The men will start their race with a mass start in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh and will have a portion of 271 kilometers ahead of them. They will have almost half of it behind them after completing a long circuitous journey to Glasgow, where they must deal with the pitfalls of the 14.3 kilometer long circuit ten times. The unpredictable weather in Scotland can also play a significant role.
The Czech colors will be defended by a young team in which Mathias Vacek has the greatest ambitions. Michael Boroš, Petr Kelemen and Adam Ťoupalík complete the younger of the brotherly pair of competitors. The time trial will be driven by Jakub Otruba.
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Vacek before the World Cup: I’m back in my skin 00:00:26
“Generations are gradually changing, in earlier years we had six or seven professionals, now we have good young riders. Štybar is in the elite after an injury, Hirt and Černý are concentrating on the Vuelta, which is why there are mainly young people in the team, to whom we want to give them a chance.” explained coach René Andrle of the road players.
“Petr Kelemen is an excellent pacer, Michael Boroš and Adam Ťoupalík will handle the technical course thanks to their cyclocross experience. Mathias Vacek has allowed himself to age, he will ride the time trial as well as the road race. Jakub Otruba will ride the time trial for the first time,” added Andrle.
Wout van Aert
source: Reuters author: Benoit Tessier
Pogačar will face Evenepoel, van der Poel or van Aert
The main favorites for the race will be the Belgian Remco Evenepoel with compatriot Wout van Aert, the Dutch Mathieu van der Poel, the Slovenian Tadej Pogačar and the Dane Mads Pedersen, who won the title in 2019, but many others can succeed.
Peter Sagan, three-time world champion from 2015 to 2017, will probably complete the last road race at the WC in a rich career. The star Slovak wants to say goodbye to the road after the season and return to mountain biking with the aim of participating in the Olympics next year in Paris.
Mathieu van der Poel tried the sharp Scottish wall:
The women and men of the under-23 category will start in Loch Lomond. Both the juniors and juniors start and finish in Glasgow. “We have excellent juniors and the under-23 category riders are also a very strong group. We will bet on one card there. The clear leader I have designated will be Pavel Bittner, the others will mainly be domestics,” Andrle said.
Kristýna Burlová, Eliška Kvasničková and Tereza Neumanová will defend the Czech colors in the women’s road race over 154 kilometers long, which will conclude the battle for precious metals from the road on Sunday, August 13. Annemiek van Vleutenová from the Netherlands will play the role of defending champion.
Burlová and Kvasničková will also complete a time trial. Time trials of all categories start in the city of Stirling, about 40 kilometers north of Glasgow. Last year, the Norwegian Tobias Foss and the Dutch Ellen van Dijk won the gold in the elite categories, but she is pregnant and will not compete in Scotland.
The program of the WC in road cycling in Glasgow:
Saturday August 5:
11:00 a.m. junior women’s road race (70 km),
14:00 road race juniors (127.2 km).
Sunday, August 6:
10:30 men’s elite road race (271.1 km).
Tuesday, August 8:
14:00 mixed team time trial (40.3 km).
Wednesday August 9:
15:25 time trial men under 23 (36.2 km).
Thursday August 10:
12:15 junior time trial (13.4 km),
14:40 elite women’s time trial (36.2 km).
Friday August 11:
11:00 time trial juniors (22.8 km).
15:15 men’s elite time trial (47.8 km).
Saturday August 12:
12:30 men’s under-23 road race (168.4 km).
Sunday, August 13:
13:00 women’s elite road race (154.1 km).
