For the conclusion of the 2023 season, the best of the best come together to compete for one of the most prestigeous accolades in cycling: the title of World Champion. It will be a long and difficult day in the saddle, tackling the foothills of the Pyrénées in a circuit around Catalunya. Although it was Lukasz WISNIOWSKI who took the win in Torfeno Branishte, the last time the race was officially categorised as mountainous, the grimpeurs got their revenge on the famous Nordschleife. There, in 2020, it was Silvio HERKLOTZ who secured the rainbow bands. He is back to give it another go, but the likes of Lachlan MORTON, Tim WELLENS and Justo TENORIO failed to make their respective national selections so they'll have to enjoy the action from their living rooms, watching alongside the rest of us! Who then are the favourites?
Obviously the five categorised ascents on this year's parcour will be vital in determining the victor. First is the Castell de Fontlonga, whose official classification of 4.5km @ 5.34% does not include similarly difficult slopes in the immediate prelude. Still, neither it nor the Coll de Comiols (19.5km @ 3.3%) or Mas Santmarc (11km @ 3.5%) are likely to be decisive for anything other than thinning the herd. Instead it is the Coll de Bóixols (13.5km @ 5.5%) and an ascent of another face of the Coll de Comiols (9.5km @ 4.7%) that will really shake things up. There are still ~20km of descending leading into ~20km of rugged terrain - including a short and sharp unclassified climb - before the riders make it to the finish. A solo victory can only come from a candidate that can combine the abilities of a grimpeur, a rouleur, and a descender.
The first question that will be asked of the riders will be about their ability to tackle the positive gradients. Only once they have surpassed that hurdle can we look to their other qualities. So, who comes to mind when we talk about the best climber in the world? The aforementioned HERKLOTZ. It is obviously impossible to discount the former world champion, especially when he has won every race he has entered this year, adding La Vuelta and Il Lombardia to his palmarès. That Il Lombardia win is especially noteworthy as it came from a reduced sprint against the world's best puncheurs, including Jan HIRT and Miguel Angel LOPEZ who are outsiders here.
His biggest competitor might be the indomitable Taylor PHINNEY. Aside from his absolute dominance of the ITT World Championship, the second most important facet of PHINNEY is that he has the best sprint of the top climbers. The absent Joseph DOMBROWSKI will be sorely missed though, PHINNEY might well need to lean on Ryan EASTMAN and Brandon McNULTY given his struggles this year. He cracked in Liechtenstein, was beaten by HERKLOTZ in Scandinavia and lost the Tour to our next favourite: Pierre-Henri LECUISINIER.
LECUISINIER was the runner-up to HERKLOTZ's 2020 victory, so will doubtlessly be chomping at the bit to get his revenge. As already mentioned, the Frenchman saw off PHINNEY to secure his home race for the second time. He also won in Indonesia and Colombia but those victories came against inferior opposition. In Liechtenstein, which seems to have been something of a beacon for our favourites, he was unable to keep up with the insatiable German monster that is HERKLOTZ. In fact, he was relegated to the final step on the podium.
The man doing that relegating was Merhawi KUDUS. No African has ever podiumed in the Elite Road Race, let alone secured the rainbow jersey. What better candidate to change that than the two-time continental champion ('17 & '21).
Of course, the elite road race isn't the only event on the calendar. We start out with the B road race, where William CHIARELLO will need to be at his best to reproduce his dominance in this year's Continental Tour. Going up against the likes of Chen SHIKAI, Ki Ho CHOI and Orluis AULAR is no easy feat; but my pick to qualify for the Elite competition is Louis MEINTJES. The undeniable king of the ITT is Taylor Phinney, although the likes of Marlen ZMORKA and Mads WÜRTZ will be hoping that time is finally catching up with him. We'll also get to see the stars of the future duke it out in the U23 competitions and see which nation can produce the best combination against the clock.
