There is no way around this event, welcome to the World Championships 2015!
Part of a new experiment, The World Championships (ITT & RR) take place further apart and are individually organized. The Time Trial is in capital city Bogota [Colombia]. The Road Race will take part in the rainy Bristol [UK].
The Belgian selection had a few shocks to endure before publishing the final selection for the Championships. Thomas De Gendt, Tom Boonen, Maxime Monfort and Ben Hermans had to forfeit due to illnesses and injuries. Here's a limited list of pre-race interviews:
World Championships - Individual Time Trial
Last year, Willy Wouters surprised friend and foe by taking the World Title with less than one second difference from Fabian Cancellara.
Tony Martin: With Cancellara not present, I'm probably top favorite to win here today. I realize it won't be easy, though. There are many height kilometers to be overcome, and I hope I can take the victory home. The legs are good, so bring it on! My favorite for the day? Durbridge.
Chris Froome: Today is an important day. If I ever have a chance of a World Title in Time Trialing, today might be that day. I'll give it all I've got and we'll see. The Road Race will offer other possibilities. My favorite for the day? Tony Martin.
Taylor Phinney: It's half a miracle that I'm here at the start. I've had a pretty bad crash in the Vuelta so I don't expect anything today. If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on last year's champion Wouters. The terrain is hilly and he looks strong. My favorite for the day? Definitely Wouters.
Willy Wouters: On a terrain like this, I can certainly hope for a second title. However, the competition is tough. The roads are wide and the downhill is not very technical, unfortunately. The temperatures are really high so I'm a bit concerned. We'll see. My favorite for the day? Tony Martin.
World Championships - Road Race
Last year, Moreno Moser took a second World Title in a row on a hilly terrain.
Peter Sagan: I've been labeled as a top favorite since the profile has been made public. It's expected to end in a sprint with a select group. I will ride at the front and see what I can do. My favorite for the day? Stijn Van Gent.
Greg Van Avermaet: Life is all about making choices, some are harder than others. With the absence of Tom Boonen, and given Stijn Van Gent's latest results, I will put myself in a helping role and protect leader Van Gent. We're laying all our eggs in his basket and hope he has the legs to finish it off. My favorite for the day? Stijn, of course.
Edvald Boasson Hagen: We face a profile which suits me quite fine. The weather conditions are rainy and quite cold, so I'm used to that. I hope to sprint for the win, may the best man win then! My favorite for the day? Peter Sagan.
John Degenkolb: The legs are fine, but the competition is extremely fierce. My favorite for the day? Sagan, or maybe Van Gent.
Stijn Van Gent: The rain will definitely play in my advantage. The team has given me an absolute leading role, and I'm just so happy with the opportunity and the trust. I hope I won't let them down and I'll try everything to let the race end in a fair sprint. If it does, I have a big chance! My favorite for the day? Peter Sagan.
Fabian Cancellara: I'll definitely try an attack today. I should be strong enough, but you never know. These weather conditions I'm used to! My favorite for the day? No idea. We'll see. Maybe Moser for a third time.
Willy Wouters: The terrain is perfect for Stijn. I will get my chance at the Time Trial, so I'll work to make sure Stijn gets his chance at the Road Race. My favorite for the day? Stijn, there's no doubt in my mind.
World Championships - Individual Time Trial (Bogota, Colombia)
And we're halfway in the race, it's started to rain. We're watching the break of the day. After a failed attempt of Bakelants early in the race, no Belgian is among these.
And the bad weather is starting to take its toll. Italy's leader Viviani has crashed for the second time!
Belgium is putting some men to work. In the front we see Devolder and Serry, making some pace.
With 30 km left to go, Belgium is definitely controlling the race. An impressive amount of strong men has been put to work for leader Stijn Van Gent, his legs must be good!
Only 15 km left to go and Belgium has disappeared from the front line. Germany has taken over now and will overtake the breakaway.
We're now 5 km from the finish and we have Sep Vanmarcke, Willy Wouters, Greg Van Avermaet and Stijn Van Gent. Belgium is holding its breath!
Sep Vanmarcke has parked as Wouters is now pulling the two sprinters up the final uphill. It's going hard, I can tell you that!
And the sprint is off, Van Gent is in a comfortable position with Van Avermaet leading him out, he's done this so many times before this season, he can do this!
Van Gent has now broken out of his chains and is loose, he's going fast. It's going very hard now! It's 200 meters left now!
Van Gent is going, but there comes Peter Sagan! Is he going to take the win or is he too late? 100 meters left to go!
VICTORY! STIJN VAN GENT WINS THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! Amazing, the whole nation is going nuts right now! Our boy Stijn did it!
Second is Sagan. Offredo a surprising third. Moser strong again and fourth. Wouters with an incredible final sprint fifth and second Belgian!
You can see the joy in the peloton. Everyone worked hard for this and one man made it come true: Stijn Van Gent! Here we see Vanmarcke, he can't believe it!
Interviewer: Congratulations. World Champion, can you believe it? Andrei Dovzjenko: I really can't. This has been a dream for so long, it's amazing. Interviewer: How was your race? Andrei Dovzjenko: The hill was pretty steep at times, but I had an amazing downhill and I made up a lot of time there. Interviewer: Thank you, enjoy the rest of the day! Andrei Dovzjenko: Thanks!
Interviewer: Willy Wouters, fastest time at the first checkpoint, what happened? Willy Wouters: I ruined my chances downhill. I'm good at technical downhills, but I lack the weight on fast downhills. Interviewer: Are you disappointed? Willy Wouters: Of course I am. But I've enjoyed an entire year in this jersey and I will reclaim it one day! Interviewer: Thank you!
