UCI World Championship Elite Road Race Review

Mark Cavendish (UK) took the race in a bunch sprint. For those who had been watching the various Worlds Road Races over the week, this shouldn't have been a surprise. All of the races had ended in bunch sprints. Bunch sprints are Cavendish's specialty (and in fact his only chance to win) and he made it payoff after a long, hard race.

That said Cavendish was amazing. His team rode at the front like his HTC-High Road team has done for him for year. The difference today is that his lead out train was swallowed by great tactics fron the Australian team. Then Cavendish frellanced his way to the front taking the win in a sprint where he didn;t have his optimal lead out.

Beware the foreign language on this. It is the entire last lap. Just skip to the 15 minute mark to see only the sprint.

Matt Goss (Australia) could have won won this race, but it would have been controversial. Goss finished second and took the silver medal, but he was in the lead and chose not to move towards the barrier. Had he done so, he would have blocked Cavendish's line to the front clearing the way for himself to win the sprint. Had he done so, Cavendish would have complained forever about his soon to be former teammate (both ride for the disbanding HTC-High Road team) blocking him out and we would have had controversy. Given the at time uneven leadership of the UCI, it would be interesting to see what they wold have done as far as race rulings.

Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) almost made up for his defeat in the time trial, but he was pipped at the line for the bronze medal. Of all the people on the list of favorites, Cancellara was one of the least likely to contend in a bunch sprint. Cancellara though will contest nearly anything that is not a summit finish competantly and he showed that here. Unfortunately for him, all the best sprinters in the world were in this race and he was beaten for the bronze by Andre Griepel (Germany).

Sadly, Thor Hushovd (Norway) was unable to really contest the finish in his defense of the title. He was part of a group caught behind a crash early in the race and never made it back to the lead group to contest the victory. Time trial champion Tony Martin (Germany) was also in this group and failed in his bid to become the first double champion though he was unlikely to win this race given its sprint leanings.

Watching this race, it was evident we were headed to a sprint the entire race. The only question is who would be there to contest it. Once we got under four laps, it was evident everyone in the front group would be there. Despite the big crowds and entertaining racing, this course was not really a great course. Then again, what was anyone expecting? Denmark is flat as a pancake. Even the hills that are there aren't the kind of hills that really hurt.

The course didn't suit prolific winner Philippe Gilbert (Belgium). Gilbert can contest bunch sprints, but he doesn't have top end sprint speed. He needs a hillier course to really excel such as the ones he will see in the next few years. Gilbert will win his Rainbow Jersey at some point, this just wasn't his year despite his incredible form all season. I now expect him to repeat his annual fall rampage at the remaining races this season.

Final Top 10

1 Mark Cavendish (UK)

2 Matt Goss (Australia)

3 Andre Griepel (Germany)

4 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)

5 Jurgen Roelandts (Belgium)

6 Romain Feillu (France)

7 Borut Bozic (Slovenia)

8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway)

9 Oscar Friere Gomez (Spain)

10 Tyler Farrar (USA)

Men's Elite Time Trial World Championship Review

Race winner: Tony Martin (Germany) destroyed the field, winning by over a minute over the 46.4 km course in Copenhagen, Denmark. Of course this is no surprise considering Martin won the time trials at the Criterium du Dauphine, Tour de France and most recently at the Vuelta a Espana. His form has been great all season and he entered as the co-favorite along with four-time and Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland).

Podium: The silver medal surprisingly went to Bradley Wiggins (UK). Wiggins rode within himself and didn't cook himself entirely on the first half of the course like he did at the Vuelta time trial (where he finished 3^rd). While a bronze medal would not have been a surprise, beating Cancellara for the silver is a big one even though he also beat Cancellara at the Vuelta. Cancellara did take the bronze as he cooked himself trying to keep pace with Martin and then cost himself the silver by overrunning a corner and stalling against a barrier.

