What was the best Men's Road Race World Championship in past 10 years?

[auscyclefan94]

What was the best Men's Road Race World Championship in past 10 years?

Discuss and vote on an upcoming poll.

 

[Marcus135]

Mendrisio

 

[auscyclefan94]

the grammar in the poll question and thread topic is simply embarrasing.

 

[riobonito92]

I want to vote for Duitama

 

[El Pistolero]

Madrid cause Boonen won

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

I gotta say Mendrisio....hell of a race!

 

[Race Radio]

Cuddles......wins the best Worlds and Tour.

 

[craig1985]

Obviously I'm setting myself up for some massive fail here, but isn't Limburg in the Netherlands and the actual location was Zolder in 2002?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Obviously I'm setting myself up for some massive fail here, but isn't Limburg in the Netherlands and the actual location was Zolder in 2002?

The worlds were officially held in Limburg which is in Belgium even though the road race was raced around Zolder. I guess that it is similar to the worlds being officially held in Melbourne last year although it was really in Geelong.

 

[craig1985]

Well the officially said the Worlds were in Limburg which is in Belgium even though it was held in Zolder. I guess that it is similar to the worlds being officially held in Melbourne last year although it was really in Geelong.

Touché.

I voted for Cadel's World's win as for the simple reason is that I was never able to watch the race until 2009 when it was on ONE HD.

 

[dlwssonic]

How can I not vote Geelong
It is one of my all time favorite race.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I guess I have to vote Mendrisio. It was a great race but seeing cadel race like that after a tough year having to come back from adversary and win the world championships from putting in a big attack showed what a champion he is. A career defining moment.

 

[greenedge]

I liked Mendrisio. 1999, 2007 ( just because Bettini was a great rider ) and 2010 because it was in Australia. I especially liked the u23 men's race.

 

[Descender]

Mendrisio was the best, the rest were all too soft.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I guess I have to vote Mendrisio. It was a great race but seeing cadel race like that after a tough year having to come back from adversary and win the world championships from putting in a big attack showed what a champion he is. A career defining moment.

I think you mean coming back from adversity (an adversary is your enemy, although the argument could be made that Evans was his own worst enemy for his whole career until that moment).

Voted Mendrisio. Evans threw off the shackles and learnt how to time his attacks (he's always attacked, just in the past he would often time them poorly or they be ineffectual and he gave up too easily), took advantage of the situation on the road with expert tactics that we rarely associated with him until that point. The course was hard enough that the GC men and hilly classics guys like Valverde, Cunego and Sánchez (as well as Evans of course) were among the favourites, hilly specialists like Kolobnev fancied it too, but easy enough that an on-form Fabian Cancellara could also throw a spanner in the works. And even then, with three laps to go we were considering that the big breakaway might actually go all the way. Italy had a collective brainfart and missed nearly every key move after the break was caught, leaving Cunego on his own, and then you had the cagey came of "follow the Cancellara" and the Spanish reluctance to chase down Rodríguez even though he was clearly the most tired of the attackers since he'd been in the early breakaway too, creating a perfect storm of conditions.

It was an ideal parcours. Hard enough for the GC men and hilly specialists, but the finish wasn't on a climb so it didn't rule out the stronger, more versatile sprinters or the less Ardennes-oriented classics men either. Lots of people felt they had a chance, which made it much more interesting.

 

[El Pistolero]

Obviously I'm setting myself up for some massive fail here, but isn't Limburg in the Netherlands and the actual location was Zolder in 2002?

Long story short:

Limburg was an old Medieval duchy. Large parts of its territories(but not all) were annexed by the duchy of Brabant in the 13th-14th century.

The old duchy of Brabant(which consisted of the current provinces of Waals-Brabant, Vlaams-Brabant, Antwerpen, Belgian Limburg, Dutch Limbug, Noord-Brabant and a small part of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen) got split during the 80 years war. The Southern Netherlands(Belgium) got the current provinces of Vlaams-Brabant, Waals Brabant(which were known as just Brabant untill they got split in 1993 aka the dumbest political decision in Belgium), Belgian Limburg and Antwerp. The Northern Netherlands, also known as the Republic, got Dutch Limburg and Noord-Brabant.

