Strange but true: for all he remains one of cycling's top lead-out men – something from which fast finishers of the calibre of Caleb Ewan, Dylan Groenewegen, Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb have all benefited to date – one of Luka Mezgec's most memorable days of his career so far was not in a bunch sprint, but when he was in a 'peloton' of just two riders: himself and Tadej Pogačar.
This happened in last year’s Slovenian National Championships, when Mezgec and Pogačar spent nearly four hours fending off the pack in a two-up breakaway. And if the duo's final positions on the podium were all but set in stone from the moment Pogačar bridged across to Mezgec in the opening moments of the race, Mezgec tells Cyclingnews that the experience of a day off the front with the number one-ranked rider in the world on their home roads still made it all worthwhile.
