We’re at the culmination of the season - the final race of the year and one of the most prestigeous of them all, allowing the winner to don the iconic rainbow jersey. Lukasz Wisniowski conquered the wild Torfeno Branishte course last year, but a different type of rider will prevail here in Germany today.
Bookies favor the top stage racers, most of all Herklotz and Madrazo, but Skujins’ win in the B race has shown that pure puncheurs also stand a chance. Miguel Angel Lopez is the most capable climber among them, but don’t discount the likes of De Bie, Kinoshita, Ponzi, Lutsenko or Mohoric.
Topchanyuk and Schönberger open proceedings, a solid climber and a solid puncheur.
Suprisingly, no one else wants to join them, so the duo tackles the first of 11 major ascents alone. Given the length of around 280 kilometers today, I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded some more company.
The gap peaks at just over 8 minutes as the two leaders reach the plateau for the third time. Now, it’s slowly coming down, but the peloton won’t want to reel them in too soon.
Many of the top nations contribute to the chase, including Spain for Madrazo, the Netherlands for either Gesink or Kelderman, and the US, presumably for either Phinney, Dombrowski or Boswell. But the workload is shared, no team has to commit too much yet.
With just over 100 kilometers to go, the first rider is dropped from the peloton. The Ukraine now has a rider at the very front and the very end of the race as Lutsyshyn falls behind. It’s not a big surprise, as this course does not suit the sprinter whatsoever. The gap to the escapees is at 4 minutes at the moment.
In the peloton, some of the favorites are already riding very close to the front. We see Herklotz in fourth position here, Kinoshita is three positions behind him in white and red, followed by Kwiatkowski and with Lopez to his right. But we’re still a long way from the finish.
Consequently, and reasonably, those guys soon are a bit more protected again. Three teams have now emerged as the main forces of the chase: Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, who have two viable contenders in Bobridge, the pure puncheur, and Morton, the stage racer.
With 60 kilometers to go already, Topchanyuk and Schönberger are caught by the peloton, now led by the USA. A courageous performance by the duo, but they would have needed more support to hold out longer. What will the favorites do now? Can we expect some long-range attacks?
First, we see some splits! And we also get part of the answer to the leadership question for the US, as it’s Dombrowski whose high pace leads to these gaps. A few of the second-tier team leaders, including Prevar, Juul-Jensen, Chernetskiy, Bennett, Reichenbach and Preidler, have missed the cut!
A bit surprisingly, Kelderman is also on the wrong side of the split. The Dutch seem to commit to Gesink, but he surely could have used the help. Just 48 riders remain in the lead group with 50 kilometers to go, but maybe these groups can use the upcoming downhill to catch up again.
They can’t, and then early on the penultimate big climb, Lopez attacks! Herklotz and Madrazo are at the front and counter, but Dombrowski still pushes hard.
A bit surprisingly, Lutsenko can’t follow the pace anymore and he drops alongside teammate Gidich and Czech leader Vakoc. Ahead of them, Tenorio struggles at the back of the main group.
At the front, Dombrowski is done but that’s okay because his leader Phinney jumps on Madrazo’s wheel. Lecuisinier also follows, then there’s a gap. Formolo, Kinoshita and Kwiatkowski now lead the chase, but the top stage racers take center stage for now.
The chasing group falls apart! Slightly shockingly, Gesink can’t follow the pace right now and falls behind, as do Kritskiy and De Bie! B Race Champion Skujins is a bit ahead, but also no longer part of the main group.
At the top of the climb, Formolo, Kwiatkowski and Kinoshita catch up to the quintet, and only five riders were able to follow them. They are Morton, Hirt, Bakelandts and Ponzi. A colorful mix of climbers and puncheurs, both types of riders seem to have a chance here today.
Mohoric is the first chaser, some 25 seconds behind. Then a trio with Brits Bellis and Adam Yates as well as Calmejane.
Mohoric is still in between, trying to use the car’s slipstream. The latter three were caught by a larger group around Gesink and De Bie, which was making a lot of headway. Possibly trying to avoid being caught by them, Lopez accelerates again! Immediately, Morton, Formolo, Bakelandts, Ponzi and Hirt are off the back - only six riders are able to follow the Colombian.
Lopez looks incredibly strong and continues to attack, but he has to be careful not to overdo it. Formolo is clearly the best of the rest at the moment, but he can’t close the gap.
