5:03 p.m. A prostrate man, paralyzed, collapses behind the finish line. One, two, three then soon ten seconds pass. Staring into space, alone in the middle of the crowd, Matej Mohoric awaits the sentence. Who of him or Kasper Asgreen threw his gut first on the line of truth? Barely time to be afraid that the news will fall. It’s for him, the photo-finish is formal.
The man we thought was destined for the infirmary then gets up suddenly and bursts into tears, stunned. Just the moment chosen by his teammate Fred Wright to disembark and cut through the tide of cameras and onlookers. Matej Mohoric is gaining air, he can say thank you to the Briton, but in reality he is still suffocating. Wright does not resist and also begins to shed a few sobs.
Seeing Matej Mohoric win this Friday on the Big Loop is not a surprise. This is the third time that the other Slovenian in the Tour has raised his arms, after his double in 2021. The 28-year-old adventurer is one of the references in the current peloton. A must on the circuit, a bit like Michał Kwiatkowski, winner last week at the Grand Colombier. What is more surprising is that he did so after an “infernal breakaway” in the company of Ben O’Connor and especially Asgreen, who dreamed of repeating his feat the day before.
A master of the descent, inevitably affected by the drama Gino Mäder
Usually, Mohoric wins alone by means of swerves of which he has the secret. One of his specialties is letting go of his opponents on the descents, like during Milan-San Remo in 2022. At the beginning of June, we had the chance to talk to him on the subject. He who masters this exercise to perfection, like Tom Pidcock, told us how he felt no fear, no panic in these rides at more than 100 km/h. Admitting to even feel “a bit like an artist” when he reviews the images.
A few days later, these remarks, as interesting as they are, nevertheless sounded completely false. Terrible coincidence, on June 16, his teammate Gino Mäder disappeared on a hospital bed. The day before, this young Swiss he was close to missed a turn and fell several meters in the mountains.
We had then logically reconnected with him. Deeply bruised by this tragedy, Mohoric however explained that he had not changed his approach to very high speed. “I think our lives in general sometimes turn out to be fragile, whether it’s driving, going down stairs or running errands. I feel much safer in a race than when driving on the freeway or cycling in traffic. A fatalistic opinion shared by a good part of the peloton.
“I love being a pro runner but it’s hard”
This Friday, Matej Mohoric could not escape a new question about this drama. “In 2021, I wouldn’t have won this stage but I thought of Gino, it gave me motivation to go all the way. I was very emotional after the race but not during because I evaluate all the elements so as not to make any mistakes. I use the head as the legs. “This is the third victory for his team – the best total after the Alpecin-Deceuninck of Jasper Philipsen, still blocked at four successes.
Very talkative during his press conference, the Slovenian also had touching words about his passionate and destructive relationship with his profession. “Cycling is a profound sport. People can’t make the necessary effort to be in the best race in the world. We spend time analyzing everything. We suffer a lot while everyone is in their best disposition. No one gives up to go to Paris. I felt strong today but everyone is. Asgreen was even stronger than me. I love being a pro runner but it’s hard, ”he said in a burst of appreciated sincerity.
Far from the middle finger that he was able to address to the crowd during his victory in 2021, his response to the searches carried out in Bahrain, Matej Mohoric revealed himself to Poligny as a champion with a big heart.
