2019 UCI Road World Championships Men's Road Race : 284.5km

[perico]

Moscow did all that work for nothing. He’s probably looking for somebody to punch right about now.

 

[Unchained]

Pedersen really shivering!!!

 

[Broccolidwarf]

And once again is on poor old Vincenzo's shoulders to bring back Italy on top (next year).

Fuglsang will have a word to say about that

 

[Salvarani]

In hindsight should have waited a little bit longer before starting the sprint, but Trentin was empty and when you are on the limit like everyone was right there... the guy with the most left in the tank wins. It is not about speed or acceleration anymore.

Pedersen!!! Chapeau

 

[Vino's Mum]

So how come Sagan didn't follow Trentin and Mathieu? Legs or trying to ride ala Sagan?

He said it was too soon to go with VDP.

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats Mads!

Not one I had thought of before the race.

 

[jaylew]

Who cares about a medal. This is cycling, it’s all about the win. Kung may not get many opportunities to win the WCRR and he failed to maximize his chance today. A 10% chance of winning is better than an inevitable third. Strongest guy in the race, but nowhere near the smartest.

Well, I don't subscribe to the win is all that matters line of thinking but I guess he thought that was his best chance to win otherwise he'd have attacked in the final few k. After all, he'd still be guaranteed a 3rd if it didn't work so he must have thought the sprint was his best shot.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Who cares about a medal. This is cycling, it’s all about the win. Kung may not get many opportunities to win the WCRR and he failed to maximize his chance today. A 10% chance of winning is better than an inevitable third. Strongest guy in the race, but nowhere near the smartest.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you and I would have loved nothing more than Küng in rainbows. But he had only a very, very small chance to win from that group. He could have played it differently but you have to remember he was completely cooked. I can understand why he tried everything to secure a medal. And as pirazziattacks mentioned, Pedersen and Trentin looked to be under pressure as well, so it could have ended differently.

 

[skidmark]

Moscow did all that work for nothing. He’s probably looking for somebody to punch right about now.

Yeah I bet he wishes they could ride another lap so he could punch a French rider or something.

 

[AQETUYIOI]

What if they'd added a lap or two?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Well, I don't subscribe to the win is all that matters line of thinking but I guess he thought that was his best chance to win otherwise he'd have attacked in the final few k. After all, he'd still be guaranteed a 3rd if it didn't work so he must have thought the sprint was his best shot.

His best chance was definitely a late attack, with perhaps 2 or 3 to go, but he was probably completely cooked at that point. Alternatively a longer solo could have worked, but he isn't explosive enough to shake the others from his wheel, he either needs to be lucky with others looking at each other or slowly break them.

 

[HelloDolly]

Carlos Betancur still has it in him. He needs to focus his inner energy better. But we have been saying this for the last 5 years.

He needs to stay off the burger and beers and stay out of the pool halls

 

[DonEsteban]

So how come Sagan didn't follow Trentin and Mathieu? Legs or trying to ride ala Sagan?

He was way too far back with GVA/Matthews/Kristoff at that time.
Not his usual attentive self near the front - probably thought too early.
He himself burned GVA that way a few times, he should have known better.

Alaphilippe and Matthews apparently did not have legs, but don't know what Belgium/Germany/Norway were thinking ...

 

[Red Rick]

Damn what a worlds

Pedersen the surprising but deserved winner. So many things going through my mind the last 15km.

• Vd Poel looked like a beast and like he couldn't lose. But even he has to remember to eat enough. Never seen somebody park so badly in years! The word hunger knock is back
• Trentin looked like a beast and like he couldn't lose.. but even he can cramp up the moment he starts his sprint I suppose..
• Pedersen just had by far the most left and easily won the sprint. Probs to Küng getting third aftera 65km long attack.

-Sagan if you can close 20s in such a short time, where were you went VdP and Trentin attacked?

