World Championships 2024: Men's Road Race (September 29)

[Brullnux]

My main obervation about the route in detail is the series of small climbs on the plateau seems harder than I thought

Yeah, there is little actual flat. Quite a leg-sapping course and I think chasing moves down will be really tricky.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Would've been a big chance for WvA, given the shape he was getting into. Such a shame.
Hard to look past Pogacar, but go Remco go!

A big chance to get his a$$ kicked by Pogacar.

 

[Wvv]

A big chance to get his a$$ kicked by Pogacar.

Or the other way around. WvA ft. Remco would've been a hell of a duo on this parcours, which seems a bit less hard than predicted and thus completely within reach of a strong Wout. But alas, just assumptions.

 

[Barkintheeye]

I think it makes chasing bigger groups of weaker riders easier.

Also makes it better for Pogacar to go long way against Evenepoel

Undulating courses with lots of altitude difference are quite difficult to make break aways on. The peloton gets a massive momentum on the descents. Small groups need to put out very high watts to keep the speed high. There's a reason why Remco waited until Redoute before making his move.

Glasgow was different. First a punchy hill and then a short descent followed by technical curves. Quite better for a break away (Bettiol) albeit hard enough against the likes of Pog and MVDP.

 

[Peyroteo94]

This route screams Pogacar. He is a minster time triallist in undulating roads. Who is gonna catch him after Witikon when we have small hills after? We don't have 10 km of flat sections.

 

[YavorD]

What was the original circuit in 2020? I remember it was tough but I forgot how it looked like. I didn't find a profile anywhere as well.

 

[search]

What was the original circuit in 2020? I remember it was tough but I forgot how it looked like. I didn't find a profile anywhere as well.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1177244397118939137

View: https://x.com/LasterketaBurua/status/1177244397118939137

 

[Coffeeplanter]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1177244397118939137

View: https://x.com/LasterketaBurua/status/1177244397118939137

Jesus, this would have rivalled Duitama and Sallanches.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

What's the estimated finishing time? I'm traveling that day and I'm hoping I can catch the end of it live.

Here's the time table. 17.00 local time with an average speed of 43 km/h.

 

[Brullnux]

Here's the time table. 17.00 local time with an average speed og 43 km/h.

It's a hard race at the end of a very long season, I think we can expect much higher average speeds

 

[Blanco]

As much chance as he has winning LBL or GdL currently.

This race is easier than Liege, let alone Lombardia...
He has a chance, but it is not big.

 

[topcat]

This race is easier than Liege, let alone Lombardia...
He has a chance, but it is not big.

I agree. Pog is almost a banker for Lombardia but he isn't for the Worlds. MvdP and Alaphilippe have a small chance at the Worlds but they have no chance at Lombardia.
Even if he wins, it isn't going to be straightforward for Pog on Sunday.

 

[Blanco]

I do. There's only 1 climb he will be dropped at, and after that it's still 19km's to the finish. I can see him comeback. It all depends on how hard the race is. Slovenia needs to make it as hard as possible if they want to be sure Pogacar wins.

Yes, and I think they won't succeed. They need Roglic in full service of Pogacar there, but that won't be the case. Netherlands surely won't contribute, France also, They will want riders up front. Remco will also want to open race a bit earlier because of Pogacar, and send someone ahead.
I mean Pogacar can still win, despite all this, but it won't be like Montreal, where his team controlled everything and then launched him when he wanted.

 

[Berniece]

Yes, and I think they won't succeed. They need Roglic in full service of Pogacar there, but that won't be the case. Netherlands surely won't contribute, France also, They will want riders up front. Remco will also want to open race a bit earlier because of Pogacar, and send someone ahead.
I mean Pogacar can still win, despite all this, but it won't be like Montreal, where his team controlled everything and then launched him when he wanted.

I agree, they don't have the team for it. And something like Strade where they would make it hard very early and then he attacks 80km's out, or even 50km's out is also not possible. Different, and stronger peloton now.

Pogacar is the obvious favourite to win, but there are a lot of scenario's where he might not win. It's not as easy as when he rides with UAE who can control everything much more easily.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Just look at the 1980 profile, absolute banger

Stage profiles World Championships - Road Race 1980 One day race

Stage profile, mountains profiles, final five kilometre profile, race map, steepness percentage profiles for World Championships - Road Race 1980.

www.procyclingstats.com

Hinault W, 15 finishers.

