If Roglič takes it will Belgium hold a grudge? Ouch. So many things to consider when preparing the game plan.
The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to
In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.
Thanks!
If Roglič takes it will Belgium hold a grudge? Ouch. So many things to consider when preparing the game plan.
He'll be more invisible than in the road race in Tokyo.
I just don't see him playing any significant role on a route like this. Even if he did I don't know in which scenario he could win.Any reason? Because in Tokyo he had back cramps & it was his first race since leaving the Tour through injury.
His worst race this year on pure form was Liège, and even in that he wasn't totally invisible - he just didn't have the legs after all the racing that came before.
I mean maybe there's a small possibility he's using this as preparation for Lombardia, but this is Roglic, i.e. when he shows up he usually goes full gas all in.
He'll be more invisible than in the road race in Tokyo.
absolutely and they should be; everybody knows he should work for WoutIf Roglič takes it will Belgium hold a grudge? Ouch. So many things to consider when preparing the game plan.
I just don't see him playing any significant role on a route like this. Even if he did I don't know in which scenario he could win.
Well he did win LBL. You could argue of course he wouldn't have been able to beat Hirschi had Alaphilippe not blocked him but then aghain - he beat Hirschi in a sprint in 2020 TDF stage 9. Then you have Giro dell'Emilia 2019 and Tour de l'Ain 2020 stage 1 was a good showing as well...It is not about distance, it's about the route. I don't really doubt he can be in the final selection if he's good, but then what. In this field Roglic isn't a good shout for a sprint.
All Slovenian media and team very loudly promote Mohorič as their captain. Mohorič also talks a lot about this race to be "the one" for him this year.
You mean van Aert that loudly demands riding TdF with half the team and not working for Roglič? That van Aert? You can be damn sure Roglič would rather see Mohorič win then van Aert.I saw those quotes & unless there's some sort of bluff involved (like an attempt to make the rest of the peloton disregard Pogacar & Roglic as threats), it was like Mohoric trying to convince his own teammates to ride for him.
But the charm of the world championship also includes the fact sponsor team loyalties play a role. And there's just no way Roglic will ride against Wout van Aert to make Mohoric become world champion.
You mean van Aert that loudly demands riding TdF with half the team and not working for Roglič? That van Aert? You can be damn sure Roglič would rather see Mohorič win then van Aert.
Who cares about Belgians. This is "world championships" where teams ride to represent their countries and try to win a medal. Van Aert has enough support in Belgian team and shouldn't expect all JV team helping him. If any Slovenian is in a position to fight for the win at the end and Roglič is still there, he'll fight to win first and if that won't be possible, he'll fight to help other Slovenian. There is no other option.The problem is it would be too obvious.
I don't disagree with your assessment of WvA (I've posted similar in recent months), but in the world championships on Belgian soil... it would be hard for Roglic to go back to Team Jumbo Visma & shrug with a "why not eh?" whilst WvA is sulking again.
But whatever, if that happened I would be totally A-okay with the outcome. The Belgian media would go bananas again though & full meltdown, which could be funny to an extent.
Who cares about Belgians. This is "world championships" where teams ride to represent their countries and try to win a medal. Van Aert has enough support in Belgian team and shouldn't expect all JV team helping him. If any Slovenian is in a position to fight for the win at the end and Roglič is still there, he'll fight to win first and if that won't be possible, he'll fight to help other Slovenian. There is no other option.
I loved to se Ganna win TT in front od van Aert, specially when i saw how Belgian "fans" tried to signal Ganna to slow down. Van Aert winning world championship will destroy all chances for JV to ever win TdF. You can't not race your wold champion in TdF and you need to give him support to race there so there is no room to fight for yellow jersey with half the team.
Speaking to the media afterwards, he said he’d been inspired by Roglic’s ride on the final day of Paris-Nice, where he crashed three times and watched the overall victory disappear up the road, but mounted a long and lonely chase in ripped kit up the final climb.
“After the crash where my bike was broken, I really thought for a moment that it was all over. Then I came to the Wijnpers [climb] and at the top there were so many people, so that gave me motivation. I said to myself, ‘okay, I ride full gas until the end.'
“It was so so long. It was almost a 100km time trial. But I rode all out. I had the image of Roglic at Paris-Nice in my head. He was really riding full gas, after also crashing a few times, and he was losing the GC as well. I said to myself, if you take to the start of a World Championship in Belgium, you have to go on. So I rode on character to the end.”
This is a ridiculous statement. If the race demands it, ofc he will ride against WvA. Slovenian fans would tear him apart if he didn't.I saw those quotes & unless there's some sort of bluff involved (like an attempt to make the rest of the peloton disregard Pogacar & Roglic as threats), it was like Mohoric trying to convince his own teammates to ride for him.
But the charm of the world championship also includes the fact sponsor team loyalties play a role. And there's just no way Roglic will ride against Wout van Aert to make Mohoric become world champion.
This is a ridiculous statement. If the race demands it, ofc he will ride against WvA. Slovenian fans would tear him apart if he didn't.