World Championships - Yorkshire UK - Elite Men

 The Elite Men’s road race, the final event of the Yorkshire World Championships, was a marvel of aggressive racing held against a backdrop of beautiful countryside and under the most dreadful meteorological conditions. This was true English racing: rough, narrow roads lined by low stone walls twisting though the moors and dales of the region, complete with foot-deep sections of standing water that brought back that iconic image of the Milk Race (original Tour of Britain) of the famed stream running through the bottom of a steep set of climbs that we’d hit at 40 mph, eyes closed, prayers front and center.

The British are very, very good at holding big events, something that I attribute to all those centuries of empire.  I’ve done the Milk Race, a World Championship and a set of Tour de France stages (with television), and each and every one of them was as close to perfection as an event can be. These World Championship races, held in late September in cold, rainy northern Europe, took every bit of that highly competent, uncomplaining, get-on-with-it, national character to pull off. I continue to question, especially after this year’s races, the wisdom of holding the World Championships so late in the season, combined with the UCI practice of selling the property to northern cities where bad weather is so probable. A move back to late August, the date up until 1995, would be an improvement and add to the value both for its host cities and the UCI.  

The race exploded out of the blocks, riders wrapped up in all sorts of raingear to get them through the six hours of suffering ahead, and the sight of three Grand Tour winners at the head of affairs in a big breakaway put us all on notice that this was going to be a championship unlike any other. World number-one and Vuelta (Tour of Spain) winner Primož Roglič, Giro (Tour of Italy) winner Richard Carapaz and, here was a pleasant surprise, Nairo Quintana – winner of both the Giro and Vuelta, were part of an 11-man break that led by four-minutes at one point. Behind, the “tempo men” went to work on the front of the bunch to hold the breakaway within striking distance, with that embodiment of cycling perfection, Holland’s Jos van Emden (it’s worth going back to watch a replay of the race just to see how he pedals), and newly crowned World Time Trial Champion Rohan Denis, doing the lion’s share of work. 

It was so interesting to look at the various clothing choices of the racers in those cold, drenching conditions, especially with the relatively new awareness of how crucial aerodynamics are to performance. For example, the high, smooth “areo” socks now in vogue give six watts of advantage to a rider (watts represent power output. 400 watts is a strong effort) which puts the oft ridiculed UCI practice of measuring sock height into new perspective – they’re not socks, they’re actually spoilers as on a race car. Protective vests and jackets that billow in the wind represent considerable drag on a racer and I was surprised at how many riders ignored this fact – or were so cold they no longer cared. What was simply unacceptable was the use of trade team protective clothing overtop of the national jerseys during the races. A major problem with cycling is that federations have too much control over the sport, and, to put it simply, federations, whether the UCI, USA Cycling or whomever, are not promotional organizations. This is a fact: I’ve worked with UCI/USAC for decades and can assure you that there’s absolutely no show-biz in their respective DNA’s. Dull as dishwater. Which brings me back to the trade team clothing. If this is a World Championship, where once a year the teams abandon their pro teams in favor of donning national colors, why on earth is it not mandated that every bit of protective clothing be in those colors so we, the audience, can clearly understand what is going on. There was Roglič, ostensibly representing Slovenia,  but wearing his Jumbo-Visma over-jacket. How confusing it that for fans? Or, everyone had something black or gray and were impossible to tell apart. To be fair, USA Cycling did a good job with their Assos sponsorship keeping our riders looking uniform, as did the French and Belgians (although Philippe Gilbert had a trade team raincape). The best by far were the Danes, all proud in their national colors, and all aerodynamic too which, for me, was an important factor in their eventual win. 

