2023-08-06 09:10:08
A 120 kilometer ride before a haunted carousel. This Sunday, the landscape which parades in front of the visors of the riders will suddenly change shortly before the halfway point of these Scottish World Championships. The peloton will leave Edinburgh at 9:30 a.m. local time (10:30 a.m. in France), with a horizon of 271 km of asphalt, Scottish lochs, meadows and the listed climb of Crow Road. This bump should not put athletes to the torture, unlike the 14.3 km circuit designed in the heart of Glasgow.
Drawn, or rather drawn with a square and a protractor, as the riders will be forced to turn the handlebars to the rhythm of the right-angle turns scattered in the streets of the city in northern Scotland. On the menu: 48 bends and a 200 meter bump at 14%. The runners who go to the end of the race will be entitled to a ten-lap ticket for this infernal turnstile.
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The city centre of Glasgow will be the stage for the UCI Road World Champs ???????????????????????????????????? finales
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Check out the details route ⬇️
#PowerOfTheBike | #GlasgowScotland2023 pic.twitter.com/dhwM090Dxc
— 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships (@CyclingWorlds) May 18, 2023
The peloton and the coaches of the various nations involved did not fail to show their amazement at this course full of obstacles, which promises an unbridled race. The French team notably recognized the course this Friday. “It promises to be challenging, especially the urban part which is very technical, reacted Julian Alaphilippe. I had never seen such a course before. We will have to be at the front of the peloton with as many corners for ten laps. »
Some riders have pointed out the dangerousness of the circuit, Thomas Voeckler, coach of the Blues, its singularity. “This circuit is unlike any other. You can lose your head both literally and figuratively. According to his protege Benoît Cosnefroy, the organizers themselves did not have completely clear ideas. “The plotter must have been stuffed,” he said. Remco Evenepoel spun the metaphor: “The guy who drew this may have been hanging out in the pub too much. »
“A shitty circuit”
The many reminders induced by the bends and the seven small bumps of the circuit will inevitably increase the heart rate of the riders and the level of nervousness of the peloton. Tiejs Benoot is already hot. “It’s quite frankly the least beautiful course I’ve ever seen for a world championship,” said the Belgian at The last hour. On TV it might make for a great race, but for us on the bike it will mean six hours of intense stress. »
In particular, he compared the route to that of a “criterium”. If the forecast announces a rather mild Scottish sky, the rain would only be one more trap, while the surface of the roadway leaves something to be desired. “They redid the road in some places, but it was done in a hurry, you have small bumps of tar here and there or bitumen that comes off”, pointed out Valentin Madouas to The team.
His teammate Florian Sénéchal underlined the presence of sand in certain turns. Grain out of pierced bags placed on the barriers. “It’s a shitty circuit, railed the Frenchman. You need a minimum of respect for the runners who didn’t come to put on a show and break their collarbones… if it rains, it will be a race to death. »
The particularity of the route nevertheless opens the way to strategists, breakaways, punchers and tightrope walkers from cyclo-cross, such as Mathieu Van der Poel or Wout van Aert, who are less strict than his friends on the subject of the route. Among the Blues, these Worlds could suit the profile of Christophe Laporte. The Jumbo rider will have a lot to do. It will be a question of monitoring the reigning world champion Evenepoel or the untenable Tadej Pogacar, while taking care of the Scottish roller coaster.
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