Tadej Pogacar has continued his assault on cycling history with another long-range victory, this time to claim the European road race title in France.
Just a week on from his 66km solo escape at the World Championships, the Slovenian superstar launched his race-winning attack from 75km to go on the 202.5km route from Privas to Guilherand-Granges in the Drôme-Ardèche region.
The absurd regularity with which the 27-year-old makes the extraordinary look routine is showing no sign of slowing.
However, arguably the most extraordinary scenes took place on the side of the road, where a number of spectators engaged in an absurd charade of support, including one gentleman who exposed his buttocks at the two-time world champion as he rode past.
Soon after that moment of exhibitionism, another set of fans appeared to slap stickers onto the back of Pogacar as he rode past on the ascent of the Côte de Saint-Romain-de-Lerps.
"This is weird," commentator José Been said on TNT Sport.
"Don't do this, people. This is stupid."
Spectators have long played a role, for good and bad, in cycling road races, with riders sometimes placed in a dangerous position due to being exposed to people on the roadside.
Protesters successfully interrupted several stages at the Vuelta a España this year, while Mathieu van der Poel had a bottle thrown at him during Paris-Roubaix earlier in the season.
None of the shenanigans appeared to affect Pogacar too much, though, as he rode on to victory 31 seconds ahead of world time trial champion Remco Evenepoel.
French teenager Paul Seixas underlined why so many in France have such high hopes of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider by finishing an impressive third, 3 minutes and 41 seconds back.
"We knew the third climb would be the hardest," Pogacar said post-race.
"I saw there were four or five Belgians and I was alone for the team. It was better to be on the attack than with too many guys who can attack you."
So he did, landing yet another major title ahead of Belgian rival Evenepoel, with Vuelta a España winner Jonas Vingegaard ultimately failing to finish.
The victory is Pogacar's sixth one-day victory of the year, a list that includes the World Championships, two Monuments (Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Ronde van Vlaanderen) and classics Strade Bianche and La Flèche Wallonne.
He also won four stages on his way to a fourth Tour de France title and claimed overall victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné and UAE Tour.
His 75km solo victory is the second-longest of his career, behind his 81.1km solo raid to win the 2024 Strade Bianche.
Pogacar is expected to end his season on October 11 at Il Lombardia, the final monument of the year.
He has won the Italian race four years in a row and will emulate legendary Italian Fausto Coppi with a fifth successive victory.
