World Championship 2025: Men’s RR, September 28

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Who will win the WC 2025 RR?


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    172
  • Poll closed .
A poll isn't theory, it's data.

I find cycling quite popular in France these days, but I can't tell if it is thanks to Pogacar.
Even my (quite old) mother went back to watching it (she got rid of it when her children finally left home). She said she really liked the Tour de Suisse. Sceneries, I guess.
Yes I think the audience has definitely grown a little YoY in France, though overall viewing figures were down 6% internationally for The Tour I believe, (can only get data for the first 2 weeks, if anyone can find the full international figures would help), it's hard to get a proper picture of whether cycling viewership is declining overall, as the Giro was up slightly and the TdFF is growing masively, Daam Van Reeth who wrote the Economics of Cycling;
Overview of Tour de France TV viewing this year:* Audiences stable in Belgium (-2% in Flanders, +2% in Wallonia), France (+3%) & Italy (-2%).* Audiences are well up in Germany: +10%. Ratings were clearly higher than normal in the final week, pointing to a Lipowitz-effect.*

Audiences are strongly down in Spain (-17%), Australia (-15%) and the Netherlands (-10%).Note: percentage changes are based on the 5-year average viewership (2020-2024), except for Australia (comparison with 2024).

There was actually a reasonably good video from GCN here, variety of factors probably, can only see it going one way unfortunately as the paywalls will hit next year;

 
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Pogi too. A lot can be said about many sensible explanations regarding optimal prep for the TT, etc I agree btw, but at the same time, the gap also raises valid questions about whether his form is truly top-tier for the upcoming WC by his standard. Ironically, I think it's no in between either we see what weve acustomed too, smash or very underwhelming.

Should be a banger.

His Montreal ride indicated he should be good but the form heights of the last autumn may be difficult to replicate. Time will tell.
 
Funnily enough, I am still of the opinion that I thought Pogi looked better in Montreal this year than last year. So yeah, I can still see him reaching last year's autumn heights in terms of form.

The TT is problematic because it could really be just the lack of preparation for TT-ing and altitude. Or something more than that. Sunday will give us a definite answer: I wouldn't be surprised if he wins comfortably (I'm predicting his victory) but I'm not expecting crazy super-long range attack like last year.
 
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How that time trial will translate into the road race is hard to gauge for many reasons to me at least.. It might be very relevant, but it could also turn out to be the exact opposite. Some riders may have planned to peak specifically for it,coming down from altitude, aligning their form perfectly,and there are many other factors at play considering how different the RR will be, almost contradicting itselfs.

Same goes for Remco. I hope it won’t be another Amstel–Liege scenario, where the more demanding and climbing-heavy profile it is he is a complete no show versus promising in AGR, but it should be back in peoples head. To me, theres more uncertainty than usual all over, hard to say what we can expect with 100% confidence from several persons involved. Im not complaining though, should be a banger.
 
This probably needs a thread that may be complicated for this site’s purview (and many contexts), but I maybe don’t wonder that the advertising for a nation( semi-socialized) state as opposed to an emergent, globalized one is going to differ. Never mind the post-colonial petrol relations. US cycling culture will grow as cars are diminished (among other things).

Maybe after the Worlds, Simmons and Vaughters could have a cage match.
 
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This probably needs a thread that may be complicated for this site (and many contexts), but I maybe don’t wonder that the advertising for a national ( semi-socialized) context as opposed to an emergent, globalized one is going to differ. Never mind the post-colonial petrol conditions. US cycling culture will grow as cars are diminished (among other things).

Maybe after the Worlds, Simmons and Vaughters could have a cage match.
Betting the house on Simmons if anyone's taking.
 
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His Montreal ride indicated he should be good but the form heights of the last autumn may be difficult to replicate. Time will tell.
Even if he doesn't replicate that shape, he should be able to be competitive.
Pogacar has won four Lombardia in Autumn, not all in great shape.

In 2022, and especially in 2023, he was in poor shape, as was evident in previous races, but he still managed to take advantage of a tough race and win.

If he gets cooked, it will indicate that this year's combination of Classics and the Tour is too tough.
 
Jay Vine did the best time in Kimihurura.

As much as he's in great shape, it's quite exceptional that Jay Vine has a better climb time than Pogacar, and by a considerable margin.
Jay Vine might have super compensation from the Vuelta, and Pogacar just had trouble adjusting to the altitude. He'll be better during the RR. There was an article with Vermeersch and Campenaerts about the altitude, heat and humidity. It's very very extreme. If you don't come from altitude training (Pogacar) it takes a while to get used to.
 
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