Tadej Pogacar joined on the podium by 19-year-old for the second time in three days: "Cycling's future looks bright"

Pogacar was one of the few who combined the European Championships with the Italian fall classic. “Last year, the organization had a lot of bad luck, and we had to finish a lot earlier than planned due to the bad weather. In addition, this is exactly between the European Championships and Lombardy, and Urska (Zigart's girlfriend, ed.) already cycled this morning, although that was very early.”

“I felt exhausted on Monday, but this is a new day. One day and two nights of recovery should be enough. Above all, we want to win as a team, that's the goal,” the Slovenian revealed to CyclingProNet before the race.

And so it happened. “We had planned to wait until the last lap. Tudor opened the race from afar, but then Isaac del Toro and I went on one of the climbs. It was a good situation for us, although we also knew that no one really intended to cooperate with us.”

While Pogacar made the difference uphill in recent weeks, this time he actually rode away on the descent. “When I saw that I had a gap on the descent, I decided to keep going. Even if I had exhausted myself there, it could still have been a good situation for Isaac.”

In the end, he rode solo to victory with relative ease, while second place went to 19-year-old Albert Withen Philipsen of Lidl-Trek. Two days ago, Paul Seixas, also 19, joined Pogacar on the European Championship podium. “I already felt old on the podium. The next generation is coming. Seixas and Philipsen are brilliant riders, and we can look forward to many more years of cycling with them.”

The world champion has one more race left this season, Sunday's Tour of Lombardy. There, he can become a co-record holder. “It's a long season, but Lombardy is a big goal and that provides extra motivation. It's a Monument, one of the most beautiful classics on the calendar. My legs should be good.”