Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen and Remco Evenepoel will all be in action in Glasgow.
For the first time in the competition’s history, the World Championships are being held in Scotland, where the men will take on the longest race in more than three decades. Starting in Edinburg, the 271.1km course will see the peloton take on just one significant hurdle in the first part – Crow Road – before descending into Glasgow, where ten laps of a technical circuit await.
The main difficulty will be Montrose Street, a 200m hill averaging 8% that many of the riders know from the 2018 European Championships. Tackled for a total of eleven times, Montrose Street has the potential to break the race if some big attacks come there, especially as the many corners on the local lap (48, in total!) will make things very difficult for the chasers.
Soudal Quick-Step will have ten riders at the start of the road race this Sunday: Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Andrea Bagioli, Rémi Cavagna, Remco Evenepoel, Yves Lampaert, Michael Mørkøv, Mauro Schmid, Florian Sénéchal, Jannik Steimle. A couple of days later, Mattia Cattaneo will join Kasper, Remco and Rémi at the start of the 48.1km individual time trial, while on the final weekend, Martin Svrcek will take on the U23 road race.
“The road race is a long one, with local laps which are harder than what we had in Leuven, due to the many corners which will make things really difficult. The weather says headwinds and some showers, which are only going to add to the complexity of the race. It will be incredibly demanding, but the Classics guys will like it, so if a rider is strong enough to open a gap, he can stay away.”
“Concerning the time trial, it’s nice to see one over such a long distance at the Worlds. The route isn’t that technical, there aren’t that many corners, so it will be about staying as aero as possible and finding a good tempo. Of course, it’s going to be important to keep something in the tank for the last kilometer, with that steep climb to the finish, which also has some cobbles. There the riders will have to dig really deep, because it can be crucial”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Klaas Lodewyck.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