Zolder obviously lies in the Belgian province of Limburg.

In fact, the city called Limburg lies in the province of Liège Complicated stuff, history of the low countries. Limburg comes from the words lint and burg. Lint means dragon and burg means fortress. It was said to be an impregnable city.

 

[Ibanez]

Because everyone else is picking Mendrisio, I will vote Salzburg, Bettini's first win. He made several attacks on the final lap, getting away with different riders every time, only to be brought back. Millar, in his first season back, ended up appearing to be the last guy off the front and was brought back, only for the Spanish to pull a number on the entire peloton through a corner in the last kilometre. Only the experienced Zabel and a resurgent Bettini can follow.

Sanchez puts in a huge leadout, and the sprint comes down to a Battle Royal between Valverde Zabel and Bettini - the most consistent bunch sprinter around and the two punchiest classics riders in the world. Valverde goes too early and fades, Zabel looks to be the one, but Bettini nabs him on the line to get his first Worlds. 30 seconds later he is surrounded by Journalists and Italian support staff, holding his bike over his head like a trophy.

I wanted Zabel to get it - but Bettini did ride a great race. A testament if there ever was one to never staying far from the front, and not giving up either! Can't remember how they managed to peel off the front like that, think it was McEwen that led the bunch in about 5 seconds later so it was packed with sprinters. I think following that move came down to reaction times and intuition more than legs - Sanchez is a great rider but he's no Cancellara on the flat. Hardly a surprise it was two of the biggest veterans of the sport who got on the wheel in time.

 

[hrotha]

I don't remember much about the earlier races (seriously, what's wrong with me), but even if Geelong's finale was ultimately vaguely disappointing, the race itself was absolutely great. Mendrisio was good too, obviously, but it's getting more than enough love already.

 

[roundabout]

Geelong.

I liked the 2004 race for some reason.

Can't vote.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Because everyone else is picking Mendrisio, I will vote Salzburg, Bettini's first win. He made several attacks on the final lap, getting away with different riders every time, only to be brought back. Millar, in his first season back, ended up appearing to be the last guy off the front and was brought back, only for the Spanish to pull a number on the entire peloton through a corner in the last kilometre. Only the experienced Zabel and a resurgent Bettini can follow.

Sanchez puts in a huge leadout, and the sprint comes down to a Battle Royal between Valverde Zabel and Bettini - the most consistent bunch sprinter around and the two punchiest classics riders in the world. Valverde goes too early and fades, Zabel looks to be the one, but Bettini nabs him on the line to get his first Worlds. 30 seconds later he is surrounded by Journalists and Italian support staff, holding his bike over his head like a trophy.

I wanted Zabel to get it - but Bettini did ride a great race. A testament if there ever was one to never staying far from the front, and not giving up either! Can't remember how they managed to peel off the front like that, think it was McEwen that led the bunch in about 5 seconds later so it was packed with sprinters. I think following that move came down to reaction times and intuition more than legs - Sanchez is a great rider but he's no Cancellara on the flat. Hardly a surprise it was two of the biggest veterans of the sport who got on the wheel in time.

My favourite as well - best celebration ever. Bettini really deserved a Worlds and was great in that race. Loved the crafty move by the Spaniards in letting a gap go under the bridge

 

[Cobblestoned]

Because everyone else is picking Mendrisio, I will vote Salzburg, Bettini's first win. He made several attacks on the final lap, getting away with different riders every time, only to be brought back. Millar, in his first season back, ended up appearing to be the last guy off the front and was brought back, only for the Spanish to pull a number on the entire peloton through a corner in the last kilometre. Only the experienced Zabel and a resurgent Bettini can follow.

