Spain and France are the latest teams to confirm their selections for the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda (September 21-28), adding the likes of Juan Ayuso, Julian Alaphilippe and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to the start lists of the elite races.
Despite some high-profile drop-outs in recent weeks, and riders like Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel and Lotte Kopecky skipping the Rwanda Worlds, many of the biggest cycling nations are still assembling strong teams, with Grand Tour winners and stage winners among those lining up for next weekend’s road races.
For Spain, Vuelta a España stage winners Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler will lead the eight-man selection for the elite men’s road race, taking on their UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Tadej Pogačar on the climber-friendly course in Kigali.
They’ll be joined by Abel Balderstone, Iván Romeo, Carlos Verona, Carlos Canal, Roger Adrià and Raúl García Pierna in what is shaping up to be a strong team for the nation that last won a men’s road race title in 2018 – with Alejandro Valverde, who is now the national coach. Mikel Landa, still recovering from a back injury, is absent from the selection.
García Pierna and last year’s under-23 time trial world champion Romeo will line up for Spain in Sunday’s elite time trial.
Ayuso has never previously ridden a World Championships as an elite rider, but will immediately be on the list of potential winners alongside Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, given his recent successes at the Vuelta and the volume of climbing in Kigali.
The women’s road race team will be led by Mavi García, whilst Mireia Benito is selected for the women’s elite time trial.
France also announced their strong team on Monday, with GP Québec winner Julian Alaphilippe and Tour de France Femmes winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot spearheading their road race squads.
In the men’s race, Alaphilippe – back-to-back world champion in 2020 and 2021 – will be flanked by a team that includes the young phenom Paul Seixas, who just won the Tour de l’Avenir. Despite still only being 18, the UCI have reverted to the rule that WorldTour riders may not race the under-23 events at Worlds, so Seixas will ride in the elite category, racing both the road race and TT.
Ferrand-Prévot, also…
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