B Worlds
History
B RR
1
2
3
2022
K. NEILANDS
S. KUROEDA
H. PING HSU
2021
S. KEMBOI
M. MANNINEN
H. PING HSU
2020
T. SKUJINS
P. SAGAN
R. TAARAMÄE
2019
A. PLUCHKIN
C. DUNNE
N. A. MARZUKI
2018
J. AHLSTRAND
G. SMUKULIS
R. TAARAMÄE
2017
A. PLUCHKIN
E. SISKEVICIUS
C. JUUL-JENSEN
2016
L. SABER
M. POTTS
E. ZHUPA
2015
T. LÖVKVIST
J. JI
M. KWIATKOWSKI
2014
M. RICHEZE
D. VESELY
G. TZORTZAKIS
Startlist
Spoiler
ARGENTINA
BRAZIL
CHINA
Walter Trillini
William Chiarello
Chen Shikai
GN Tivani
Murilo Affonso
Xianjing Lyu
Mingrun Chen
Zhihui Jiang
CANADA
ESTONIA
FINLAND
Alex Cataford
Martin Laas
Matti Manninen
Jack Burke
Mihkel Räim
Sakari Lehtinen
Antoine Duchesne
Norman Vahtra
Samuel Pokälä
Adam De Vos
Steven Kalf
Joonas Henttala
Charles Matte
Aksel Nommela
Jaakko Sillankorva
Jordan Cheyne
Lewis Stroll
Derek Gee
HONG KONG
HUNGARY
INDONESIA
Ki Ho Choi
Barnabas Peak
Teten Rohendi
Ka Hoo Fung
Daniel Moricz
Md Abdurrahman
Ho San Chiu
Viktor Filutas
Md Imam Arifin
Chun Wing Leung
Marton Dina
Jamal Hibatullah
King Lok Cheung
Zoltan Sipos
Fikri Azka Md
Gergely Szarka
AOP Setiawa
Abel Kenyeres
Aiman Cahyadi
Erik Fetter
RN Wibisono
IRELAND
JAPAN
LUXEMBOURG
Eddie Dunbar
Tomohiro Kinoshita
Jan Drago Petelin
Ryan Mullen
Takeaki Amezawa
Max Losch
Sean McKenna
Yamato Shirota
Kevin Feiereisen
Michael O'Loughlin
Wataru Mutsumine
Gaetan Pons
Conor Dunne
Atsushi Oka
Bob Jungels
Sean Downey
Shoi Matsuda
Uga Ryuki
MALAYSIA
NEW ZEALAND
POLAND
Md IH Abdul Halil
Dion Smith
P Kasperkiewicz
Md Zawawi Azman
Tom David
Alan Banaszek
Mushin Misbah
Josh Atkins
Piotr Brozyna
Nur Amirul Marzuki
James Oram
Szymon Sajnok
MA Ahmad Zamri
Szymon Rekita
Md Suhaimi Ghani
K Marchewka
W Pszczolarski
ROMANIA
SOUTH AFRICA
RWANDA
Eduard Grosu
Louis Meintjes
Valens Ndayisenga
GA Stancu
Kent Main
B Uwizeyimana
Emil Dima
Shaun Nick Bester
JB Nsengimana
Moise Mugisha
Janvier Hadi
Renus Uhiriwe
SERBIA
SRI LANKA
SLOVAKIA
Dusan Kalaba
Nihal Silva
Michael Kolar
Aleksandar Roman
K Siriwardena
Matus Stocek
Milos Borisavljevic
AU Kumara
Juraj Bellan
Dorde Duric
Sachin Dulanjana
Veljko Stojnic
T Rajapakshage
THAILAND
UKRAINE
VENEZUELA
Yuttana Mano
Marlen Zmorka
Orluis Aular
T Chaiyasombat
Yonathan Monsalve
Sakchai Phodingam
Pedro Sequera
Nawuti Liphongyu
Jonathan Salinas
P Phonarjthan
Jose Alarcon
Jorge Abreu
TTT
History
TTT
1
2
3
2022
United States
Australia
Italy
2021
France
Portugal
United States
2020
Australia
France
Netherlands
2019
Spain
United States
Netherlands
2018
Russia
France
Netherlands
2017
Portugal
United States
Colombia
2016
Netherlands
Australia
Germany
2015
Italy
Spain
Colombia
2014
Netherlands
Russia
France
2013
Netherlands
Spain
Germany
2012
Netherlands
Spain
Belgium
2011
Spain
Netherlands
Russia
2010
Spain
Netherlands
United States
Startlist
Spoiler
AUSTRALIA ★★½
Damien HOWSON, Rohan DENNIS, Callum SCOTSON, Brendan CANTY, Kelland O'BRIEN, Miles SCOTSON, Ben O'CONNOR and Robert STANNARD
BELGIUM ★★
Brent VAN MOER, Victor CAMPENAERTS, Frederik FRISON, Rune HERREGODTS, Steff CRAS, Sean DE BIE, Harm VANHOUCKE and Michael VANTHOURENHOUT
CANADA ★
Alexandor CATAFORD, Jordan CHEYNE, Lewis STROLL, Charles MATTE, Derek GEE, Jack BURKE, Antoine DUCHESNE and Adam DE VOS
COLOMBIA ★
Egan BERNAL, Victor Alejandro OCAMPO, Cristian MUNOZ, Miguel Angel LOPEZ, Harold TEJADA, Nairo QUINTANA and Dayer QUINTANA
