The elite men's
road race at the UCI 2019 Yorkshire Worlds will test the strength
and stamina of the competitors over 280km, on roads which are far from
flat. The eventual winner may also have to put in a sprint up Parliament
Street and onto West Park at the finish in Harrogate.
The World Champion is unlikely to be an out-and-out sprinter, like Mark
Cavendish or Dylan Groenewegen. Similarly, the course doesn't favour
climbers such as Egan Bernal or Thibaut Pinot.
Yorkshire should prove a profitable hunting ground for a Classics-type
rider like Greg van Avermaet or Mathieu van der Poel, or a
sprinter-who-can climb such as Peter Sagan or possibly Ben Swift. The
route could also suit the most talented sprinter/time
triallist/climber/all-rounder riding in 2019: Julian Alaphilippe.
Peter Sagan is from Slovakia, and he's one of cycling's superstars.
Aside from pulling wheelies, his principal talent is surviving hard
courses and climbs, then being the best sprinter left at the front of
the race. That's how he wins the green jersey competition in the Tour
de France so often. (It's fair to say he can also win sprints on flat
courses, when all the best sprinters are there).
Peter Sagan was road race World Champion in 2015, 2016, and 2017. He
would almost certainly like to spend another year wearing the rainbow
jersey.
Favourites for the elite men's road race, UCI 2019 Yorkshire Worlds:
Julian Alaphilippe
Julian Alaphilippe is a French bike racer who is 27 years old. He
began competing in cyclo-cross before turning to road racing (Wikipedia).
He won the 2016 Tour of California, the 2018 Flèche Wallonne, two
stages and the polka dot jersey in the 2018 Tour de France, Strade
Bianche 2019, and Milan-San Remo 2019.
He starred in the 2019 Tour de France, winning stages 3 and 13, and
spending 14 days in the yellow jersey.
He may have the best chance of any rider of becoming World Champion
in Yorkshire.
Favourites for the elite men's road race, UCI 2019 Yorkshire Worlds:
Mathieu van der Poel
Mathieu van der Poel is an outlandishly talented 24-year-old Dutch
bike rider. He juggles cyclo-cross, mountain bike, and road racing.
Van der Poel's father Adri also raced as a professional, and won the
1996 cyclo-cross World Championships. Mathieu's grandfather is Raymond
Poulidor, three times second in the Tour de France.
As well as an incredible palmarès in cyclo-cross and a number of good
results in mountain biking, van der Poel has been successful on the
road: he was 2018 Dutch national road race champion, and in 2019 he
won the Amstel Gold Race, Dwars door Vlaanderen, and the Brabantse
Pijl.
In this article
and video on NOS.nl, the young Dutchman says that he is going to
build gradually towards the road race in Yorkshire. 'By doing more
kilometres and spending more time on my road bike. I'm going to go on
long rides, and do two stage races. That way, I'll have a lot of
kilometres in my legs. Hopefully, that'll be enough.'
Favourites for the elite men's road race, UCI 2019 Yorkshire Worlds:
Greg van Avermaet
Greg van Avermaet wins Stage 4, TDY 2019, by SWPix
Belgian Greg van Avermaet is the reigning Olympic road race champion.
He is a Classics specialist.
2017 was a good year for van Avermaet. He won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad,
E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, and Paris-Roubaix (Wikipedia).
The Belgian has done well in the White Rose county, winning the 2018
Tour de Yorkshire and Stage 4 of the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire.
The parcours could suit him, but at 34 some may wonder whether his
best days are now behind him.
It could be that the next generation of Belgian bike riders is ready
to take over - in the shape of Remco Evenepoel, winner of San
Sebastian in 2019. Or perhaps another of Belgium's golden oldies,
Philippe Gilbert, will take the rainbow jersey again.
Favourites for the elite men's road race, UCI 2019 Yorkshire Worlds:
Ben Swift
Ben Swift, by SWPix
Ben Swift is likely to be Great Britain's protected rider for the
elite men's road race. That means that his teammates will ride for
him, keeping him out of the wind, so he has the best chance of being
in the front group as the race nears the finish.
Swift is a Yorkshireman, from Rotherham. He rode for Team Sky from
2010-2016, before joining the UAE team (2017-2018). Now he has back at
Dave Brailsford's oil, fracking, and plastics-sponsored team.
He has never quite had the speed to match pure sprinters, but can do
well when the course is hard. He is the current British road race
champion, so will be riding in the red, white, and blue national
champion's jersey.
