was crowned the world champion in the group stage for the second year in a row, was overshadowed by the good performance of Latvian Toms Skujiņš - our southern neighbor came in the top ten at the World Championships for the third year in a row, this time in fifth place. Rare stability. Last year, Skujiņš finished fourth at the Zurich World Championships and eighth at the Glasgow World Championships two years ago.
"World Championships are always special, but this year was even more special. It was especially difficult and especially tough, but luckily I had the best team by my side. Latvian cycling definitely surpassed itself and that makes me proud!" 34-year-old Skujiņš shared his emotions on social media. "Fifth place was the best I could do today, so I'll take it. I'll definitely remember this year."
Skujiņš found himself caught in chase groups that formed and then broke up. He eventually crossed the finish line 6.41 seconds behind Pogačari, 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 alone. It was obvious that it was going to be a very difficult race. I didn't see much, but Tadej was clearly on his level - many just didn't have the legs to keep up with 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 in 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. Sixth-placed Giulio Ciccone (Italy) weighs 58 kg and seventh-placed Isaac del Toro (Mexico) weighs 64 kg.