DENMARK ★★★★
Mads WÜRTZ, Mikkel BJERG, Mathias NORSGAARD, Michael Valgren ANDERSEN, Rasmus QUAADE, Morten HULGAARD, Niklas EG and Mathias KRIGBAUM
SPAIN ★★
Mario GONZALEZ, Omar FRAILE, Carlos VERONA, Ion IZAGIRRE, Jesus HERRADA, Inigo ELOSEGUI, Mikel ITURRIA and Xuban ERRAZKIN
FRANCE ★★★
Yoann PAILLOT, Emilien VIENNET, Pierre-Henri LECUISINIER, Alexys BRUNEL, Remi CAVAGNA, Aurelien PARET-PEINTRE, Romain SICARD and Bruno ARMIRAIL
GERMANY ★★★½
Jasha SÜTTERLIN, Lennard KÄMNA, Nils POLITT, Justin WOLF, Florian STORK, Domenic WEINSTEIN, Miguel HEIDEMANN and Silvio HERKLOTZ
GREAT BRITAIN ★
Tao GEOGHEGAN HART, Tim KENNAUGH, James KNOX, Adam YATES, Scott DAVIES, Jake STEWART, Adam BLYTHE and Mark DONOVAN
LUXEMBOURG ½
Bob JUNGELS, Gaetan PONS, Luc TURCHI, Sven FRITSCH, Pit LEYDER, Jan Drago PETELIN, Max LOSCH and Kevin FEIEREISEN
NETHERLANDS ★★½
Steven LAMMERTINK, Stef KRUL, Dylan VAN BAARLE, Tom DUMOULIN, Sam OOMEN, Thymen ARENSMAN, Ide SCHELLING and Daan OLIVIER
NORWAY ★★
Phan Age HAUGARD, Iver Johan KNOTTEN, Tobias FOSS, Truls Engen KORSAETH, Fredrik Strand GALTA, Sindre Skjostad LUNKE, Torjus SLEEN and Tormod JACOBSEN
POLAND ★½
Szymon REKITA, Szymon SAJNOK, Krzysztof MARCHEWKA, Wojciech PSZCZOLARSKI, Przemyslaw KASPERKIEWICZ, Piotr BROZYNA, Karol Andrzej DOMAGALSKI and Alan BANASZEK
PORTUGAL ★½
Jose FERNANDES, Rafael REIS, Antonio BARBIO, Nelson OLIVEIRA, Joao ALMEIDA, Fabio SILVESTRE, Ricardo FERREIRA and Ruben GUERREIRO
RUSSIA ★★★
Kiril YATSEVICH, Aydar ZAKARIN, Anton VOROBEV, Alexander VLASOV, Pavel SIVAKOV, Petr RIKUNOV, Ildar ARSLANOV and Aleksey RYBALKIN
SWITZERLAND ★★½
Silvan DILLIER, Stefan BISSEGGER, Stefan KUNG, Colin STÜSSI, Valentin DARBELLAY, Martin SCHÄPPI, Thery SCHIR and Patrick SCHELLING
UKRAINE ½
Marlen ZMORKA, Vladyslav SOLTASIUK, Oleksandr SHEVCHENKO, Mikayil KRASNOPEROV, Kostyantyn RYBARUK, Vitalii NOVAKOWSKYI, Kyrylo TSARENKO and Oleksandr GRYGORENKO
UNITED STATES ★★★★★
Taylor PHINNEY, Neilson POWLESS, Ryan EASTMAN, Brandon McNULTY, Gregory DANIEL, Daniel EATON, Nathan BROWN and Lawson CRADDOCK
seancoll wrote:
A shame not to see Areruya here as I he'd have to be a favorite. Looking forward to some fascinating racing.
Super annoyed about it but nobody to blame but myself. Must have not hit "Post Reply" and ended up closing the tab because I would have put my entire bank account on having posted it Deadlines are deadlines and I should have double checked
Thanks for the preview lief, would love a Kudus or Lopez victory here - the latter would be especially nice as the puncheurs haven't won one since 2017!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
First time ever we have a legit shot at a medal here for Skjelmose with the mountain course (I don't count the B Worlds since it's really a preliminary). Can't expect lightning to strike twice and I'm happy with l'Avenir, so expect a Plapp victory here. But a medal would be awesome and one more "first" for our team, 10 years in. Let's do it!
Edit: Forgot Forssell got the ITT Silver last year. Guess we'll need gold for a first after all!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Not sure the ITT/TTT profile has been posted so here it is:
Also a huge thanks to Tamijo for our custom built course.
