Mathieu van der Poel was part of a group previewing the course for the elite men’s road race at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and came away feeling that even as a favourite, the chance of winning the rainbow jersey “is still small”.
The Dutchman is a main favourite for Sunday’s elite men’s road race after winning Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo this season but predicts that challenges in maintaining position in the peloton and ample opportunities to attack as reasons the race will be difficult in effort and tactics.
Speaking to Dutch journalists, Van der Poel wouldn’t single out his top rivals for the rainbow jersey. “I can name names. But so many riders can win here that I don’t dare. I myself am also part of that, although even as a favourite the chance is still small that you will actually win,” he said, according to Wielerflits.
Van der Poel noted the many corners on the city circuit and how difficult the race will be to control. The circuit brought back memories of the 2018 European Road Championships that were held in Glasgow, where Matteo Trentin beat him and Wout van Aert from a shattered leading group to take the title.
“I recognized a lot from the European Championship in 2018, even though that was a while ago. It seems like there are even more corners added to this circuit. It is almost racing from corner to corner,” he said, adding that it was almost too technical. “Especially since we’re racing that loop for a long time. Maybe it would have been better with a slightly longer run-up and a few less laps on the circuit. Now it’s atypical, something we’re not used to.
“It is going to be very gruelling – a race of attrition – although, at the same time, I think this is a very fair course. Due to the accumulation of efforts, it will be very difficult in the end. Positioning is crucial; everyone knows that. Am I happy with it? We’ll have to wait and see, but normally it should be something that suits me. It is important to ride at the front and race as concentrated as possible.”
Van der Poel says that due to the technical nature of the course, any stroke of bad luck could mean a lot more extra effort to return than on other courses.
“You would really have a lot of work to get back to the front,” he said. “The ‘longest’ straight is also not very long. Once you’re in the front, you can sit there for quite a while. There are very few overtaking opportunities.”
The turns will also make it easy for attackers to quickly get out of sight of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…