Returning champion Matej Mohorič (Slovenia) finished seventh in the 2024 Gravel World Championships, but that result doesn't do justice to one of the most aggressive riders in the race on the return from an injury which could have called an end to his entire season.
"The tendon was exposed after the crash," Mohoriç retold to Cyclingnews after the race finished. The crash was an unexpected one which Mohoric found himself frustrated with.
"I didn't like the crash in Girona. It was unnecessary. I was just not switched on. I was not pushing the limits. I was going relaxed," he said. "I slipped out on a corner because I guess I'm not used to riding gravel that much, and I turned as if I was on the road bike."
The exposed tendon left Mohoriç unable to ride at all until the wound closed. "It took approximately one week after they've stitched it up to heal from the inside, so I could make a fist with my hand. Before, I wasn't able to do that."
His return to the Worlds defence was in doubt until only a few days before the elite men's race.
"I had to miss quite a few days of training after the crash," he said. "I'm still a little bit struggling with my condition."
His struggles weren't obvious from the race which played out beforehand, as Mohoriç was isolated in a group of Belgian and Dutch breakaway riders, and later found themselves in the wake of a ruthless attack from Mathieu van der Poel.
"I'm happy about what I showed today in the race," he said.
He made countless efforts to break up a chase group of five riders in pursuit of Van der Poel and breakaway companion Florian Vermeersch. He had his work set out, as Connor Swift (Great Britain) was his only ally against a Belgian trio with no motivation to chase down teammate Vermeersch in the two-man attack upfront.
The tactical disadvantage laid the groundwork for a challenging sprint finish, where Mohorič was not only tired from back-to-back attacks but also up against a sprint powerhouse in Jasper Stuyven.
As it happened, it was Quinten Hermans who was the quickest of the Belgian finishers, and Mohorič blamed his sprint timing for falling outside of the top five.
"It could have ended up with a medal. It wasn't to be," the Slovenian told Cyclingnews.
"I went too early in the final sprint, but yeah, I'm still happy with the performance."
Closing the season
Mohorič's return from injury offers him a few more chances to rectify a season in which he claimed only one professional win - a stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.
"I have some more racing to do in the following weeks," he said. "I will go to Italy now to Gran Piemonte, and then some other races, perhaps."
When asked if he would race Unbound again, Mohoric said, "This will have to be decided and planned out with the team. It depends on the team's interests. I have a lot of relationship with gravel."
Misfortune has likely been at the heart of Mohorič's disappointing season, and so too for Bahrain-Victorious as a team.
"We will regather," Mohorič said. "We didn't have the best season with the team, but we know, we know what we can do better, and we will focus on getting things back into place for next year.
"And hopefully be a little bit more lucky."
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