World Championship 2025: Men’s RR, September 28

[Salvarani]

Ciccone really ninja his way to 6th as well

 

[Cycling111]

I didn't expect this result from Alfonso Eulalio.
Morgado seems like a mid-season rider; last year he was also coocked after spring.

 

[Penninepeddler]

I would like to see a flat WC road race with the rain pouring down all day. Hilly 250 k routes don't make sense anymore.

I always think the important thing with WCs is the balance.

Should - even 10 years - be at least:

1x ardennesish
1x flattish
1x flandrianish (but ofc more E3 than Ronde/Roubaix!)
1x mid-mountainy

2018 (mid-moutain) was the last time that the course was not basically between an easy and a hard Ardennes classic...

2016 was the last time a sprinter had a chance to win...

and of course 2026 will also be not dissimilar to the 2019-2025 courses "stylistically".

If you are a sprinter who is not van Aert, Pedersen, Matthews the last chance you had to win a Worlds was 2016.

If you are a climber who is not "punchy" the last chance you had to win was 2018.

Now, ofc the worlds will always be more towards a hilly course... and that is great, it is some of my favourite parcours... BUT maybe have some variation of a hilly course in 6-7/10 years and mix it up the other 3-4.

 

[pastronef]

VERY VERY happy for Ben Healy. great ride

 

[Brullnux]

If you are a climber who is not "punchy" the last chance you had to win was 2018.

Now, ofc the worlds will always be more towards a hilly course... and that is great, it is some of my favourite parcours... BUT maybe have some variation of a hilly course in 6-7/10 years and mix it up the other 3-4.

Pedersen won in 2019 in a sprint against Trentin; 2021 was a Flanders course; 2022 was Remco ahead of a reduced sprint.

 

[Penninepeddler]

VERY VERY happy for Ben Healy. great ride

Probably the most likeable guy in the peloton in recent years stylistically...

really hope that before his career is over he can win LBL.

Albeit an Amstel, Strade Bianche, Fleche win would also be cool, and seems likely at least if he stays at this level until his early 30s.

 

[Breezy1985]

Probably the most likeable guy in the peloton in recent years stylistically...

really hope that before his career is over he can win LBL.

Albeit an Amstel, Strade Bianche, Fleche win would also be cool, and seems likely at least if he stays at this level until his early 30s.

The feel good story of the 2 big Pog bore fests of the year.

 

[Red Rick]

VERY VERY happy for Ben Healy. great ride

The people's champion

 

[fenns]

Great performances from Remco and Pog. Remco should not be disappointed he was never going to beat Pog today - he had 50k+ to catch Pog but the gap grew - and if he'd caught him Pog would have burned him off on those cobbles anyway.

 

[Penninepeddler]

Pedersen won in 2019 in a sprint against Trentin; 2021 was a Flanders course; 2022 was Remco ahead of a reduced sprint.

Yeh, maybe my memory is a bit *** aha. 2021 is my head felt more Ardennes but then I didnt watch it live, maybe an internal bias because of who won.

But 2022 was for sure not a course for sprinters who are not Pedersen, van Aert, Matthews type sprinters. Over 4k vertical metres.

and Trentin is a 2nd tier kind "can get over decent hills" sprinter which was what 2019 was.

For example Phillipsen, Milan etc have had no chance to contest a worlds in career so far. If Cav had started career in 2017 he wouldnt have had the chance to win a worlds, when he had chance to win 2 over the 10 years from 2007-2016.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeh, maybe my memory is a bit *** aha. 2021 is my head felt more Ardennes but then I didnt watch it live, maybe an internal bias because of who won.

But 2022 was for sure not a course for sprinters who are not Pedersen, van Aert, Matthews type sprinters. Over 4k vertical metres.

and Trentin is a 2nd tier kind "can get over decent hills" sprinter which was what 2019 was.

For example Phillipsen, Milan etc have had no chance to contest a worlds in career so far. If Cav had started career in 2017 he wouldnt have had the chance to win a worlds, when he had chance to win 2 over the 10 years from 2007-2016.

2022 wasn't hard at all, the altimetry needs to be completely screwed up if that was 4k altitude gain.

