The summer dates of the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, ‘super Worlds’ mean the men’s road race title will be decided just two weeks after the Tour de France, adding an extra twist to the most prestigious one-day race of the season.
The Road World Championships were once held at the end of August before the racing season was stretched into September and October. Now with the men’s road race on the opening weekend in Glasgow, it is the earliest the rainbow jersey will be awarded since Marino Basso snatched victory from his Italian teammate Marino Basso in 1972.
Riders who have emerged from the Tour de France on form are sure to fight for victory, while modern training methods and the Vuelta a España being on the horizon means other riders will be fresh and strong, and so able to challenge for the medals.
The men’s road race appears to suit the Classics riders but the 271km distance, on 10 laps of a twisting 14.3km Glasgow finishing circuit, and the risk of rain will make it a day for the fittest and strongest in the men’s peloton. The only real climb is Montrose Street – 200 metres at 7% – and so bike handling skills and positioning will be other vital factors in deciding who pulls on the rainbow jersey on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a special course, it’s very unusual,” French National Coach Thomas Voeckler recently told L’Equipe. “There are 48 corners per lap, so almost 500 in total in the second part of the race.”
The race starts in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and includes a 100km loop north, before reaching Glasgow for the finishing circuits.
Long-range attacks, like the one Remco Evenepoel made to win in Wollongong in 2022, could work again this year, with Tadej Pogačar perhaps ready to jump away early with the young Belgian. Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Neilson Powless, Michael Matthews and others may prefer to race hard on the final laps, while Jasper Philipsen and other sprinters will hope the race ends in some kind of fast finish.
Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard will not ride for Denmark and Tom Pidcock, Primož Roglič, Matej Mohorič are also absent for their respective national teams. Biniam Girmay was a late withdrawal after his crash at the Clasica San Sebastian and visa problems amongst his Eritrean team.
These are the riders Cyclingnews believes will challenge for the men’s world title in Glasgow.
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