World Championships

This year the world championships took place in Rwanda which led to some riders not participating due to the travel and risks involved. Despite this there was lots of racing with expected and unexpected outcomes.

The Results

WE Time Trial - Marlen Reusser (Switzerland)

ME Time Trial - Remco Evenepoel (Belgium)

WU Time Trial - Zoe Backstedt (Great Britain)

MU Time Trial - Jakob Soderqvist (Sweden)

WJ Time Trial - Megan Arens (Netherlands)

MJ Time Trial - Michiel Mouris (Netherlands)

Mixed Relay Team Time Trial - Australia

WU Road Race - Celia Gery (France)

MU Road Race - Lorenzo Finn (Germany)

MJ Road Race - Harry Hudson (Great Britain)

WJ Road Race - Paula Ostiz (Spain)

WE Road Race - Magdeleine Vallieres (Canada)

ME Road Race - Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia)

The biggest question is what would have happened if Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van Der Poel were present given the race suited classics riders and one day specialists. One section of the race that was repeated was on cobbles meaning it would have suited Van Der Poel as the best classics rider and Van Aert would have certainly had an impact on the result even if he was only there to support Remco Evenepoel who came second on Sunday. There were only 30 riders who finished the race out of 165. The gap to rider 30 was 12 minutes and 4 seconds.

The women's race had an unexpected outcome with it being the second ever win for Vallieres at the race. She won ahead of the favourites including Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot. 53 riders finished on Saturday out of the 104 who started which is more than in the men's race. The gap between the first and last rider to cross the line was 16 minutes and 21 seconds.

The TT results were to be expected with Australia clearly having the best team in the relay but France were only 5 seconds behind by the end with Switzerland a further 5 seconds behind them. Zoe Backstedt took a definitive win in the WU category almost 2 minutes ahead of second place. The gap between first and second in the MU category was just over a minute but over 31km that is a lot of time. Marlen Reusser and Remco Evenepoel were the clear favourites in the elite races and won by 51 seconds and 1 minute 14 respectively.