 

[Penninepeddler]

Maybe for next Worlds Pog should have to ride round with both his worlds medals round his neck? Some ballast might make it more even.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

That was absurd.

 

[Netserk]

? They fought for a medal. If anyone in G4 had had the ability to follow the chase group they would've done. I'd rather race like Pidcock and Hindley today and end up with no result than be totally out of contention. Like Bettiol in 2023.

They would also have fought for a medal if they didn't pull in the 5 man group.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

The difference between Remco and the rest of the field is so huge. And then you have Pogi on a complete different level above that. Just insane.

I think the fact that Remco was in the race made Pogacar look way less dominant than what he actually was. Without him, 2nd place probably finish 4+ minutes back.

 

[Leadbelly]

World Tour World Champion - Pogacar (1st)
ProTour World Champion - Pidcock (10th)
Continental Tour World Champion - Nych (24th)

 

[Brullnux]

Yeh, maybe my memory is a bit *** aha. 2021 is my head felt more Ardennes but then I didnt watch it live, maybe an internal bias because of who won.

But 2022 was for sure not a course for sprinters who are not Pedersen, van Aert, Matthews type sprinters. Over 4k vertical metres.

and Trentin is a 2nd tier kind "can get over decent hills" sprinter which was what 2019 was.

For example Phillipsen, Milan etc have had no chance to contest a worlds in career so far. If Cav had started career in 2017 he wouldnt have had the chance to win a worlds, when he had chance to win 2 over the 10 years from 2007-2016.

I agree in general – Leuven was harder than a standard Flanders course, but easier than an Amstel, but I think Yorkshire was a good well-balanced race, and you had people like Kristoff in the second group in 2022. 2023 I loved because it was a unique race.

2018, 2020, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 are all very climber friendly. I think 6/10 for climbers is too much, but I suppose before that we only had one climber friendly route between 2010-2017 so in the long run it balances?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Maybe for next Worlds Pog should have to ride round with both his worlds medals round his neck? Some ballast might make it more even.

Putting Remco around his neck could work well, too, although he would probably still drop him.

 

[AlpRaid]

Always amazes how quickly they recover after a 267 km race. They really are other-worldly.

 

[Penninepeddler]

2022 wasn't hard at all, the altimetry needs to be completely screwed up if that was 4k altitude gain.

Looking at the profile yeh, it is because of the 500m hill towards the start which was pretty irrelevant.

and then 12x ascents of mount pleasant.

But still, what sprinters are getting over 1.1km at almost 8% 12x with leading ardennes guys? Probably none of Phillipsen, Kooij, Milan, Merlier (probably best 4 sprinters on earth right now) would if they re-ran that course tomorrow.

I would still say it was not really one for even sprinters who are "solid" climbers and instead only really maybe ~10 of the best 25 sprinters who could contest in a perfect world for them.

 

[gunara]

Hey, the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era didn't have a 5th guy.

I suspect Ferrer think he was, and forget the margin by now

 

[Red Rick]

Looking at the profile yeh, it is because of the 500m hill towards the start which was pretty irrelevant.

and then 12x ascents of mount pleasant.

But still, what sprinters are getting over 1.1km at almost 8% 12x with leading ardennes guys? Probably none of Phillipsen, Kooij, Milan, Merlier (probably best 4 sprinters on earth right now) would if they re-ran that course tomorrow.

I would still say it was not really one for even sprinters who are "solid" climbers and instead only really maybe ~10 of the best 25 sprinters who could contest in a perfect world for them.

It's not that it's 12 climbs, it's that they're perfectly spaced out with perfect recovery inbetween. If they're concentrated much more, then yes it becomes much more Ardennes friendly. But the fact that Laporte got 2nd is extremely telling of the real difficulty of that route.

 

[Tim Cahill]

No UCI points awarded because less than 25% of the riders finished

 

[Miss Violet Smith]

Pidcock: "Most unenjoyable race of the year."

 

[RedheadDane]

No UCI points awarded because less than 25% of the riders finished

That's a thing?
Surely the riders who did finish shouldn't be punished because only a few did.