2020 Road World Championships odds
UCI Road World Championships 2019
The UCI Road World Championships 2019 begins on Sunday 22nd September and ends on the Sunday 29th September, taking place in Harrogate, United Kingdom. Over the course of the week, the world’s best road bike riders will compete in an individual time trial (ITT) and team time trial (TTT) before the prestigious World Championship road race on Sunday 29th September. It is the 92nd UCI Road World Championships, and the fourth time the UK has held the Championships.
The road race will see the peloton start in Leeds and finish in Harrogate, racing a 284.5 km route that includes seven circuits.
Last year, the race was won by Alejandro Valverde (Spain), who took over from three-time consecutive winner Peter Sagan (Slovakia). Valverde beat Romain Bardet (France) and Michael Woods (Canada) in the hilly route at Innsbruck last year.
The 2019 route
The peloton will go from Leeds into the Yorkshire Dales, where three significant climbs come in quick succession. If this pace is pushed, expect splits, and aggressive riders will be looking for breakaway opportunities. The riders will then welcome a fast approach to Harrogate, where they will be greeted with seven laps before the rainbow jersey will be decided.
Recent winners, teams and favourites
The Road World Championships is the only race in which riders represent their country and not their professional team. The World Championships is always at the end of the season and the winning rider wears the rainbow jersey for the year following.
Before Valverde and Sagan’s three wins, Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) won in 2014 and Rui Costa (Portugal) in 2013. Given the race status, expect all the big names to line up on the start line.
Julian Alaphilippe (France), fresh from his Tour de France triumphs, will be a hot favourite as an aggressive one-day specialist, alongside Kwiatkowski, Valverde, Primoz Roglic (Slovenia), Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) and Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands), who came fourth last year. Romain Bardet, second last year, and Thibaut Pinot form a strong French squad. Gianni Moscon (Italy) had a good showing last year, coming fifth, and will be hoping to make the podium this year.
Being on home soil, the British riders will also be heavy favourites to win in front of a local crowd. Adam Yates (GBR), Geraint Thomas (GBR) and Simon Yates (GBR) will fancy their chances.
Sagan will always be a favourite and if he can last on the climbs then he could ride himself into the rainbow jersey once more.