World Championships 2023: Men's Road Race (August 6)

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

I thought it was fine for the Euros/ Commonwealth Games, but I was expecting/ hoping for a route taking in the hills around Glasgow.....a missed opportunity.

Sort of a missed opportunity, but when you can create such a good circuit in the city that’s paying to be host, they wouldn't likely want to use surrounding roads.

 

[Jagartrott]

The more I look at the local parcours (because I really don't see anything at all in the route before the parcours that is even a problem for pure sprinters to survive), the more I think it's too curvy for its own good.
There isn't a single stretch of road without a 90 degree curve that is longer than 1.5 km: https://goo.gl/maps/BTFJXEMefokdfG4f9.
I like chaotic and disorganised racing in the finale, but I fear crashes when the big peloton enters the local roads, without too many splits I guess, as the first 100 kms are not hard enough, and the parcours breathes kermesse racing. It will be fun and I don't think it will disappoint as a bike race, but I would rather have a parcours that's a bit more in the country side with a real hill etc., than another Wollongong / Leuven / Richmond kind of suburbs / city parcours.

Well, according to Bakelants, Van Aert called the circuit 'ridiculous' though somewhat in his favour. Yes, there are way too many turns, and if it's wet (and it will be), it'll be more like cyclocross than road racing.

 

[Aimar16]

Sort of a missed opportunity, but when you can create such a good circuit in the city that’s paying to be host, they wouldn't likely want to use surrounding roads.

What? This is not a good circuit. There's an endless number of dumb corners to find every little bump in that city

 

[Wyndbrook]

There is literally no point to borders...

Well, you are entitled to your opinion.
But just think it through, especially in relation to recent events.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Well, according to Bakelants, Van Aert called the circuit 'ridiculous' though somewhat in his favour. Yes, there are way too many turns, and if it's wet (and it will be), it'll be more like cyclocross than road racing.

Wva is complaining about corners now? Or he was referring to something else being ridiculous?

 

[meat puppet]

Ok, so some have said there are about 50 corners per lap. 500 accelerations outta dem corners between 130 k and 270k is a lot. The ability to withstand neuromuscular fatigue might become as important as metabolic fatigue resistance, which is usually more clearly the decisive component.

Abstracting from the interactions between the two, I'd venture a guess this must favor the crossers to an extent. Will it be enough? Hard to say.

I know Evenepoel is regarded a good circuit racer. But I wonder if he is as well suited to such relentless pace changes. Anyone want to chip in here?

I understand the criticism from racers very well though and hope it doesn't turn into a crash fest. On the other hand, if NM power and fatigue resistance indeed become decisive, this is at least partially something new in the road worlds.

 

[King Boonen]

I only know them by reputation but I'd pay to see that!

I've ridden with them a few times, but it's not really my thing and used to get silly (wouldn't be surprised if it still does). Looking at who has come out of that bunch though it clearly does your legs some good!

 

[King Boonen]

I thought it was fine for the Euros/ Commonwealth Games, but I was expecting/ hoping for a route taking in the hills around Glasgow.....a missed opportunity.

Which hills could you get into a circuit and still have the city centre stuff they need? I can't think of anything worthwhile. The Crow or the Tak are the closest and they're too far away. Or do you mean in the route before the loop?

 

[Riek s]

Well, according to Bakelants, Van Aert called the circuit 'ridiculous' though somewhat in his favour. Yes, there are way too many turns, and if it's wet (and it will be), it'll be more like cyclocross than road racing.

I know Bakelants thinks the parcour is very hard and that it is written for WVA much much more then it suits Remco.
But WVA just left belgium (2 hours ago) so he hasn't ridden it at this moment. (Maybe earlier, that i don't know)

 

[BigCoward]

We will absolutely go to war over how damn good our tap water is! I struggle to drink it in the rest of the UK after being here so long.

After drinking tennents and buckfast I'm sure the water tastes great.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I know Bakelants thinks the parcour is very hard and that it is written for WVA much much more then it suits Remco.
But WVA just left belgium (2 hours ago) so he hasn't ridden it at this moment. (Maybe earlier, that i don't know)

WVA did a course recon in Glasgow at beginning of May

 

[King Boonen]

After drinking tennents and buckfast I'm sure the water tastes great.

Going to war over the water, but you can guarantee the rage will be fueled by buckie.

 

[Volderke]

Wva is complaining about corners now? Or he was referring to something else being ridiculous?

some extracts from the sporza article that refers to a podcast:

"He is keen on this," Bakelants concludes. "Wout firmly believes in it, but he thinks it's a ridiculous course. He said: "It's good that it suits me, but it doesn't really (freely translate) look like a parcours that is WC-worthy"
Dirk De Wolf wholeheartedly agrees. "42 bends in a 14 kilometer loop: that's terrible. Imagine it's raining."
"When it's dry, you drive through there like a pro. When it rains, you can force a lot with a team. If you have 5 men of the caliber like the Belgians then force the pace a few laps and many riders dive into the boxes."

"Rain completely changes the course", confirms Tom Boonen. "City championships in the rain are always super tough. You rarely, if ever, arrive with a group of more than 20 riders."
In other words, we won't see a real sprint on Sunday? "It won't be a sprint", says Dirk De Wolf.
Jan Bakelants counters: "If it doesn't rain, this will be a fairly easy World Cup. When it's dry, you take all those corners quickly."
Will it be a glorified kermesse race? Tom Boonen: "That is often laughed at, but kermesse races are often the toughest competitions. There is no recovery."

