I find it pretty far-fetched to simply assume that Mohoric had to have known about LA's gesture. And you are never going to get a good answer for it. I can say I am a cycling fan and about Mohoric's age and did not associate the gesture with LA at all. Especially since that gesture nowadays get used in many other sports as well as a sort of 'silence to the haters/internet trolls/etc.' . Especially in football I've seen it used several times.
But then someone else will run along saying they are as young as Evenepoel and distinctly remember LA's gesture.
We really cannot know. I think it is very plausible that Mohoric didn't see that gesture or remember it. I also think it is very plausible that Mohoric did not care at all about watching any documentaries about LA, let alone read books about him. Especially coming from a non-cycling obsessed country like Slovenia where these books likely were not distributed in large numbers or even translated. And LA in general being a much bigger deal in the Anglosphere than in other countries.
Lastly, I would not be surprised if the average pro cyclist is not nearly as much of a cycling nerd as the people on this forum. Sure they would have watched it as kids but once it becomes your day job I wonder if you are going to want to watch documentaries of it during your time off the bike.
More than enough plausible deniability.
But then someone else will run along saying they are as young as Evenepoel and distinctly remember LA's gesture.
We really cannot know. I think it is very plausible that Mohoric didn't see that gesture or remember it. I also think it is very plausible that Mohoric did not care at all about watching any documentaries about LA, let alone read books about him. Especially coming from a non-cycling obsessed country like Slovenia where these books likely were not distributed in large numbers or even translated. And LA in general being a much bigger deal in the Anglosphere than in other countries.
Lastly, I would not be surprised if the average pro cyclist is not nearly as much of a cycling nerd as the people on this forum. Sure they would have watched it as kids but once it becomes your day job I wonder if you are going to want to watch documentaries of it during your time off the bike.
More than enough plausible deniability.