Taddei Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) won his 22nd race of the season at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, soloing from 23.3 km from the finish.

The Slovenian even had time to high-five Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec winner and good friend Michael Matthews (Jayco Arla).

Pogachar has already brought the Giro d'Italia to the UAE Emirates and reclaimed the Tour de France title in 2024, and his obvious form makes him the third male “triple crown winner” after Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) The last piece of the puzzle to become the third male “Triple Crown Champion” after Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) appears to have strengthened the odds of adding the Rainbow Jersey to the list.

The successful conclusion of the Grand Prix of Montreal has increased his motivation to become Slovenia's first road racing world champion, following Pogachar in 2023 and Andrei Hauptmann in 2001 with UAE Team Emirates.

“Today gave me confidence and motivation,” Pogachar said at his victory press conference.

“You can't do a lot in two weeks to get in shape. Then I think I'll be ready for the World Championships."

”I'll be ready for the World Championships.

“Sure we celebrated a little bit, but in two weeks we have the World Championships.

After being left alone, Pogachar chose to do some sightseeing during his performance and “karma” in front of the crowd, mimicking the poses of Sir Georges-Etienne Cartier, whose monument is on the finish straight, and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.

“You see people doing this in the statues at the finish line.

This is not the first time Pogachar has tasted victory in Montreal; in 2022 he finished ahead of Wout Van Aert, who was one of the favourites for the World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. However, he only finished 19th that day as Lemko Evenpole won the race single-handedly.

Today, however, he pulled off a very different feat, pulling away from Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Ries-a-Bike), Julien Alaphilippe (Sourdal-Quick Step), and many other top riders on the circuit's main Cote Camillien He crossed the finish line with a 24-second advantage over second-place finisher Pero Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorius) on the final climb of the Houde. [26.8km to go is the Zurich bell lap, while the Zurich-Bergstrasse and Vitikon climbs await with 20km to go.

Belgium's Evenpole will once again be the main rival in the World Championships road race on September 29, but the GiroTour champion has been seamless with UAE Team Emirates and looks well prepared for Zurich.

“It was a really hard race, but the team was in good shape,” Pogachar said of the 209.1 km race. “The race conditions were good for us and we went hard in the last few laps. We were able to attack with two laps to go and it was a perfect race.”

After finishing seventh in last Friday's Grand Prix of Quebec, it was important for Pogachar to win again and earn his 22nd victory in this historic 2024 season.

“In Quebec I surprised myself with how good my legs were. I was disappointed because I had the legs, but I couldn't get more than 7th place. [But I knew Quebec was not the race for me, and if you remember two years ago, it was really difficult for me. Every year I know Quebec better, and to come back from seventh place and win it is an incredible feeling.

This season has already been one for the ages for the Slovenian superstar, but winning the world title would take him to even greater heights than he has already reached at just 25 years old.

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