There is an element of back to the future about this year’s world cycling championships, which open in Glasgow on Thursday. The 10-day extravaganza, which runs the full gamut of disciplines from road racing to BMX freestyle and cycle ball, is being billed as the biggest ever cycle event.
It is an experiment, intended to be run every four years, in which more than 200 world titles in all the disciplines bar cyclo-cross are awarded in a relatively condensed schedule – simply getting a grip on what is happening and when is an exercise in itself – and whether it unites the cycling family as intended or proves too unwieldy to be effective remains to be seen.
Whether or not this is a template for the future, in one very important sense, this is a reversion to past practice. Until 1995, the world road and track championships were usually run side by side with an August date or, at the latest, early September. This was straightforward in its continuity; the men from the Tour de France would, usually, be reunited to do battle once again. In 1995, when the Vuelta a España was moved to mid-August, the “worlds” was shifted, to late September or early October; this came too late for many of the leading men of the Tour, meaning it was a climax with an anti-climactic tinge.
The narrative of the calendar has changed dramatically in the past few years, however. The timing of the men’s elite road title next Sunday means there will be a strong showing from the men’s Tour de France, but the addition last year of the women’s Tour de France, immediately after the men’s race, means that the women’s world road race will fall on the closing Sunday, 13 August, offering the same continuity; provisionally at least, there is a full house from the best of the women’s Tour on the start list, headed by Annemiek van Vleuten, Lotte Kopecky and Demi Vollering.
In practical terms, the opening week begins on Thursday with track racing at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, where the local Katie Archibald will take centre stage as she goes for three world titles: team pursuit, madison and omnium.
Two days later, the first road races are held, with junior men’s and women’s titles on Saturday – British racers such as Cat Ferguson and Tomos Pattinson will be closely followed in both, while Ben Wiggins, son of the 2012 Tour winner, Bradley, is also on the start list – but the prospect of heavy rain could turn these races into a lottery on the 14km urban circuit within Glasgow.
The men’s elite race, the regular denoument since the inception of the championships 100 years ago, comes on the opening Sunday. The defending men’s road race champion, Remco Evenepoel, has not raced since taking the Belgian national title at the end of June, as he is preparing for the Vuelta at the end of August. He believes after a spell of altitude training he will have a good chance in both the road title and the time trial on 11 August in and around Stirling and on Saturday won San Sebastian Classic for the third time in a row.
“The time trial is long and not particularly technical,” he says. “The road race is pretty technical with a lot of climbing and descending, a lot of corners on the circuit. It’s going to be particularly long, not far off seven hours, so there will be a lot of fatigue in the legs and that could help guys who attack.”
Ironically, given the proximity of the worlds to the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard has no intention of riding as the course offers little to a pure climber. He is keeping his powder dry for the Vuelta, as is the Giro d’Italia winner, Primoz Roglic.
But Tour stage winners such as Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen will be among the favourites, although Philipsen will have to contend with the fact that Belgium have two other strong contenders in Evenepoel and Wout van Aert. The double Tour winner Tadej Pogacar is likely to ride, having finished the Tour in strong form with a mountain stage win.
The Glasgow circuit could be the most technical seen at the worlds. The French selector Thomas Voeckler estimated there are 48 corners per lap – I made it 49 or 50 – which will mean close to 500 corners in the second half of the men’s elite race, where it is tackled 10 times after an opening loop of 120km from the start in Edinburgh.
There is barely any respite from the constant need to slow down and accelerate while calculating the correct line is taken, all the while remembering to refuel on the few straight sections. It will be mentally and physically wearing. It will suit pure Classic thoroughbreds, such as the British rider Fred Wright, or the double champion Julian Alaphilippe.
The constant cornering, quite possibly on slippery roads, will be manna from heaven for the most technically expert and explosive rider in cycling, Mathieu van der Poel.
Like Van Aert, the Dutchman looked strong in the Tour de France, but was unable to land a stage win,. While Van Aert has an unhappy history of coming close to major successes this season, he has shone, winning the world cyclo-cross title for the fifth time and adding the Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo Classics.
In both races, his technical skill gave him the edge over the opposition.
Glasgow will be a chance to make up for the disaster of last year’s championship, where he became involved in a late-night altercation outside his hotel room the night before the race, which was resolved months later when an Australian court overturned an initial verdict of common assault. He will have a second chance at a world title six days later if, as planned, he rides the mountain bike cross country race at Glentress.
