World Cycling Championships 2021 Flanders: Favourites Road Race – men

The route of the World Cycling Championships mimics the Tour of Flanders, and the Amstel Gold race. The first race features roughly 20 climbs and the second 35, while the road race at the Worlds takes in no less than 42 hills. All short, yes, but gruelling nonetheless.

It will be all about survival of the fittest. Following the start in Antwerp, the riders race on the flat to two circuits near Leuven. All hills are crammed together in these circuits. None of these are hard in themselves, but the repetition is going to do the damage.

The tough course demands a versatile rider with both fast and climbing legs. A sprint of a select group is a very likely scenario. The names of Wout van Aert, Magnus Cort and Sonny Colbrelli spring to mind. Mathieu van der Poel is another obvious favourite, although there is question mark hovering above his head due to lingering back problems. The likes of Kasper Asgreen, Matej Mohoric and Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe will want to drop those powerhouses in advance – with either a long-range or a late attack.

Van Aert is on stellar form. Recently, he won four out of eight stages and the overall at the Tour of Britain. In the same week, Colbrelli won the European title on a trying course in Trento, while Cort powered to three stage wins at La Vuelta. The dane won both bunch sprints and punchy finishes.

Favourites 2021 World Championships Road Race

***** Wout van Aert, Magnus Cort, Sonny Colbrelli
**** Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Stuyven, Ethan Hayter
*** Kasper Asgreen, Matej Mohoric, Remco Evenepoel, Marc Hirschi
** Michael Valgren, Mike Teunissen, Michael Matthews, Peter Sagan
* Julian Alaphilippe, Tom Pidcock, Iván García, Michal Kwiatkowski