After his recent bikepacking adventures, Wout van Aert used his post-Spring break to check out the course for the 2023 UCI Road World Championships, heading to Scotland for a recon alongside Belgian teammate Lotte Kopecky.
The pair were part of a Belgian contingent that included national selector Sven Vanthourenhout, coach Serge Pauwels, and younger riders Julie De Wilde and Jonathan Vervenne.
The group flew to Scotland on Thursday and spent Friday checking out both the road race and time trial courses for the 2023 Worlds, which take place earlier this year as part of an expanded and multi-discipline UCI World Championships in early August.
Kopecky will be the clear leader of the Belgian women's team while Van Aert will share leadership alongside outgoing world champion Remco Evenepoel, who's currently riding the Giro d'Italia, while Jasper Philipsen is another option.
"It was a puzzle to find a moment between the rest periods, training sessions, altitude training and races,” Vanthourenhout told Het Nieuwsblad. “Of course Remco couldn't be there, but we're making a report, shooting footage We share this information with all potential World Championship riders. This was a short but efficient trip.”
The road races at the 2023 World Championships will start and finish in Glasgow, with the main action boiling down to a 14km circuit in the centre of the Scottish capital. The time trials, meanwhile, take place around Stirling to the north, with more country roads but with a showstopping finish on the steep cobbled climb up to the Stirling Castle.
The conclusion from the Belgian camp was that the Glasgow road race circuit was highly technical, with Lotte Kopecky reportedly saying it's "a hundred times worse than Leuven", which hosted the 2021 Worlds.
Van Aert, meanwhile, uploaded his ride to Strava with the title 'Risky Business', appearing to complete the one-lap recon on a city rental bike.
"Not only are there 42 corners, it can get hectic," said Pauwels. "Sometimes you turn at right angles into an asphalted walking path in the park, where there is still a pole in the middle to keep out traffic. It is never 500 meters straight ahead."
Vanthourenhout added: "Combined with the distance, we can expect pure wear and tear. There are places where Remco can also lose his energy. Moreover, it is difficult to organize a chase. I expect a maximum of 30 men in the final."
TT recon
The Belgian camp had already been out to Stirling earlier in the day to check out the time trial course, with Van Aert posting a ride of 64.41km to Strava, presumably this time on his own bike.
The exact details of the TT course, including the distance, have yet to be officially confirmed, but it finishes at the Castle after a trip into the countryside, where Van Aert apparently encountered some highland cows. Van Aert chose to skip the time trial last year in order to focus on the road race in Wollongong but is considering going for the double this year.
"In terms of asphalt, you have everything: from very coarse to smooth, over rolling roads," said Pauwels.
"It is most comparable to that finish in Avila that we know from the Vuelta. The last 3km are tough, but the last kilometre on those cobblestones are especially hard. It will be a spectacular finish."