Flash Interviews (Road Race)
Interviewer: While we wait for the World Champion to appear, here's number two of today, Peter Sagan. Hi, Peter, are you disappointed? Peter Sagan: I'm really disappointed. Everyone had us picked at favorites and we were at the front, but he was too fast at the end. Interviewer: Did you still believe in the win starting the sprint? Peter Sagan: Why else would I start sprinting? I was surprised at the distance Van Gent started his sprint, he went from quite far on a slightly uphill finish. Interviewer: Still a nice job, congrats. Peter Sagan: Thanks.
Interviewer: In the meantime, an important man in today's victory, Greg Van Avermaet, has joined us. How does it feel, Greg? Van Avermaet: It's amazing. We can't believe it. I've been screaming my lungs out already. We've worked hard all day and having a leader strong enough to finish it off, it's unbelievable. Interviewer: Many thought you could've filled the leader's shoes here, instead of him. Van Avermaet: Clearly they were wrong. I know how my legs are and at the moment, nobody's legs are better than Stijn's. I had no problem working for him and this feels just as good as if I had won myself! Interviewer: Thanks a lot, enjoy the party tonight! Van Avermaet: Thanks!
Interviewer: And finally, the World Champion has found his way to us. Stijn Van Gent, World Champion 2015. Van Gent: It's unbelievable. I had dreams, hopes, desires, but now they've all come true. It's so wild. Interviewer: Take us through your race. Van Gent: It's been a tough and long day. It was constantly up and down, with many crashes and dangers. The team did excellent work. In the end, I knew it would come to a sprint. I just went as fast as I could. Greg was the best lead-out I've ever had. Interviewer: Sagan looked like a danger, but you kept him at a distance. When did you realize you would be World Champion? Van Gent: To be honest, I still don't realize it, yet. It's so much to take. The adrenaline right now is making my heart beat 300 beats per minute! Interviewer: Tell me, how will you celebrate this World Title? Van Gent: With the entire team, staff and my mates. We will throw quite a party here tonight, everyone's welcome! Interviewer: Stijn Van Gent, the podium is ready for you. Congratulations! Van Gent: Thank you very much!
Jesleyh - I don't know, it's the way it exports here. Maybe a bug or something. Doesn't bother me so much, though I don't know how Willy does it, after his lead-out I just put him on sprint and he always does so well
PCM rulezz - I'll be riding extra races because of the jersey, maybe including Beijing I prefer De Cauwer, I don't know he knows more about how things are in the peloton and he was national coach himself once, so he should comment on the WC
Miguel98 - Thanks a lot! Dovzjenko is a young Russian specialized in time trial and coming up in cobblestones. I was originally going to make a story with him so he accidentally stayed in the database he's now 80 TT, 79 PR and 74 COB!
Miguel98 - Thanks a lot! Dovzjenko is a young Russian specialized in time trial and coming up in cobblestones. I was originally going to make a story with him so he accidentally stayed in the database he's now 80 TT, 79 PR and 74 COB!
So you beat yourself in the game
Winners never quit, quitters never win.
It's difficult not to be happy when you're surrounded by Belgians. - Mark Cavendish
Great win for Stijn! Too bad that Willy couldn't take another WC ITT, but at least you have one WC.
@Jesleyh: Just watch during the WC races. When you click on a rider and see his stats, you'll see the team where he's driving for. At the ITT it's sometimes annoying, because you see a rider of your team starting while it's not of the country with which you're riding with. So there's still standing that colour in that information thing when he starts, but you're not riding with him. So I think it's the same with the results here.
Great race by Belgium , totally deserved WC title for Stijn ! Let's hope that the curse of the Rainbow Jersey won't affect him and it will be a matter of time until he gets his first win as a World Champion !
PCM rulezz - Yes, I sure as hell beat myself there
Ollfardh - Thanks!
sutty68 - Best win ever for him. Thanks
MrUfo87 - Indeed. It's a strange thing but I can live with it And to be honest, I prefer this jersey over the ITT, because this one can be shown a lot more
alex valceanu - I hope the curse doesn't strike. Let's hope he gets his first rainbow win in season 2015!
Marcovdw - Thanks a lot
dienblad -
Thanks for the many replies! That race really got my blood pumping. It'll be great racing with him for a whole season in that jersey!
We'll keep this as short as possible. Firstly, we wish to congratulate our very own Stijn Van Gent, the new World Champion. We are honored to have him in our team and we will do everything possible to make his life easier next year. He is an absolute leader and will have full leadership in any race he enters. A star like him will get a lot of freedom in his schedule, too, of course. We hope to have an amazing season with the World Champion among our midst.
Staying on topic, we now announce some late-season news. Firstly, we're sad to see both Velits and Tiernan-Locke leave the team. We brought in some reinforcements for the classics earlier and will fill the remaining spots with two American neopros. We wish them well. Secondly, World Champion Van Gent has decided on his October schedule. Wanting to have a good summer, he has decided to quit racing early, have two weeks of vacation and press-related duties - Belgian talk-shows, charity and whatnot, and then start preparing for the next season. His first race as a World Champion will be Binche - Tournai - Binche, also known as the Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke . He'd like to show his new jersey there because it's in his home country and because Frank Vandenbroucke was a hero for him. After that, he will finish his season in the late classic Paris - Tours. We have complete confidence that Van Gent will end his season on a high note.
he knows more about how things are in the peloton and he was national coach himself once, so he should comment on the WC 
