The stars are lining up for a shot at winning the rainbow jersey at the UCI Road World Championships elite men’s road race in Wollongong, Australia.
The centrepiece of the circuit will be the climb of Mount Pleasant and its testing descent, tackled a dozen times. This race is set to pit puncheurs against Grand Tour stars and hardy sprinters as they compete for the hallowed rainbow jersey.
Belgium will be the favourites, with two of the outstanding racers of the season in their squad, but we can expect an aggressive race with 3,945m of elevation gain over 267 kilometres.
The varied abilities of pre-race favourites such as Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar will mean different desires for how the race is run too. It should make for a fascinating dynamic.
The Road Worlds haven’t been held in Australia since 2010, a race which saw Thor Hushovd beat Matti Breschel and home favourite Allan Davis in the final sprint in Melbourne.
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For a pre-race favourite, look no further. It’s difficult to have a course that doesn’t suit Van Aert, who has more sides to him than a dodecahedron, as bunch sprints, time trials, mountainous Grand Tour stages, hilly one-day races and cobbled Classics all fall in his wheelhouse.
You know the Belgian means business when he’s missing the World Championships time trial and another likely medal to go full bore for the road race title, which has eluded him so far.
One-day race wins at the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France, the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this season show his calibre, alongside a second place at Paris-Roubaix and third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
His sprint is devastating, but the near 4,000 metres of climbing on the Australian course is likely to scrub off some of his freshness and finishing speed, something seen when Pogačar beat him at the GP de Montréal. Therein lies a rub: his chances of victory in the most prestigious races have sometimes been scuppered by being sat on by rivals, reluctant to contribute, while breakaways stay out in front. No rider will want to tow the reigning Tour de France green jersey to the finish.
Being ridiculously versatile is not always a boon. Think of stage 4 of the Tour de France this year: Van Aert may do well going…
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