"There is no way I'd enjoy being a phenomenon”

The Doc would be too paranoid to enjoy being as good as Pogačar

- Michael Hutchinson

Much as we might try to deny it, cycling is a sport that tends towards monopoly.

More often than not there is a rider who dominates - a Beryl Burton, an Eddy Merckx or a Marianne Vos.

If we're lucky there is a plucky underdog or two. The 1970s was full of people who truly if wrongly believed that Raymond Poulidor would win the Tour de France. And if we're luckier, the dominating star will have a chink in their armour - they suck at cobbles, say, or they can't time a sprint. But in truth the golden eras of unpredictable racing are usually just little interregnums while we wait for the next behemoth rider or team to arrive.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a behemoth. At this year's men's World Championship road race, or at the European Champs race that was only a week later, it wasn't hard to imagine the feelings of second-placed Remco Evenepoel - the "not again" and the "what do I have to do?" feelings that we all have sometimes watching Tadej Pogačar. But what goes through Pogačar's head?