All in all, disappointed VdP didn't manage to win, but truly enjoyed the worlds as a whole. That was a classic race of attrition. Only the strongest can win that race. And Pedersen was the strongest. Period.

They were almost at a stand still before the sprint. Everyone suffers hard and it's not like Sagan was all that fresh most likely. I guess he simply was positioned wrong when VdP went cause nobody expected him to go that early.

 

[Leinster]

This was by far the worst Worlds for France in this decade.

Voeckler has serious work to do, and our nation a serious need of talents.

I think backing Alaphilippe was the right call 2 weeks ago when the selection was made. If Voeckler could have changed his selection this morning, and build a team around Demarre and/or Gallopin instead, I think he would have.

 

[Koronin]

46 riders finished the race. Can you imagine what slaughter it would have been with those two extra hills and 20 additional kms?

Actually for me, this shows it should never have been raced in those conditions in the first place.

 

[Red Rick]

He was way too far back with GVA/Matthews/Kristoff at that time.
Not his usual attentive self near the front - probably thought too early.
He himself burned GVA that way a few times, he should have known better.

Alaphilippe and Matthews apparently did not have legs, but don't know what Belgium/Germany/Norway were thinking ...

I don't buy for one second GvA could do any better than he got.

 

[Squire]

7	KRISTOFF Alexander	Norway	175	100	1:10
8	VAN AVERMAET Greg	Belgium	150	90	,,
9	IZAGIRRE Gorka	Spain	125	80	,,
10	COSTA Rui	Portugal	100	70	,,
11	COLBRELLI Sonny	Italy	85	65	,,
12	FUGLSANG Jakob	Denmark	70	60	,,
13	ŠTYBAR Zdeněk	Czech Republic	60	55	,,
14	BETANCUR Carlos	Colombia	50	50	,,
15	DEGENKOLB John	Germany	40	46	,,

Very diverse group of rider types in the final "peloton".

The one thing they all have in common is that they're all hard as nails. Even Betancur. He has done some great rides in horrible weather in the Giro.

Valverde, Alaphilippe or Thomas would look out of place on that list.

Very surprised by Chaves today. But he's a tough cookie too, I guess, having done well in e.g. Lombardia.

 

[Red Rick]

Actually for me, this shows it should never have been raced in those conditions in the first place.

Yeah race shoudl have been canceled the moment Valverde quit the race.

 

[Valv.Piti]

He said it was too soon to go with VDP.

So he rode ala Sagan again which you cant blame him for since it has netted him 3 Worlds so far. But still, he doesnt have a team and when two captains go, you better try to join them.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

He wasn't riding for 3rd, he went hard on any sort of hill and tried to ride the others off the wheel on the flat as well. He almost dropped Pedersen and I think Trentin was under pressure as well.

He pulled and pulled all day and the closest thing he had to a strategy to win was to try to grind two lighter guys off his wheel on the climb. He was pulling when Trentin had a teammate. He was pulling when it was just him and two quicker guys. He rode like he’d had a frontal lobotomy. He should have been sitting on the back waiting for an opportunity to attack and try to TT home. That’s what you do when you are the strongest but also the slowest.

 

[Koronin]

Yeah race shoudl have been canceled the moment Valverde quit the race.

More like it should NOT have been raced in a monsoon. That is just flat out stupid and dangerous for the riders.

 

[Danskebjerge]

So how come Sagan didn't follow Trentin and Mathieu? Legs or trying to ride ala Sagan?

No doubt that he relied on the big teams to pull the breakaways back at the end. But that's not how the race has worked on this route, neither today nor the other days.

 

[Salvarani]

So he rode ala Sagan again which you cant blame him for since it has netted him 3 Worlds so far. But still, he doesnt have a team and when two captains go, you better try to join them.

It is a split second type of decision to make. Sometimes it doesnt go your way.

 

[damian13ster]

Damn it!!! Had Trentin at 21-1 to win. Was almost ready to pop champagne but back to bottled water it is