Remco Evenepoel, Gianmarco Garofoli, and Valentin Paret-Peintre will all be at the start of the World Championships Road Race.
One week from his third consecutive triumph in the time trial, Remco Evenepoel will pin on a number for the demanding 267.5km race at the end of which the winner of the prestigious rainbow jersey will be crowned. Featuring 35 climbs, many of them cobbled, and an elevation gain of more than 6000 meters, this is set to be one of the toughest World Championships editions in history.
Evenepoel, winner of the gold medal three years ago in Wollongong, is one of our ten riders – representing seven different countries – at the start of the World’s final event. Mattia Cattaneo, Gianmarco Garofoli, James Knox, Luke Lamperti, Valentin Paret-Peintre – winner of the Tour de France Mont Ventoux stage this year – Casper Pedersen, Martin Svrcek, Ilan Van Wilder, who took a fantastic bronze medal in the time trial last Sunday – and Louis Vervaeke are the other Soudal Quick-Step riders who’ll tackle Sunday’s race.
“The course is a hard one, with a lot of climbing. It should spark a big selection and it will be important to manage your efforts during this long race, where the high temperatures and the humidity will take their toll on the body. The cobbles will also be a factor on Sunday, making the tyre selection important; they are difficult and rough and are sure to have an impact on the final loop.”
“We could see some of our riders there go in the breakaway, depending on their teams’ strategy. This won’t be the case for Belgium, where we have three guys. It’s clear that the squad’s main goal will be to bring Remco as fresh as possible for the final part of the race. He is one of the main favourites on the course. We’re also curious to see a guy like Valentin on a course like this, it’s a route that suits him and he is part of a team that has what it takes to steer the race into a different direction. This being said, it should be an exciting day, and we hope to have some of our guys in the mix for medals”, said Soudal Quick-Step sports director Tom Steels.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
