- Remco Evenepoel wins the street race in Wollongong solo and at the age of 22 becomes world champion for the first time.
- A chasing group with the Swiss Mauro Schmid lets themselves be duped in the last kilometer and misses out on the medals.
- Frenchman Christophe Laporte secured silver in the sprint of the field, bronze was secured by Australian Michael Matthews.
In the final road race, one could dream of the 4th Swiss medal in this year’s title fights almost to the end. With Mauro Schmid, a Swiss was represented in a quartet that seemed to decide silver and bronze among themselves. But the fast-paced Zurich native couldn’t even show off his skills in the fight for precious metals.
The big tactics started in the last kilometer, nobody wanted to start the sprint. Instead of medals, it was a big disappointment for Schmid and Co. The field roared in from behind, in whose sprint Christophe Laporte/FRA and Michael Matthews/AUS got silver and bronze.
In the end Schmid was only 17th, three places behind was Stefan Küng. Stefan Bissegger had to give up the race early due to stomach problems.
Evenepoel like back then in Liège
While the fight for silver and bronze was only decided in the final meters, the decision for gold was made much earlier. Remco Evenepoel managed to open a gap at the second to last finish and with 34 kilometers to go. Only Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko was able to follow the Belgian – but not for long.
With 25 kilometers to go, Evenepoel left the Kazakhs behind on the climb to Mount Pleasant. With an impressive solo drive, he then drove safely to the world championship title.
Legend:
Otherwise usually rivals
Wout van Aert, who sprinted to fourth place, congratulates his compatriot Remco Evenepoel at the finish.
Imago Images/Panoramic International
The 22-year-old “child prodigy” crowned his season with it. Evenepoel won his first monument in the spring with Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Even then, his victory was preceded by a kilometer-long solo ride. Most recently, he won his first Grand Tour with the Vuelta.
Pogacar, Alaphilippe and Co. miss the exit
Evenepoel succeeds Julian Alaphilippe as World Champion, who recently won the title twice in a row. The Frenchman, like other favorites such as Tadej Pogacar, missed the exit of a larger group with a good 70 kilometers to go.
At that point, Mathieu van der Poel had long since left. The Dutchman gave up the race after a few kilometers after spending most of the night at the police station.