Pogacar would have loved to keep going with the UAE train, but saw Ayuso drop back and Del Toro struggle
CyclingSunday, 28 September 2025 at 17:31
The big bosses at UAE Emirates-XRG will have watched the World Cycling Championships in Rwanda on Sunday with broad smiles on their faces. On Mount Kigali, top rider Tadej Pogacar attacked, and only two riders were able to keep up with him at the top: Juan Ayuso and Isaac Del Toro. The three UAE riders rode together for a short while, but Pogacar saw to his own disappointment that it would not last long.
A year ago at the World Championships in Zurich, Pogacar attacked with 100 kilometers to go, and this time he added a few more kilometers. On the steep climb of Mount Kigali, he realized it was the ideal place to thin out the peloton. “The course was made for an attack from afar, but I had hoped that a small group would form.”
However, one after another, the riders dropped out of Pogacar's wheel. Ayuso held on well until the top, and Del Toro sprinted impressively to the wheel of his two UAE teammates. “That was perfect and a dream scenario,” Pogacar enthused in the flash interview afterwards. After Mount Kigali, however, he could not have imagined that 20 kilometers later, he would still be alone.
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Pogacar sees Ayuso and Del Toro drop back very early
“Juan quickly ran into trouble on the cobbles,” Pogacar said, referring to the Spaniard's collapse on the incredibly steep Wall of Kigali. Del Toro boldly took the lead there and seemed capable of matching Pogacar. That turned out not to be the case, because although the Mexican initially put in some strong efforts, he suddenly ran out of steam 66 kilometers from the finish line.
“Isaac told me he had stomach problems during the race,” Pogacar explained the sudden collapse of his young teammate. Given this information, it is a minor miracle that Del Toro still managed to finish seventh. “So I had to go it alone quite early on and, just like last year, I fought a battle with myself. I'm delighted that I made it.”
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Pogacar certainly suffered during epic World Championship solo
Did he suffer during those local laps in Kigali? “The climbs got harder with every lap, and you also had to pedal quite a lot on the descents. I eventually ran out of energy, which made the last laps really tough. Of course, you have doubts at moments like that, but you have to keep going and hope for the best.”
In the end, his lead over second-placed Remco Evenepoel was more than enough at one and a half minutes. Third-placed Ben Healy finished more than two minutes behind, and after fourth-placed Mattias Skjelmose, it was more than six minutes before the rest of the top ten arrived. Tom Pidcock finished tenth, 9.05 minutes behind! “It was a great experience, all in all. Let's just say it was a successful week,” smiled Pogi at the end.
Pogacar certainly suffered during epic World Championship solo
In a short interview with Eurosport, Pogacar showed his emotional side. When he threw himself into the Slovenian celebrations, it was an emotional experience. “It's special, for sure. There was pressure on the team's shoulders as defending champions, and we came with big ambitions. We did it, and I'm very proud of that.”
“First, I saw my teammates, who sacrificed so much for me. I had to thank them all, it was pure emotion at the finish,” Pogacar laughed, with a new rainbow jersey already around his shoulders. “And when you're exhausted, it's even more emotional to see all those people there.”
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Latest Comments
- 👏👏Bea24-09-2025
- Agreed! As we all know now, Juan Ayuso will be on another team. But it was sweet to see him win the stages at La Vuelta. I do love the drama of cycling admittedly but its clear to see the talent of winners of stages in a Grand Tourryhw2814fq921-09-2025
- Pogacar has no competition he has won everything, I cant imagine even being him in that position!! Crazy. I am sure he has some back up plan for how he wants to spend his retirement years at age 30 onward. Does he like beer? Plenty of innovation in brewing. And you don't have to be super social. Chapeau/Cheers whatever you like Tadej you will do.ryhw2814fq921-09-2025
- Plus its confirmed that the Philadelphia Cycling Classic up the Manayunk Wall is back for 2026! hooray for thatryhw2814fq918-09-2025
- This is a dumb question but still why doesn't the UCI consider a grand tour in the USA in the future. We have the desolate/scary back roads in Pennsylvania and Virginia, just like in France with loads of rural land and hills. Plus the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the Cascade/Olympic Mountains in Washington State. I'm sure it'll never happen but honestly people in PA/NJ/NY/VT/NH would love it. We are already sports fans, what is another sport to learn. I am forever optimistic about cycling in the US.ryhw2814fq918-09-2025
- Zonneveld makes some excellent points.The sponsorship model is broken and companies like Verizon who have multi billion dollar with a B ad budgets need to be involved again.
Brucegel17-09-2025 - Roger Vlaeminck says Mads is not a good rider? Where is the headline saying you don't even have to be a good rider to win the World Road Championship says Roger Vlaeminck, who never won it!!? Perhaps his aging mind needs to think about what the heck he's saying.packfiller7103-09-2025
- Wow, there is so much criticism of the UAE XRG riders. Why so much criticism is being leveled solely at the riders is baffling. The UAE XRG management deserves a good amount of the criticism aimed at the team, as a whole. They have not managed the talent they have at all. They failed miserably to properly handle young Isaac del Toro on that penultimate day of the Giro. And they have not handled Juan Ayuso well either. If they didn't have Tadej Pogacar in their roster, we might not be talking about them as winners, at all. So many think that Ayuso has shown that he is not a "team" player at all. Does anybody think that he might be thinking about his own future at this point? That he might want to feel like the team has his back, when they load the pressure onto him? And Joao is not a team leader. That burden might be laid on him by the management, but they need to properly support that assignment, not make it a contentious situation, within the team. And then how management has conducted themselves throughout this parting of ways between themselves and Ayuso has been totally indiscreet. And yet people want to pile onto Ayuso when he tells the truth about the manner that this is all soap opera is developing. He wants out. He shouldn't be getting so much negative criticism for that. It's a situation that has soured. Yes he has a contract, but he is not the first, nor will he be the last that wants to get out of a relationship that just isn't working anymore. And DeCauwer seems to have very vague reasons for criticizing Almeida. He does realize that Jonas is the second best Grand Tour rider of this current generation, so it should be no shame that Joao is behind him in the standings. Riders are giving their all in an extremely difficult sport that stretches them, often beyond their limits. Now many are wanting to send them to Behavioral School as well? The criticism ought to mellow out, or it ought to simply be ignored, as nothing more than blah, blah, blah, not worth the headlines it gets
reemmo002-09-2025 - In 5yrs, Pogi will be a top Twitch streamer living on baked goods while Urska is still racing.Veganpotter11-08-2025
- All they learned is that at the end of a 3 week race, Wout can beat him on a slightly bumpy stage. Obviously, this is very much thanks to Wout not racing for GC every day. This doesn't teach them a thing for Jonas beating Pogi. Not saying Jonas will never beat him again. But this absolutely won't have anything to do with it if he does beat him.Veganpotter28-07-2025
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