One rider has seemed to loom over every conversation about the elite men's road race in Zurich this week. After his exhibitions in France and Italy, the focus on Tadej Pogačar's individual gifts at this Road World Championships is understandable, but it would be remiss to overlook the collective strength of some of his opponents on Sunday.
Australia's victory in the mixed relay team time trial in midweek was certainly a useful reminder of their depth, with three members of their elite men's team – Ben O'Connor, Jay Vine and Michael Matthews – taking on the first leg of that winning ride.
Matthews confessed afterwards that he had raced the event partly with an eye to performing a high-intensity recon of the road race course. Three times a medallist in the road race, Matthews' pedigree makes him the obvious focal point for Australia, and he showcased his form with victory in the GP Québec two weeks ago.
"Bling is just a circuit race genius, he always gets it done," O'Connor said in the mixed zone after their winning ride in the mixed relay, though he added that Australia would have more than one option on Sunday.
"I think we have quite a few guys. If you look at the boys starting, you've got Jai [Hindley], you've got myself, and Jay [Vine] is tearing legs off, so we have already quite a few guys of a high quality and high standard, so we can play cards in different ways."
O'Connor arrived at this Worlds on the back of a Vuelta a España display that was as assured as it was spirited. He led the race for two weeks after a stirring solo victory in Yunquera, and he was full value for second place overall behind Primož Roglič, a performance that augurs well for his next step at Jayco-Alula.
The West Australian would have been forgiven for ending his season in the immediate aftermath of the Vuelta, but he was determined to line out at the Zurich Worlds, even if he wisely rowed back on his initial intention to ride the individual time trial.
The men who had come directly from the Vuelta, Roglič included, all seemed to struggle in the 46km test.
"I've been pretty buckled, the last two weeks have been terrible," O'Connor smiled when asked about his recovery since the Vuelta. "The first week was probably the most fatigue I've had physically from a Grand Tour. The second I just felt run down and tired all the time.
"I was meant to do the time trial, and I wanted to do it, but the body was saying no, so I didn't need to whip a dead horse. But it feels like I'm back alive again and I feel pretty good, so hopefully Sunday can be a nice cap to the end of the season."
The mixed relay world title captured on Wednesday with Grace Brown, Brodie Chapman, and Ruby Roseman-Gannon means that O'Connor already has something tangible to show for his Swiss expedition. However, the 28-year-old is determined to test himself in only his second Worlds road race appearance this weekend.
O'Connor learned plenty about the nuances of the 27km finishing circuit after racing it at full bore during his leg of the mixed relay. The repeated climbing will take a toll over almost seven hours of racing, but he wondered if the circuit will offer more riders respite on the wheels than initially thought.
"You do actually get quite a lot from sitting on the wheel," O'Connor said. "Maybe not on the first climb, but after that, you do get quite a lot of sit, so that's quite interesting for Sunday.
"I'd be curious to know what it's like in a bunch because it's quite narrow in parts. Sometimes you think courses are going to have a tonne of elastic, but it doesn't turn out that way. It can be strange how circuits play out, but I think we'll find out after the second lap."
O'Connor saw Pogačar's supremacy at close quarters this year when he placed fourth behind him at the Giro d'Italia, but he cautioned against the notion that Australia and everybody else would base their race around the movements of the Slovenian.
"Remco's got almost as big a palmarès in one-day races as Pogi, so it's not just him," O'Connor said. "You just try to play it to your strength, use your head or even do something that's a bit not normal, which sometimes can pay off."
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