The World Cycling Championships were held in Flanders (Belgium) last week. What was special about this year was that it was exactly 100 years since the first World Championship, held in Copenhagen (Denmark) in 1921.
There is hardly a better place than the Flemish roads on which to hold this holiday for all who love cycling. The colorful Belgian fans managed to create an atmosphere that cannot be seen anywhere else. And once the passions begin to subside, it’s time to look at the most interesting topics, events and reactions from the championship. Here they are:
An extremely difficult and difficult route
268.3 km long and with as many as 42 categorized climbs, the route around Flanders was one of the most challenging in recent years. Competitors had to cope with 2562 meters of positive displacement, which was located mainly in the second half of the route.
Of the 195 cyclists who started, only 68 crossed the finish line, which is another proof of the difficulty of the participants were subjected. 5.56.34 hours with an average speed of an impressive 45.147 km / h was the fastest passage from the start in Antwerp to the final in Leuven.
Alafilip again
Julian Alafilip (France) became world champion for the second year in a row, thus becoming only the seventh cyclist who managed to defend his title. The Frenchman’s victory was very similar to last year’s. He made several successive accelerations, which Vaut Van Aert (Belgium) was forced to intercept. However, on the last one, which happened on the ascent of Sint Antoniusberg, Van Aert and everyone else did not follow him, so Alafilip headed for the final alone. Thus, for the second time in a row, he arrived alone at the finish line to grab the world title.
This season was not perfect for Alafilip, as so far he had only four victories during the year, modest by his standards. He was often overshadowed by cyclists such as Vaut Van Aert (Belgium), Matthew Van Der Poole (Netherlands) and Thaddeus Pogacar (Slovenia). Julian even missed the Olympics with the idea of keeping it entirely for the World Cup, which turned out to be a perfect solution. He was again the best in the most important race for any cyclist.
Surprising names on the podium
And while Alafilip was racing alone to his second world gold, a group of four people formed behind him, who got into the dispute for the other two places on the ladder. Dylan Van Barle (Netherlands), Jasper Stoven (Belgium), Michal Valgren (Denmark) and Nilson Poules (USA) were the pursuers of the world champion.
With group efforts they managed to melt part of the advance of Alafilip, but after several subsequent “listens” and a visible slowdown, it became clear that they will not be able to catch up with the Frenchman, who finished 32 seconds ahead of them. In the final, Van Barle proved to be the fastest and grabbed the silver. Walgren, who managed to “get” the others to work harder than him, remained third, and Stoyven and Pauls ranked 4th and 5th. In such circumstances, we can not help but ask ourselves the question:
Was Julian Alafilip underrated?
The fact is that Juju (as his nickname is) was not considered a major favorite. People like Vout Van Aert, Matthew Van Der Poole, Magnus Court Nielsen (Denmark), Sonny Colbreli (Italy) and Matej Mohoric (Slovenia) had a much better chance of winning. All four athletes who chased the champion were not the leaders of their countries, which suggested that no one was worried about Julian’s attack.
In an interview with Cycling Weekly after the end of the race Sonny Colbreli admitted that he only watched Van Aert and Van Der Poole and tried to sit close to them, which ultimately played a bad joke on Colbreli, who became European champion earlier this month. It is well known that Van Aert and Van Der Poole always follow each other and this sometimes opens up opportunities for other cyclists to triumph. Of course, Alafilip’s qualities were never questioned and he was certainly the one who deserved to become a world champion (again). And while we can’t be sure if it was underestimated, we can be convinced of something else:
The Belgian team was disappointed at home scene
The Belgians did not win a single gold medal in any of the 13 disciplines. Watt Van Aert was definitely the biggest hope for the hosts with his 12 wins so far this season. But he remained second on the clock, dramatically defeated by Filippo Ghana, and in the overall start he finished in a weak 11th place. In an interview with Cycling news, Van Aert explained that he is also a man and is not always able to win, feeling sorry for all the fans and thanking them for their great support.
A curious fact about him is that in five consecutive world championships five times remains second. Jasper Stoyven was the other big favorite of the Belgian nation. Jasper, who was born in Leuven and failed to fight for a medal in the final, which was less than 300 meters from his home. The disappointment for him after the end of the race was huge. -preserved Van Barle and Valgren. Remco Evenepool was the other leader of the team and was one of the most active cyclists in the whole race. The child prodigy of Belgium made several attacks, and then went to work for his two teammates. The championship for the 21-year-old Remco will be remembered with his bronze medal in the clock, as well as with the team game in the overall start.
Fatigue befell the Slovenes
One of the strongest (if not the strongest) cycling nation in the world – that of Slovenia, came with one of the strongest teams in the championship. They included the two-time champion of the Tour de France – Thaddeus Pogachar, as well as the Olympic champion in the clock and three-time champion in the Tour of Spain – Primoz Roglic.
But despite the presence of the two greats, even before the race it was announced that the team leader would be another – Matej Mohoric. Mohoric had a very strong season, recording two stage victories in the Tour de France and winning the Slovenian championship.
The long route and the steep short climbs definitely suited Mohoric very well. But when the decisive attacks began, it quickly became clear that this would not be the day of the Slovene. He admitted that he had no legs to argue against the strongest that day.
It seems that the long season has affected the shape of Slovenian cyclists, who still show a stunning performance. It is an interesting fact that Slovenia is the only country with more than one representative in the top 10 of the world rankings for the season, as they have three cyclists in this ranking (Pogacar 1st, Roglic 3rd and Mohoric 10th).
Whatever to say about the spectacle in Belgium will be small. Surely the fans of the cycling world have witnessed one of the most exciting planetary championships in history!
Author:
Ivan Andreev
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