Pogacar Achieves 'Triple Crown' with Historic First World Title.

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar delivered an impressive solo performance in Switzerland to secure his first world road race title. 

With this victory, he becomes just the third cyclist in history to achieve the 'Triple Crown' by winning the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and the world title in the same year.

The 26-year-old Pogacar surprised his competitors by making a move with 100km left in the 273.9km race in Zurich, leaving Belgium's Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel and the Netherlands' reigning world champion Mathieu van der Poel behind in the pack.

He quickly caught up to a breakaway group and took the lead alone with 50km remaining, maintaining his advantage in the final stretch while the rest of the field battled for the remaining medals.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself for today," said the three-time Tour de France winner. "I had pressure for myself and for the team. We came here for the victory."

"I can't believe it happened; winning a world championship was a major goal after such a perfect season," Pogacar said.

His victory made him the first man to win the 'Triple Crown' since Ireland's Stephen Roche in 1987. The legendary Eddy Merckx was the first to achieve this feat in 1974, and Annemiek van Vleuten became the only woman to do so in 2022.

Pogacar completed the race in six hours, 27 minutes, and 30 seconds, finishing 34 seconds ahead of Australia's Ben O'Connor, who secured the silver medal after breaking away from the chasing group.

His win mirrored his impressive solo performances earlier in the season, where he attacked 30km from the finish to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège and made a move from 80km out to take the Strade Bianche.

Van der Poel claimed third place, finishing 58 seconds behind after winning a sprint for bronze against Latvia's Toms Skujins. 

World time-trial champion Remco Evenepoel finished fifth, while Swiss rider Marc Hirschi took sixth. 

Scotland’s Oscar Onley, 21, was the top Briton, finishing in a respectable 16th place.