 

[Berniece]

Just look at the 1980 profile, absolute banger

Stage profiles World Championships - Road Race 1980 One day race

Stage profile, mountains profiles, final five kilometre profile, race map, steepness percentage profiles for World Championships - Road Race 1980.

www.procyclingstats.com

Hinault W, 15 finishers.

That's 5260m in altitude? No wonder only 15 people finished. Even more so with those gradients

 

[Peyroteo94]

We will have rain on Saturday, maybe some showers on Sunday as well. And it will be cold, we know who is stellar in this type of weather...

 

[elguapo]

That's 5260m in altitude? No wonder only 15 people finished. Even more so with those gradients

RR World Championship should offer a very hard parcour resulting to last man standing.

 

[Tim Cahill]

We will have rain on Saturday, maybe some showers on Sunday as well. And it will be cold, we know who is stellar in this type of weather...

That's right, it's all lining up for another Steven Williams masterclass, the man for all seasons.

 

[Berniece]

We will have rain on Saturday, maybe some showers on Sunday as well. And it will be cold, we know who is stellar in this type of weather...

MVDP?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

MVDP?

I would definitely be down for Van der Poel attacking with hours left to race because he's cold again.

 

[Berniece]

+1

And ofc Pogacar more so duo to the endurance part of the rain. How is Evenepoel in those condition typical really?

Hit and miss, if they are able to keep him warm everything is fine. But they tend to make mistakes in that area.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

where is VDP getting back on terms with Pog or Remco once he's dropped?

Remco alone would simply cause the gap to expand like he always does

I see you point, but tactics can appear if it's a two man battle.
But yeah, with Remco and Pogi having +30 secs there will surely be cooperation both knowing they will loose to MvDP if it comes doen to a sprint.
However, if it's just a 15 sec gap and MvDP turns out to be in brutal form as in Glasgow or P-R he surely has a chance.

 

[The fridge in the blue trees]

This course clearly is far from Liège difficulty wise. Not the ideal course for Pogacar or Remco it's often made out to be. Of course both still can win it, but it's more a Wout course than a Pogacar course really. In Liège basically right now it's hard to imagine anybody but Tadco Pogapoel winning. Reduce the size of the peloton until the Redoute, go there, race over. (Not when we get to see both of them there hopefully)

Here? Much harder to eliminate a lot of the riders, everybody has 20+km to come back after the 2 main climbs. Neither of which is as hard as La Redoute. Solo attack by one of the 2 from 50km out? Won't happen. Not even together they get through. Last lap. Easier than La Redoute, smaller advantage, 20 km to come back. Much easier 20km than in Liège, where you hardly have a flat km, Forges, Faucon. Even if Remdej Evenecar manage to get away there, with a similar advantage to what they get on La Redoute, the peloton behind won't split up as much as in Liège, chase better afterwards. Much more likely to catch them back than in Liège.

Of course those 2 being who they are have their chances, but it's more likely a Wollogong scenario, one of the 2, or both, are in a group ahead and win from there. Just follow the french second tier riders, they'll manage to leave their leaders behind like in Australia...

As for Mathieu... I never really can predict what is too hard and what not for that guy. For Wout this would be no problem, Liège is too hard, slightly, this not. Mathieu... he has it IMO, if his presence in the peloton doesn't kill the chase that is.

But on a course like this, that in the end is just not that selective, IMO riders like Hirschi, Matthews, Van Gils, Alaphilippe, Madouas, Williams, Pidcock, Healy and x others have chances. Pedersen don't know, like Van der Poel never really know what to think of him... All riders that in Liège don't even need to be mentioned as serious contenders, only as "beneficiaries of a stalemate or crashes", here they are in the race, the course isn't automatically hard enough to eliminate them. (Depending on their form, no clue where some of them are right now) That said, while it's not a climber's course, Pello Bilbao will easily win.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

It‘s not going to rain much, I don‘t think, just cool weather quite like the spring classics. I don‘t think it‘s gonna be super-selective because of temperatures.