A double tragedy struck Belgium just as the first of the nine finishing circuits in Harrogate were reached when race favorite Philippe Gilbert hit the deck and was stunned. Gilbert was looking as lean as I’ve ever seen him (he’d ridden an exemplary Vuelta two weeks before, winning two stages along the way) and, at 37-years old, on a perfect racecourse for his massive talents, was looking at his last chance to become World Champion. 19-year old wunderkind Remco Evenepoel, stayed behind to help his national and trade team partner in a selfless move that will only increase his popularity with the public. Evenepoel turned on his power and dragged the ailing Gilbert to within striking distance of the field when something strange happened: Belgium’s Olympic Champion Greg van Avermaet went on the attack, accelerating the field, effectively dooming his – temporary - teammates in the process. Belgium lost their two most effective riders and the team strategy fell apart. There are no radio comms in the Worlds, so perhaps van Avermaet simply didn’t understand the situation, but I’m not so sure. Lots to talk about this winter over strong beers in the Belgian cafes…

Defending champ Alejandro Valverde pulled out on his own, as did so many, frozen and, having seen his post-race interview, furious at the race design. The websites quoted him as saying the “Weather was loco” when in fact, as his visible anger showed, he was calling the entire production “loco”. Not a race for a man of the long open roads and mountains as he is. 

I’ve got to put Magnus Cort in as MVP of the race. The Dane was in the early big break, working like a trojan, until being called back to help chase in the field – which he took up without missing a beat. Then, on the circuits when things got fast and nasty, he kept eventual winner Mads Peterson on his wheel and in front, right up to the moment when Peterson launched for the winning break. You could see that Astana-bred toughness in Cort’s actions which must have infused the entire team. The Danes were imperial in that race, from start to finish. 

The finishing circuits provided all the action one could wish for, coinciding with the return of the full television coverage which had suffered through low cloud cover (no helicopters) and a broken spare signal-relay airplane. I thought they did a fine job given the conditions. There’s a lot of black magic to deal with in live open road TV and the producers harnessed those dark forces well. 

America’s Lawson Craddock launched alongside Switzerland’s “King” Küng the (but again, they both had on the same Assos black overjacket with Craddock at least having USA on the sides – you’d think they were the same team) before Magnus Cort made his last gasp effort and sent 23-year old Mads Peterson up the road like a Danish bullet. Peterson blew right by Craddock, Küng stayed with, Gianni Moscon bridged alone to give Italy a presence, when, the moment we’d all been waiting for, the lights went up for the Van der Poel show! The Dutch star had Matteo Trentin for company and the two of them bridged to make it five men representing traditional cycling nations in front: Switzerland, Holland, Denmark with two from Italy. 

Van der Poel was the only one in the break wearing a billowing overjacket that he eventually opened, causing it to catch even more wind. He was cold, that’s certain, and he’s much thinner than he was in the Spring, his newly sunken cheekbones making him look like his father, the great racer Adri. He worked hard, too hard, at the front of the break, and when, with only one lap to go (8-miles), and everyone was calculating by how much he was going to win, Mathieu van der Poel cracked like a china vase and almost came to a standstill on the side of the road. He had the respect and humility to continue on, to finish 4th from last. That’s ok, his was a great ride. He’s only raced 5000 kilometers on the road this year – most others have double or triple that at least – and no Grand Tour in his legs. Give him one of those and watch the carnage he wreaks on the cycling world afterwards. 

Stephan Küng was so, so strong. He eliminated Moscon with a surge that took away Trentin’s tactical advantage, leaving three to contest the win which was taken with ease by the young Peterson. The new World Champion is one of those Dane’s that seem to have a protective layer of blubber under their skin. All that dairy they eat I suppose, but certainly an advantage on such a long, cold, wet day. Add to that his perfect pedal action, which translates into efficiency especially over such a long distance, the studied aerodynamics of the Danish team’s rain clothing, and, my guess, for the first time this year he was on a team with a positive attitude. Face it, his Trek-Segafredo trade team, suffering from sponsor pressures and the negative publicity they created for SRAM, has not been a happy place. 

World Professional Road Cycling Champion Mads Peterson is now the icon representing the new wave of young stars who have been tearing through the sport. Egan Bernal, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout Arts, Tadej Pogačar: the kids are brutal and taking no prisoners. Pederson needs to realize that he is in fact the World Champion and take command of his trade team with that Astana hard-guy ethos shown him by Magnus Cort and Jakob Fuglsang. The lessons that completely changed his life in one, hard, triumphant day.