2020 World Championships - now confirmed for Imola, Italy.

[Lequack]

Imola women's circuit (they race it 5x):

Climb profile:

Full course

 

[Hugo Koblet]

The weather forecast now predicts lots of rain for tomorrow. Let's hope that holds true!

 

[Mayomaniac]

At what time is the race supposed to end tomorrow?
I'm asking because I have to catch a train to Innsbruck tomorrow and I want to be able to watch the final 2 hours of the race.

 

[Pantani_lives]

The second climb is clearly the tougher of the two, but it could still be a good idea to attack in the beginning of the final lap, get away with a small group and drop the remaining riders on the second climb. From there it's still more than 10 km to the finish, but it's mostly downhill, so a strong soloist could stay away, especially because the group behind might be shattered and disorganized.

 

[Rollthedice]

At what time is the race supposed to end tomorrow?
I'm asking because I have to catch a train to Innsbruck tomorrow and I want to be able to watch the final 2 hours of the race.

Eurosport player says uninterrupted coverage starts at 9:40, end at 17:10 CET. From the race website fastest finish predicted at 16:27.

 

[BlueRoads]

Before the race

And some Dutch fans

https://twitter.com/x/status/1309781321863041024

View: https://twitter.com/festinaboy/status/1309781321863041024?s=20

Stunning first picture.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I suspect for the women it may well be the second climb on the penultimate circuit that sets up the group in question, potentially. Or even the descent before it. The most powerful teams will want to make the riders like Lippert, Uttrup and Moolman-Pasio ride without support as long as possible.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

At what time is the race supposed to end tomorrow?
I'm asking because I have to catch a train to Innsbruck tomorrow and I want to be able to watch the final 2 hours of the race.

As I often do, I read the message without paying attention to who had written it. Then as I read about someone needing to travel within Austria, my heart and hopes soared.

And then they sank again as I glanced to the left and saw it wasn't @Gigs_98 .

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

noice

 

[Eyeballs Out]

I think the only rider capable of giving the Dutch a race is Deignan and even that requires a leap of faith

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think the only rider capable of giving the Dutch a race is Deignan and even that requires a leap of faith

With van Vleuten riding hurt, I anticipate some of the riders like Longo Borghini and Niewiadoma who are demon descenders to try to put some pressure on and see how many risks Annemiek really wants to take / make her do a bit more work to chase back on once it flattens out. ELB really hit form late in the Giro and descends phenomenally, but she couldn't drop Anna VDB on the climbs even if she put everybody else out the back. ELB will definitely give the Dutch 'a race', but the fact she can't outsprint anybody in that Dutch lineup ordinarily would mean she mightn't succeed. Deignan's best bet I would feel would be to try to Bronzini it if Vos is dropped and piggyback moves, unless Lizzy Banks is on the same kind of day as she was in Plouay and can give her a card to play. She seemed to be riding well on the hills in the Giro but obviously her role was different there, and cumulative climbing here will be another factor.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Has anyone ever had a run of results anything like WVA this year? Two big classics wins, followed by two tour stage sprint wins alongside some incredible super dom climbing and 2nd in hilly tt and then 2nd in WC tt?

In the age of specialisation, there has been nothing remotely like it. Even outside of this age, it is historically amazing.

Alaphilippe... Like, last year?

Strade outpunching Fuglsang/van Aert
San Remo outsprinting Sagan/van Aert/...
Tirreno outsprinting Viviani/Sagan/Cimolai in an actual bunch sprint!
Stage in the Tour, solo.
ITT in the Tour, beating Thomas, Asgreen...
GC, 5th in the Tour, only cracking at the very end.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Sorry, I'll stop now.

The amount of likes and laughs were so overwhelming you decided to quit while you were ahead?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

AVdB coming back from a fall

 

[Jagartrott]

The weather forecast now predicts lots of rain for tomorrow. Let's hope that holds true!

Hmmm, from what I gather from different weather models, most of the rain is expected after the race. During the afternoon, only some light showers are forecast.

 

[Eclipse]

It's a nice circuit, second climb is very selective but you can definitely use the first as a launch if you wanted. Will be interesting to see how they choose to play this out as it gets a it more into the serious end of things.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Belgium attack
Valerie Demey

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

The weather forecast now predicts lots of rain for tomorrow. Let's hope that holds true!

Well a lot less precipitation than predicted when I posted wednesday in this thread.
Very light rain starting from 11 hours and max rain of about 2,7 mm precipitation between 1600-1700 hours.
Temps starting at ~16°C and dropping to ~13°C. And light winds 2-6 m/s.
A lot better than predicted four days ago.
Yes, roads will be wet, but that's about it.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Nibali fans start dancing like a farmer during drought.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

What is she doing, riding in front of the peloton? Jeez. Nobody is coming, this is useless.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

The Cuba outfit was pretty cool.

 

[Bonimenier]

Less than 100k to go and van Vleuten still didn't go solo. Very dissapointing.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Less than 100k to go and van Vleuten still didn't go solo. Very dissapointing.

She's no Remco

 

[Asero831]

the climbs are too short

 

[Eclipse]

the climbs are too short

I don't think so, as soon as anyone wants to really put the heat on it will splinter enough.

Reduced finish seems more likely than solo though