Sanchez puts in a huge leadout, and the sprint comes down to a Battle Royal between Valverde Zabel and Bettini - the most consistent bunch sprinter around and the two punchiest classics riders in the world. Valverde goes too early and fades, Zabel looks to be the one, but Bettini nabs him on the line to get his first Worlds. 30 seconds later he is surrounded by Journalists and Italian support staff, holding his bike over his head like a trophy.

I wanted Zabel to get it - but Bettini did ride a great race. A testament if there ever was one to never staying far from the front, and not giving up either! Can't remember how they managed to peel off the front like that, think it was McEwen that led the bunch in about 5 seconds later so it was packed with sprinters. I think following that move came down to reaction times and intuition more than legs - Sanchez is a great rider but he's no Cancellara on the flat. Hardly a surprise it was two of the biggest veterans of the sport who got on the wheel in time.

I'll join you with this one.
Emotionally very involved and finish was an absolute highlight.

When they came around the corner, I would have bet 1000€ that Zabel would outsprint them. But Bettini totally cool and absolutely clever.
I was freaking out on last km.

Another piece of perfection was delivered by Bettini in Stuttgart.
It was so beautiful to watch how he made the attack and selection in a very beautiful and perfect style. Perfectly timed. Just brilliant.

To then pull out the Panzerfaust and shoot the critics and some Germans.
I think he shot a girl.

 

[sublimit]

Despite the course not being the best I must admit to have enjoyed last years race at Geelong. Kind of surreal how it played out starting with the 50K or so trip across the outback zone or whatever it was. Letting that break get 19 minutes, then just playing out to be a great race.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

My vote goes to Varese. My top 3 for the last decade is

1. Varese 2008
2. Stuttgart 2007
3. Salzburg 2006

IMHO the race in Varese was just one level above the rest in the list. This

1) Extremely beautiful route
2) Thrilling finale
3) Courage by big riders throughout the whole day
4) Big work by Italian national team is paid well back

I'm quite surprised to see the amount of votes going to Mendrisio 2009, but well, I know this is an aussie site, so you're excused

My overall favourites are 1) Chambéry 1989 2) Ronse 1988 and 3) Colombia 1995.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think you mean coming back from adversity (an adversary is your enemy, although the argument could be made that Evans was his own worst enemy for his whole career until that moment).

Voted Mendrisio. Evans threw off the shackles and learnt how to time his attacks (he's always attacked, just in the past he would often time them poorly or they be ineffectual and he gave up too easily), took advantage of the situation on the road with expert tactics that we rarely associated with him until that point. The course was hard enough that the GC men and hilly classics guys like Valverde, Cunego and Sánchez (as well as Evans of course) were among the favourites, hilly specialists like Kolobnev fancied it too, but easy enough that an on-form Fabian Cancellara could also throw a spanner in the works. And even then, with three laps to go we were considering that the big breakaway might actually go all the way. Italy had a collective brainfart and missed nearly every key move after the break was caught, leaving Cunego on his own, and then you had the cagey came of "follow the Cancellara" and the Spanish reluctance to chase down Rodríguez even though he was clearly the most tired of the attackers since he'd been in the early breakaway too, creating a perfect storm of conditions.

It was an ideal parcours. Hard enough for the GC men and hilly specialists, but the finish wasn't on a climb so it didn't rule out the stronger, more versatile sprinters or the less Ardennes-oriented classics men either. Lots of people felt they had a chance, which made it much more interesting.

Thank you for correcting me. A brain fart on my behalf.

Despite the course not being the best I must admit to have enjoyed last years race at Geelong. Kind of surreal how it played out starting with the 50K or so trip across the outback zone or whatever it was. Letting that break get 19 minutes, then just playing out to be a great race.

The 80km travel to Geelong was through the You yangs. and Werribee. A very barren area of Victoria. Geelong was awesome to be at for me personally. My first really big bike race that I attended. Just an amazing day with great atmosphere amongst the fans, great weather, got to see many riders I watch on tv and an awesome race.

 

[Thomsena]

Stuttgart. Tv production was fantastic, race was brilliant and Bettini as a deserved winner.