"As a team you have to drive at the front. If this team rides together and dares to drive offensively, then this is the best course. Then you have what you want. Then you drive everything to the pennants because you can drive in front."

(please copy-paste if you want to react on the above, as those aren't my words, but those of Jan Bakelants, Tom Boonen and Dirk De Wolf - I don't feel like responding to your reactions, and if you want a response, go ask Tom Boonen or the others directly )

 

[King Boonen]

Sunday currently looking like typical Glasgow summer, which means showers that blow through all day and we claim that's basically like it being dry.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

some extracts from the sporza article that refers to a podcast:

"He is keen on this," Bakelants concludes. "Wout firmly believes in it, but he thinks it's a ridiculous course. He said: "It's good that it suits me, but it doesn't really (freely translate) look like a parcours that is WC-worthy"
Dirk De Wolf wholeheartedly agrees. "42 bends in a 14 kilometer loop: that's terrible. Imagine it's raining."
"When it's dry, you drive through there like a pro. When it rains, you can force a lot with a team. If you have 5 men of the caliber like the Belgians then force the pace a few laps and many riders dive into the boxes."

"Rain completely changes the course", confirms Tom Boonen. "City championships in the rain are always super tough. You rarely, if ever, arrive with a group of more than 20 riders."
In other words, we won't see a real sprint on Sunday? "It won't be a sprint", says Dirk De Wolf.
Jan Bakelants counters: "If it doesn't rain, this will be a fairly easy World Cup. When it's dry, you take all those corners quickly."
Will it be a glorified kermesse race? Tom Boonen: "That is often laughed at, but kermesse races are often the toughest competitions. There is no recovery."

"As a team you have to drive at the front. If this team rides together and dares to drive offensively, then this is the best course. Then you have what you want. Then you drive everything to the pennants because you can drive in front."

(please copy-paste if you want to react on the above, as those aren't my words, but those of Jan Bakelants, Tom Boonen and Dirk De Wolf - I don't feel like responding to your reactions, and if you want a response, go ask Tom Boonen or the others directly )

i dont undesrtand the last part, but thanks for translating and sharing anyway because this is quite imformative for me . nice to read the thoughts of Bonnen. maybe motivation for me to learn more dutch.

Belgium has so many cards to play, they need to be proactive all day. campenarts can play a big role in getting right moves off the front with his work rate and explosivity.

 

[Volderke]

i dont undesrtand the last part, but thanks for translating and sharing anyway because this is quite imformative for me . nice to read the thoughts of Bonnen. maybe motivation for me to learn more dutch.

Belgium has so many cards to play, they need to be proactive all day. campenarts can play a big role in getting right moves off the front with his work rate and explosivity.

Probably this part (I didn't edit that one):

"As a team you have to drive at the front. If this team rides together and dares to drive offensively, then this is the best course. Then you have what you want. Then you drive everything to the pennants because you can drive in front."

In other words:

"As a team you have to pull hard. If this Belgian team rides together and dares to drive offensively, then this is the best course. Then you have what you want (*). Then you drive everything kaput (own translation ) because you can drive in front."

(*) My take is that it's not necessarily best for Belgium making the race hard and spending the whole team in order to get a selection, because yes, you will get rid of the lesser mortals while the other favourites are perfectly fine in the wheels, but anyway, that's what Boonen suggests. I would rather have the numbers in the finale and make sure to have strong riders in the breaks, without having to pull the peloton / lead group.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

This reminds me of how I oncer wanted to go eat at an Olive Garden during a trip to the US.
Then when I wanted to be served alcohol, I had to walk to the car to get my passport in order to prove I was older than 21. During this walk I realised I was actually too sick to eat or drink anything.

Not getting to eat at that Olive Garden is one of the biggest disappointments of my life (so far).
I'm sure Biniam feels the same way about not getting to ride the WC.

Those breadsticks are legit.

 

[Potomac]

I finally took a look the route. Holy ***.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

I finally took a look the route. Holy ***.

Do you like it?…

I was rather disappointed… The course is long, but looks pretty easy to me.

But on the other hand, this could enable an outsider to win it. I hope someone wins who doesn’t win that often.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Do you like it?…

I was rather disappointed… The course is long, but looks pretty easy to me.

But on the other hand, this could enable an outsider to win it. I hope someone wins who doesn’t win that often.

This is the local lap and then you have to think there's 40 something corners as well. Corners and short steep hills after it are brutal. I think you are largely underestimating the course

 

[tobydawq]

Do you like it?…

I was rather disappointed… The course is long, but looks pretty easy to me.

But on the other hand, this could enable an outsider to win it. I hope someone wins who doesn’t win that often.

It's not easy. This is a race where it's more relevant to look at the planimetric map than the altimetric map.

It will be absolute carnage.

 

[frisenfruitig]

If the strongest guys can force a selection in MSR I think they will manage to do the same here. And the rain will make it tough on top of that. I just hope we won't see too many crashes.

 

[tobydawq]

It seems like a race where it would be beneficial to stay in front (not necessarily P1) all the time from when they hit the circuit. But that will be taxing.

 

[Rollthedice]

Prime Sagan would have smashed it.

 

[tobydawq]

Prime Sagan would have smashed it.

Maybe he has been sandbagging for two and a half years to get the fourth rainbow when nobody was looking at him.