Nevermind! Once Lopez relented a bit, the pace in the front group slowed down and the Italian managed to catch up. An impressive performance for sure! The quartet around Bakelandts and Ponzi is already more than a minute behind, it looks like these 8 will fight for the title.
Herklotz and Madrazo lead the group onto the final long climb. Who will attack first?
It’s Kinoshita! He accelerates past everyone from the back of the group, trying to catch them by surprise!
But he doesn’t get a gap and once he’s done, Herklotz immediately counters. Formolo and Kwiatkowski seem to struggle - Lopez might be the puncheurs’ best chance to beat the top stage racers now. 10 kilometers to go.
As we near the top of the climb, the group has splintered. Herklotz leads the way just 6 seconds ahead of Phinney. I was completely wrong about Kwiatkowski, who is actually now in third position, just ahead of Lecuisinier. Kinoshita, Lopez and Madrazo are just under 30 seconds behind - with a good bit of flat to come, this is still wide open!
The trio of Madrazo, Kinoshita and Lopez are now 45 seconds behind, it looks like they’re out of contention. A shame especially for the Colombian, who may indeed have torpedoed his chances by being as aggressive as he was.
With 5 kilometers to go, Phinney has caught up to Herklotz. Kwiatkowski and Lecuisinier are 20 seconds behind them, that’s going to be a tough gap to close.
There’s a short climb in the final kilometers, but Herklotz doesn’t want to wait and attacks on the flat already! Phinney looks spent, he can’t counter!
Kwiatkowski brings himself and Lecuisinier to Phinney, but can they catch up to Herklotz? 18 seconds, 2 kilometers to go!
Phinney is done, he drops out of the medal ranks! Lecuisinier still looks very strong, he was able to recuperate a little in Kwiatkowski’s slipstream in the past few kilometers.
But not all that much it seems, as Lecuisinier is now struggling, too! Still 17 seconds, 700 meters left for Herklotz.
And Herklotz still has some energy left in the tank! With big, strong pedal strokes, he moves towards the finish line and extends his lead again - 20, 25, then 30 seconds!
And he does it! As the first rider in MGUCI history, Silvio Herklotz wins the World Championships and the Tour de France in the same year! What a rider he is!
Lecuisinier wins silver, we can expect battles between him and Herklotz to shape many races for years to come. Kwiatkowski takes bronze with a strong performance, Poland is the only coutry to have a rider on the podium of the road race both this and last year.
Phinney overpaced a bit there in the final 10 kilometers and ultimately is left with the thankless wooden medal in fourth place. But he still has the golden one from the time trial, of course.
Kinoshita has the most left in the trio behind, he takes fifth place. Lopez beats Madrazo in a photo finish, but I doubt he will be all that happy about this sixth place.
A lot of respect for Formolo, who finishes 8th. Same for Hirt and Morton, who complete the Top 10 in that order.
Bakelandts and Ponzi just manage to hold off the first big group on the road, 11th and 12th for them. Notably, they finish more than 6 minutes behind Herklotz, just to put the winner’s performance into perspective.
Dombrowski wins the sprint from the first bigger group, impressive after his previous work. Same for Arndt, who finishes 15th behind Roglic, then Simon Yates in 16th. Slovenia with three more riders in this group, namely Mohoric, Furdi and Polanc. No top result, but impressive depth. Gesink ends up 25th, one of the major disappointments of today.
And just like that, the 2020 MGUCI Season is in the books. The two riders that ended up atop the PT Rankings, Phinney and Herklotz, only strengthen their role as the defining riders of the year by taking the two Worlds titles, and Lecuisinier with his silver medal confirms his role as one of the German’s biggest challenger in the future. It’s been a fun season and there’s lots to look forward to in the upcoming one - but first, we’re off to the offseason!
World Championships 
Lukasz Wisniowski conquered the wild Torfeno Branishte course last year, but a different type of rider will prevail here in Germany today. 
Madrazo, but 
Skujins’ win in the B race has shown that pure puncheurs also stand a chance. 
Miguel Angel Lopez is the most capable climber among them, but don’t discount the likes of 
De Bie, 
Kinoshita, 
Ponzi, 
Lutsenko or 
Mohoric. 
Topchanyuk and 
Schönberger open proceedings, a solid climber and a solid puncheur. 
Gesink or 
Phinney, 
Bobridge, the pure puncheur, and 
Juul-Jensen, 
Chernetskiy, 
Bennett, 
Reichenbach and 
Vakoc. Ahead of them, 
Lecuisinier also follows, then there’s a gap. 
Bellis and 
