Good day and thank you for opening this week’s Wheel Talk Newsletter. We are already looking ahead to World Championships week, with the time trial taking place on Sunday. The European Championships gave us a good idea of a few riders to watch for the race against the clock, but some key contenders are waiting in the wings preparing to take the title. Plus, the Dutch dominated Europeans, but can they do the same come the road race in Zurich?
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Lorena Wiebes sprinted to victory at the European road race on Saturday, and although the win was unsurprising her path to the line was all but easy. In the final kilometres, the Dutch lead out train fell to pieces, while the Italians leading Elisa Balsamo held firm. Wiebes was able to make her way to the right wheel and sprint to the win despite the mishap, with Balsamo coming in a distant second. Daria Pikulik sprinted to an impressive third place for Poland.
Wiebes was emotional about the win, which makes sense after she missed out on a stage victory at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and came in second to her teammate Mischa Bredewold in last year’s Europeans.
Dutchwomen also won the Junior and U23 races, with Puck Langenbarg taking the Junior title and Sofie van Rooijen the U23 title.
In the time trial earlier in the week Lotte Kopecky added yet another title to her growing list. The road world champion bested four-time European ITT champ Ellen van Dijk by 44 seconds. Van Dijk finished ahead of Christina Schweinberger who matched her performance last year to take third.
Kopecky’s victory solidifies her status as a major threat for the road race and time trial in Zurich. Her victories at Tour de Romandie already marked her as the rider to watch next week, but where she was previously the top contender for the road race, now she will also be on the radar for a double victory starting this Sunday with the time trial unless Faas has anything to say about it.
Racing continues…
…the World Championships ITT!
Worlds is already upon us, kicking off with the time trial on Sunday. Almost all the fastest women in the world will be there, and quite a few are real contenders to take the title.
The Basics
When: Sunday, September 22nd @ 12:00 CET
Distance: 29.9 km, 327 m
Coverage: Discover+ in the UK, MAX in most of Europe, FloBikes in the US and Canada, SBS in Australia
The Course
The course is a fun one. The first 17.5 km are rolling, with two-ish climbs and some really fast descents. The final 12 km are very flat and a straight shot to the finish line. It will require riders to be able to handle a bike while maintaining their aero position on fast corners and adapt to changing elevations while sustaining some kind of rhythm.
The first climb is a 700-metre ascent of 6.2%, with a max of 8.3% and comes 5 km into the race. From there the riders have about 2 km before the biggest climb of the day. The 2 km long ascent averages 4.9% with maximum grades of up to 20% near the bottom of the climb and a steep section near the top as well. The descent off this climb is fast and includes two tight turns, one of them is a really sharp right-hander at 11.5 km. The final ascent is almost 1 km long, 4.1% average and 7.3% max. It has a steep but short descent before the road kicks up only slightly again. From there the riders will take a very steep, straight descent into a hard right-hander and onto the flat part of the course.
The Contenders
Lotte Kopecky, of course, could take this title. She is climbing incredibly well this season and with her strengths in the road races the changing elevation at the beginning of the course make it a great race for her.
The Dutch’s best hope of a win is Demi Vollering, who won the short time trial at the Tour de France Femmes. She is one of the strongest climbers in the peloton if not the strongest so the first half of the course will not worry her; in fact, it will have her targeting the event. She would lose time to the pure time trialists in the final 12 km, but she’s also not a bad ITTer herself. Her teammate Van Dijk will have a hard time reclaiming her rainbow jersey on Sunday. She’s riding well enough, but the technical parts of the course will set her back a few seconds and that could make the difference.
Olympic gold medalist Grace Brown will line up for the last time in a World Championships next week and has been targeting the Worlds ITT since winning gold in Paris. Compared to other time trial specialists Brown is a decent climber, and has been doing this long enough that she will know how to tackle that first chunk. But the course is as different as a course can be from the race she won in July.
Juliette Labous could be a good outside bet for a medal, even if gold would be a stretch; the Frenchwoman has been riding really well in the later half of the season and is both a strong time triallist and climber.
Defending world champion Chloe Dygert, like Brown, will have an advantage over other time trial specialists. She is pretty dang good on the climbs; where she may struggle is tempering her efforts going into the technical descents. She will need to know when to hold back slightly and when to let loose if she wants to win this one.
