VALKENBURG, Netherlands: Philippe Gilbert and Tom Boonen will lead a powerful Belgian team as the world championship road race takes centre stage on the roads around Valkenburg today.
“No other team will be as strong as Belgium with Tom as a sprinter and myself as an attacker,” boasted Gilbert ahead of the 267km race over rolling terrain on the final day of the one-week championships.
Gilbert will definitely fancy his chances on a route very similar to that used for the Amstel Gold Race one-day classic, which he has won twice in 2010 and 2011 before finishing sixth in 2012.
The difference is the finish line, which comes after the climb to Cauberg and is 1.8km further ahead after an initial 500m ascent before 1.3km of flat sprinting which makes Gilbert’s task that much harder to hold off the speedsters in the peloton.
“It will be another kind of race,” warned Gilbert. “No-one is going to go flat out to Cauberg in order to retain energy for the final 2km.”
The attacking riders or punchers will need to be wary of the sprinters who possess climbing skills and will try to stay in touch over the Valkenburg climbs that will come into play over 10 laps of the 16.5km circuit which is proceeded by 100km of racing across several Limburg municipalities.
Defending champion Mark Cavendish is being given little chance of retaining the rainbow jersey, while Britain’s team come into the race with little left in the tank and Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins and runner-up Chris Froome feeling the effects of an exhausting season.
The pick of the sprinters is Boonen, who was very much the man in form early in the season and his victory during the Paris-Brussels race underlines his credentials as not only a sprinter but a strong one-day racer as he chases a second world crown seven years on from his triumph on the roads of Madrid.
“Boonen is not just a sprinter,” warned French hope Thomas Vockler, who also has championship credentials after a strong season, including two stage wins on the Tour de France stage this year. AFP
