With a hundred kilometres remaining in Zurich, Switzerland, Pogacar broke away from the race and rode the last 50 kilometres by himself.

The Slovenian held on and maintained a 34-second advantage over Australian Ben O'Connor and a 58-second lead over Dutchman Van der Poel, despite the worrying signs of the Slovenian slowing in the last 20 kilometres of the race.

Evenepoel, the Belgian who has won two gold medals at the Olympic Games and is a two-time world time trial champion, came in fifth position, 58 seconds behind Pogacar.

Regarding the Portuguese, João Almeida withdrew from the race at an early point due to a group fall. Mikel Landa and Pello Bilbao of Spain, Mattias Skjelmose of Denmark, and Julian Alaphilippe of France all suffered bad injuries.

Both Rui Costa and Nelson Oliveira finished 6:38 minutes behind the leader, in the 42nd and 55th positions, respectively.

Author

A passionate Irish journalist with a love for cycling, politics and of course Portugal especially their sausage rolls.

Rory Mc Ginn