Hope to post the first race around this time tomorrow and then every other day thereafter. All of them are done except the main event, happy to give that up if another reporter is feeling it. But otherwise should be able to knock that out sometime before it is due to be posted.
Very excited to see how the races play out on such a course! With Aker eyes, I think the B race might be the most exciting, to see how Japan do the potential double leadership with Kinoshita and Amezawa. Hoping they don’t block each other via how AI races.
Super excited to follow the worlds racing even if it feels weird not reporting any of it! Thanks for a great preview, really fun historic moment for me with the u23 Italy ITT being Milan and Baroncini!
Really fun race, at first glance it looks like the route delivers what we had hoped for. Great report as well, Mr. Reporter of the Year
Since only first place really matters, which was always going to be a longshot, I don't mind Meintjes and Ndayisenga fading out of the Top 5 and Top 10. The latter especially was a positive surprise for me, I didn't expect to be cheering for him with a chance to win it in the final 3km. Cool to see Hadi active with an attack, too.
Finally, congrats ember. the fantastic season just keeps on going Wouldn't rule Amezawa out for the elite race, either!
And what a win that was for Amezawa Thought, and maybe feared, he was going to play second fiddle to Kinoshita when the latter was active relatively early in the finale, but then Amezawa showed he was attentive, alert, and also aggressive at the right times. Massive to see him hold on in the sprint and claim the B title. Also really great work from the Japanese team, taking responsibility early, which makes it even better to see Amezawa run away with it in the end. Definitely looking forward to the elite RR as well now. We suddenly got a slight, slight outsider to cheer extra for!
Great finish by Amezawa, congrats ember!
None of my three riders - a sprinter and two TTers - in this race could make an impact; only Szarka could've hoped to participate in the A Worlds if Valter had been in the Hungarian team. Without him, obviously no chance ^^
Looking forward in particular to the TT events, with plenty of riders in the TTT, and two double representations in Poland and Switzerland. Would've hoped for Brunel to get a spot in France, but Paillot and PHL sure are a strong duo.
In the A worlds, we probably only have doms this time - the three Swiss (Stüssi, Schmid, Darbellay) for Frankiny, Errazkin for Aranburu, and Masnada for Formolo.
Thanks for the opening report (and the preview, by the way), looking forward to the rest
Lukasz WISNIOWSKI who took the win in Torfeno Branishte, the last time the race was officially categorised as mountainous, the grimpeurs got their revenge on the famous Nordschleife. There, in 2020, it was 
Silvio HERKLOTZ who secured the rainbow bands. He is back to give it another go, but the likes of 
Lachlan MORTON, 
Tim WELLENS and 
Justo TENORIO failed to make their respective national selections so they'll have to enjoy the action from their living rooms, watching alongside the rest of us! Who then are the favourites?
Jan HIRT and 
Miguel Angel LOPEZ who are outsiders here.
Taylor PHINNEY. Aside from his absolute dominance of the ITT World Championship, the second most important facet of PHINNEY is that he has the best sprint of the top climbers. The absent 
Pierre-Henri LECUISINIER.
Merhawi KUDUS. No African has ever podiumed in the Elite Road Race, let alone secured the rainbow jersey. What better candidate to change that than the two-time continental champion ('17 & '21).
William CHIARELLO will need to be at his best to reproduce his dominance in this year's Continental Tour. Going up against the likes of 
Chen SHIKAI, 
Ki Ho CHOI and 
Orluis AULAR is no easy feat; but my pick to qualify for the Elite competition is 
Louis MEINTJES. The undeniable king of the ITT is 
Marlen ZMORKA and 
Mads WÜRTZ will be hoping that time is finally catching up with him. We'll also get to see the stars of the future duke it out in the U23 competitions and see which nation can produce the best combination against the clock. 
K. NEILANDS
S. KUROEDA
H. PING HSU
S. KEMBOI
M. MANNINEN
P. SAGAN
R. TAARAMÄE
A. PLUCHKIN
C. DUNNE
N. A. MARZUKI
J. AHLSTRAND 
E. SISKEVICIUS 
L. SABER
E. ZHUPA
M. RICHEZE
G. TZORTZAKIS
Italy
Portugal
Netherlands
Russia 
E. HAYTER
T. POGACAR
Y. MANO
B. ERDENEBAT
T. WIRTGEN
A. E. MACCAGLI 
A. CATAFORD
P. A. HAUGARD
F. CANCELLARA
I. SIRIC
N. KULIMBETOV
S. BEWLEY 
Deadlines are deadlines and I should have double checked 
Guess we'll need gold for a first after all!
Great win for one of the coolest riders in the MG!