Biggest non-podium surprise: Austrailian youngster Jack Bobridge took 5^th place. Bobridge is only 23 and had not had many good results this season. In addition, he comes from a track background and was thought to lack the experience needed to contend in a longer time trial. Now, he looks like a possible future winner if he keeps developing.

Biggest non-podium disappointment: Defending silver medalist David Millar (UK) did not have a good ride. After a strong season, Millar looked to cap it with a good ride in the time trial. Instead, he was passed by Martin not long after the midway point even though Martin started 90 seconds after him. For most, 7^th place would be a good ride. But for someone of Millar's stature, it was disappointing.

Final Top Ten:

1 Tony Martin (Germany) 53:45.85

2 Bradley Wiggins (UK) +1:15.83

3 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) +1:20.59

4 Bert Grabsch (Germany) +1:31.76

5 Jack Bobridge (Australia) +2:13.86

6 Richie Porte (Australia) +2:29.54

7 David Millar (UK) +2:45.62

8 Lieuwe Westra (Netherlands) +3:18.52

9 Alexandr Dyachenko (Kazakhstan)+3:19.76

10 Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) +3:30.59

Other cycling news: The World Championships continue through Sunday in Copenhagen. I will have a preview on the Men's Road Race on Friday in advance of Sunday's race... The 2015 World Championships were officially awarded to Richmond, Virginia today. It will be the second time the championships have been to the United States. The first time was in Colorado Springs in 1986.

Follow me on twitter

Vuelta a España Daily – Disbanding HTC gets another win

Today's stage: Hilly, mountainous something or other with five categorized climbs, but a long flat run in to bring everything back together.

Who won today's stage? Michael Albasini (HTC-High Road) was the strongest rider on the flats at the end, marking every attack and taking a sprint victory over his companions in a 20 man breakaway that survived until the end of the stage.

What matters in the GC race? Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) took a page from the Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) playbook from yesterday and got himself an intermediate sprint victory and the six bonus seconds that come with it. Nothing else among the top 6 is changed. By positioning on the road, Daniel Moreno (Katusha) was in the break and passed teammate Joaquim Rodriguez in the overall race. I wonder if he has or will supplant Rodriguez as the GC leader before the end of the race?

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points, Sprinter Competition) – Not much change here at all. Rodriguez still leads, followed by sprinter Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Mollema

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – David Moncoutie (Cofidis), 3-time defending champion in this classification, was in the breakaway again, as usual. He absorbed quite a few point and took the lead in this race by a fairly large 12 point margin over Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale)

White Jersey (Allround) – By moving up in the GC and taking the second intermediate sprint, Moreno regained the lead in this competition from Mollema and will once again wear the white jersey tomorrow.

Biggest surprise: The GC leaders let a break with the likes of Moreno and Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxo Bank) go in the first place. The presence of top 20 placed riders meant there wasn't a huge leash like there often is on this type of stage and made for a much harder day for the top five guys and their teams. Just not great tactics to let those guys go and made for a much more interesting chase.

Biggest disappointment: This route was unfortunate. Not every mountain stage needs to be a summit finish, but the finish was way too far away from the last mountain to have any effects other than forming a grupetto behind the break and the GC group. What we has was the breakaway, then the GC, then stragglers, then grupetto and no time gaps of note except between the break and the GC guys. A good stage with a boring result.

Other items of note: The break started with 28 riders including four from Euskatel, but 8 including Igor Anton were popped off on one of the climbs... Poor Rodriguez has no way to attack. The entire peloton knows he needs to attack, but his presence in the green jersey is basically a neon green highlighter that says “Look at me, I'm attacking, now come get me” whenever he goes. No way to disguise attacks... Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) did not take the start today and Taylor Phinney (BMC) abandoned during the stage. Both are headed to the World Championships and left to regain energy before the Worlds at the end of the month. There are now 17 riders out of the race.

