Kiwi rider blown away by ‘brilliant’ Tour climax
Patrick Bevin was so blown away by Tadej Pogacar’s ride on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France that New Zealand’s leading time trial exponent says it would have to rate as one of the most dramatic sporting moments he has witnessed.
But now he is keen to get on the action himself at this week’s UCI road world championships in Italy.
Primoz Roglic looked odds on to win the yellow jersey after leading the famous race for 11 days but the young UAE Team Emirates rider produced a monumental comeback to overturn his fellow Slovenian’s 57-second deficit and win the stage by 1min 21sec, becoming the youngest winner of the Tour since 1904.
Preparing for the world championships, Bevin watched the drama unfold on TV and said Pogacar’s incredible effort on the La Planche des Belles Filles climb was professional cycling at its very best.
‘‘I thought it was brilliant. I thought it was some of the best sporting TV you’re ever going to
see as far as endurance sports go,’’ the Taupo¯ rider said.
‘‘The thing about time trials is the course really dictates the riders who are going to be competitive and that was a very specialised time trial. It’s very rare where riders have changed bikes in the time trial but to have such a long run in on the flat and to finish with a climb was unique, and they really couldn’t have asked for a better finale.’’
Bevin is aiming to become the first Kiwi to crack the podium in the men’s time trial, after finishing fourth place at the world championships last year. However, he will not have Pogacar to contend with on Saturday, with the Tour de France champion expected to concentrate on the road race instead.
Bevin said the rolling 32km course in Imola, which is much shorter than in previous years and finishes on a Formula One track, is better suited to a pure time trial specialist. Which is good news for him.
The CCC Team rider’s strongest competition is likely to come from two-time defending champion Rohan Dennis, European winner Stefan Kung and Jumbo-Visma duo Tom Dumoulin and Wout van Aert.
‘‘It’s a course that does suit me,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s rolling, it’s not super hilly and the wind helps the power riders a bit more, because you have to work a bit harder when it’s a bit windy, so there’s definitely some nice attributes there for me.’’
Not required for the Tour, Bevin has spent the past three weeks preparing for the world championships but the 29-yearold said that time had been hugely beneficial given he has only ridden one competitive time trial in 2020, and that was all the way back in February before he returned to New Zealand during the height of Covid-19 lockdown.
Bevin recently announced he will be leaving CCC at the end of the year to team up with fourtime Tour de France champion Chris Froome at Israeli Start-Up Nation.