Other riders to keep in mind: Brodie Chapman (AUS), Christina Schweinberger (Austria), Riejanne Markus (NED), Vittoria Guazzini (ITA), Anna Henderson (GB)
Unfortunately, neither Elisa Longo Borghini nor Marlen Reusser will be on the start line. Reusser is still battling post-COVID-19 symptoms and will miss both the time trial and road race and Longo Borghini was not tapped by Italy to race the ITT.
Wheel Talk Podcast
Gracie, Loren and I chatted this week about some of the new transfer news, the Europeans, and the upcoming ITT in Zurich.
Obsessions: Abby – Gilmore Girls, Loren – Her bike trailer, Gracie – Truth Be Told.
Let’s Discuss
The Mixed Team relay.
The mixed team relay was introduced to the Road World Championships in 2019 as a replacement for the team time trial. Unlike the TTT, which was comprised of trade teams, the mixed team relay holds true to Worlds form and features three women and three men representing their nation. That means only the biggest cycling nations get to compete; nations that don’t have three women’s start spots, for example, can’t field a team.
The Dutch team won the inaugural event with Lucinda Brand, Riejanne Markus and Amy Pieters making up the women’s contingent. Since 2019, Germany (Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kröger) and Switzerland (Elise Chabbey, Marlen Reusser, Nicole Koller) have also claimed the title. Switzerland has won twice, in 2022 in Wollongong and again in 2023 in Glasgow with the same team.
The mixed team relay only takes place at the World Championships and the European Championships, so far. There is a similar event at the MTB World Championships and in triathlon. In the road version, it’s raced like a three-person team time trial, with either the men’s or women’s three racing a set course and then once they finish the next three roll out to complete their bit.
At the European Championships last week Italy took home the prize in the elite event, with Elena Cecchini, Vittoria Guazzini and Gaia Masetti racing the women’s leg. They bested Germany (Lisa Klein, Franziska Koch and Mieke Kröger) by 17 seconds and Belgium (Alana Castrique, Marion Norbert Riberolle and Jesse Vandenbulcke) by 1:33.
It’s up for debate if the switch from trade team time trial to national team mixed relay has been a hit or not. Of course, the riders enjoy winning if they can accomplish it, but as far as the fans are concerned the race hasn’t quite replaced the time-honored tradition of the team time trial. There was something special about trade teams being able to participate in the World Championships, back in the day some teams would get really into the event. When I was on UnitedHealthcare they had dedicated team camps prior to the Worlds and picked their team lineup with precision. Plus, riders with limited support from their nations sometimes got a boost in help when their trade teams were there anyway.
Cycling doesn’t love change, so maybe it will just take some time for the world to catch onto the mixed team relay. The event at the Worlds next week should be a good one. I know the USA is putting together a strong team to try to go for the title, and the Italians should once again be a force. Germany will want to reclaim the top step and of course, the Dutch (who didn’t race the mixed team relay at the European Championships) will put together a strong team.
The event allows nations to display the depth of their talent outside of the road race where there are so many factors at play, but there are also so many nations that can’t compete and it’s only the strongest nations, who we already know are good, that end up winning.
What do you think? Has the mixed team relay been a success, or do you miss the old team time trial? Please discuss.
A picture worth a couple of words
After missing out on a win at the Tour, something Wiebes is very much not used to, the Queen of Sprinting is back on top and back in the European champs jersey. Going into the Simac Ladies Tour after Worlds, where a few stages are probably going to end in a sprint, the competition will be hot between Wiebes, Kool and Balsamo, plus other sprinters who are starting to come into their own like Pikulik.
Taylor Swift corner
It’s football season again and Taylor has attended the first two Chief’s games. Although a good portion of her recent album The Tortured Poets Department was dedicated to heartbreak and betrayal, there were a few songs inspired by her pro football-playing boyfriend, Travis Kelce (the songs were labelled by Swift in her recent VMA speech after winning Video of the Year for Fortnight ft Post Malone). The song with the most obvious sports references is The Alchemy, the 15th song on the album.
Until next time!
Thanks for reading! I’ll be back next week. In the meantime, you can find me on the Escape Collective Discord (Wheel Talk channel).
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