What is coming tomorrow? A new summit finish. La Farrapona has never been used in the Vuelta before. Before the peloton gets there, there is a category 2 climb and then a category 1 climb. The GC battle really resumes tomorrow though I wonder if some will be trying to save energy with Angliru on tap Sunday.

Follow me on twitter

Covering the Cycling News of the Day

Since there has been a ton of news in the last day in the cycling world, I am going to wrap it all up here.

World Championships Elite Men's Time Trial
Fabian Cancellara is at another level. That is the main take away from his easy-looking win in last night's (today's in Australia) time trial. It was evident at the second time check that he was the best man and the only way he was going to lose was either a mental error causing a crash or mechanical problem or a flat and even a flat or mechanical may not have stopped him considering bronze medalist Tony Martin had a flat and lost little time (it was enough to slip from silver to bronze but Cancellara was way beyond that level of time loss). Cancellara may be the best ever in the discipline. Also of note was the silver medal ride turned in by David Millar. He won a silver in this event in 2001 and was stripped of the gold because of doping in 2003, but he is most certainly clean at this point and the silver medal is impressive.

More after the jump including Doping and World's Road Race Preview

2010 Cycling World Championship Time Trial Preview

When is it? Wednesday night in the US

Where? Geelong, Australia

The course: Two circuits around Geelong with a couple of climbs on each circuit. A demanding course at over 45 kilometers. None of the top climber who can time trial like Alberto Contador are entered and none of the favorites are really strong climbers. Could we see a surprise upset winner?

Riders to watch:

Overwhelming favorite: Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland – Cancellara is the best time trialer in the world today and has been for the last four or five years. He has won the last three world championship time trials that he has entered with a break in 2008 when he won the Olympic time trial. Cancellara has dominated time trials other races too including victories in both Tour de France time trials. He did show some vulnerability being beaten by Peter Velits and Denis Menchov in the Stage 17 time trial at the Vuelta a Espana. Despite that, he is the favorite and there is talk of a double rainbow jersey for Cancellara as he is a threat to win the road race too.

Michael Rogers, Australia – Rogers is the first three time champion in the time trial winning it from 2003-2005 before Cancellara's run started. He has recently stated he feels in his best form in years and he is riding at home in front of home fans. If Cancellara falters or has some sort of mechanical issue, Rogers could be a threat.

Tony Martin, Germany – Martin has been solidly near the top of nearly every time trial he has raced over the last two years including a bronze medal last season. He hasn't been able to beat Cancellara though putting a ceiling on how high he can go.

Richie Porte, Australia – One of the better climbers among the time trial threats and riding at home too, Porte might have the best chance of unseating Cancellara. Even if he doesn't, Porte is only 25 and is someone to watch in future years in this event.

Bert Grabsch, Germany – Winner of the weak field 2008 time trial, Grabsch is a former world champion nonetheless and a threat to win. Has not been in great form recently though.

David Millar, UK – Won the 2003 time trial but was stripped because of a doping violation. Has not shown the same kind of time trial speed as before, but has still shown well in some time trials and has some climbing ability that could allow for a podium challenge here even if he is no real threat to win.

Cadel Evans, Australia – The defending road race champion was known first as a time trialer before his ascension to Grand Tour contender and road race champion. Riding at home in Australia could be a big advantage.

David Zabriskie, USA – A former silver (2006) and bronze (2008) medalist, he is the best American hope in the time trial, but he is starting to age. Most of his best results including time trial stage wins in all three Grand Tours are behind him.

Peter Velits, Slovakia – Not really well known until the recent Vuelta a Espana. At the Vuelta, Velits finished 3^rd overall and won the stage 17 time trial over a tired Cancellara. With the 3^rd place finish in a Grand Tour, he obviously has some ability to climb along with a time trial skills needed to win a Grant Tour time trial. Might be the biggest threat to Cancellara despite many not talking about him.

The pick: Cancellara wins again for a record fourth time. It would be crazy to pick anyone else until he is beaten.