• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

2023 World Championships team selections

Page 13 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Regular reminder that Alaphilippe made the winning move of the 2021 Worlds on a 180m at 6.7% 'hill'. This circuit has 6 hills that are harder than that, that's one every 2.4 kilometres.

(Also, that Veloviewer profile is pretty inconsistent with both Streetview and Ordnance Survey maps in a couple of places... the below should be more accurate.)
tsUvWo0.png
 
I tried to think of a non-blunt way to put this and couldn’t, so a blunt answer it is:
How the *** do you follow cycling intensively enough to get to 11000 posts on here, yet still remain so clueless that you actually think this route will produce a reduced bunch sprint? I legitimately can’t wrap my head around that.

The odds of this route and this field producing a sprint of >10 riders are close to zero.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not as improbable as you're making it out to be. The profile strikes me of Richmond more than any other recent worlds, and even if you look at the European Championship in 2018 there were eight guys within seven seconds. All it takes is a nervous, controlled race, Spain or Australia having riders for Aramburu or Matthews, and guys in front playing a little cat-and-mouse at the end to make it an eight-plus-man sprint, particularly if the weather is decent. But I hope that's not the case (the race, not necessarily the weather).
 
Not a lot of climbing tho, how will the climbers get away from the strong men and sprinters?




https%3A%2F%2Fs3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com%2Fcyclinguptodatecom%2Fimages%2F2023-07%2Ffinale-glasgow2-64c6dc739cb5f.png


https%3A%2F%2Fs3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com%2Fcyclinguptodatecom%2Fimages%2F2023-07%2Ffinale-glasgow1-64c6dc739ad4f.png


Source:
Those two images give the distances in opposite directions.
The diagonal view is ridden anticlockwise according to the distances, but the profile kilometer markers go clockwise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ManicJack
I tried to think of a non-blunt way to put this and couldn’t, so a blunt answer it is:
How the *** do you follow cycling intensively enough to get to 11000 posts on here, yet still remain so clueless that you actually think this route will produce a reduced bunch sprint? I legitimately can’t wrap my head around that.

The odds of this route and this field producing a sprint of >10 riders are close to zero.
Too be fair, probably 80% of the posts are pictures.
 
Regular reminder that Alaphilippe made the winning move of the 2021 Worlds on a 180m at 6.7% 'hill'. This circuit has 6 hills that are harder than that, that's one every 2.4 kilometres.

(Also, that Veloviewer profile is pretty inconsistent with both Streetview and Ordnance Survey maps in a couple of places... the below should be more accurate.)
How hard were the hills in Richmond, particularly the one were Sagan blasted off?
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Sandisfan
The Italians are going to be hard on the appointment at the world championships. The only question is, where? A considerable part of the Italian core is bilingual. They speak the language of the road and the track. Because Bennati is so incredibly slow, I don't know who will start and who won't. There is a chance that a few guys prefer the track, the world championships of which are in Cali in two weeks. I will therefore dispense with this piece of prose. If an unnamed Italian rides to the world title later, it's not my fault. Anyway, in Anadia, a few weeks ago, the track boys drove one world record after another. In the team pursuit they ran 3:53:09, unprecedented figures for the juniors. More than 5 counts faster than the previous world record and just good for a solid place in the top ten at the youngest world championship for the professionals in Roubaix. On the individual level, Luca Giaimi set a world record in the individual pursuit. Brennan was still enjoying his great performance, or Giaimi just went down again by a few hundredths. Rarely seen. That said, come what may, the biggest Italian hope for the road race is not Luca Giaimi, I think, but Simone Gualdi. After all, in a very strong field, it was he who could most firmly threaten Nordhagen in the tough ride to Chiusdino. Then you can go for a bike ride. It is striking that more and more Italians are crossing the borders, to teams with a better structure. So is Gualdi, who we can see next year with the training team of Intermarche. Italy also has a very strong freshman. I'm talking about Andrea Bessega. The question is what exactly he will be worth in this international top field, because Andea has not ridden very much outside Italy yet. Nevertheless, the results he achieves here are so encouraging that I have confidence in them. His only international participation so far was in Morbihan, where he immediately won a stage. His form is certainly good, as witnessed by his performances. World champion, that may come a year too soon, but this boy is going to be there. In the case of a sprint, we end up with the aforementioned Luca Giaimi. Giaimi's credentials against international competition are scant, but he can cycle very fast. So the only question is, does he feel like it? And if so, how does he want to do it? Giaimi is a sprinting time trialist. Or a time-trial sprinter. He has regularly won his races in a mass sprint, but is also not averse to turning on the after burners in the last kilometer and just driving away hard. The counter already stands at 7 victories this year, which is just outside his many world and European track titles. It makes him dangerous and unpredictable. Finally, I would like to mention Juan David Sierra. They stole this from us. It's a great shame. Sierra is an Italian Colombian. Sierra is also part of the searing four of the world record in Anadia. Sierra also became individual European champion, I think on the scratch, I'm not sure anymore. Not a favorite or anything for a world title, so they can keep it again now.
RR: Bessega, Cettolin, Giaimi, Gualdi, Sierra

TT: Donati, Giaimi
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan