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Team Belgium is on a mission to win its second-straight rainbow jersey at the men’s road race world championships.
Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, and defending champion Remco Evenepoel will all wear the team’s tricolore in Glasgow next weekend.
With such a bounty of riches, some say the race is Belgium’s to win.
“It’s a luxury. Those three allow us the option to race offensively and defensively in Glasgow,” national coach Sven Vanthourenhout told Sporza after he confirmed the lineup for his blue wreckin’ crew.
Evenepoel for the long-ranger, Philipsen for the sprint, and Van Aert for everything in between.
Simple right?
Also read:
Perhaps not.
Three super-ambitious leaders and the scar of recent tactical scuffles means Team Belgium may have more problems than just the Dutch, French, Australians, and Slovenians hiding in their wheels Sunday.
“I’m going to be disappointed if we can’t defend the jersey,” Vanthourenhout said. “But above all, we must not be disappointed by our way of racing.”
‘Bring on Glasgow’
Evenepoel moved first and claimed the title in Wollongong. (Photo: DIRK WAEM via Getty Images))
Belgium has got a tangled modern history with the treasured rainbow top.
Van Aert was foiled by Julian Alaphilippe in Imola 2020, and the team floundered into tactical meltdown at “home” in Flanders one year later.
Evenepoel’s blazing solo in Wollongong last autumn made for a timely salve after Team Belgium was put under the microscope for its medals meltdown of 2021.
That year, the team descended into ignominious defeat in front of hundreds of thousands of home fans.
Evenepoel, poster-boy of the Ardennes, butted up against Van Aert, hero of Flanders, in a spat over misaligned incentives. Rumors of a rift filled French and Flemmish-written column inches all year long.
The script for Glasgow this coming weekend is very much that victory will come as a collective. Individual ambition goes on the back seat.
“We have a very strong team with the Belgian team. We have different cards to play with Jasper, Wout, myself, and also some other guys,” Evenepoel told the press last week. “We have a lot of strong guys that can win the race.”
Yet for Evenepoel and Van Aert in particular, the worlds road race makes for a must-take opportunity.
Evenpoel is red hot and raring to go in his effort to replicate last summer’s rampage through San Sebastián, the Vuelta a España, and road worlds.
If Evenepoel wins in Glasgow on Sunday, Belgium’s “aero bullet” will enter an illustrious club alongside Alaphilippe, Peter Sagan, Paolo Bettini, Gianni Bugno, and Belgian legend Rik van Looy in mounting a successful world title defense.
Meanwhile, Van Aert is facing down his driest season since 2018, and has rued being in range of a gold medal twice in his last three road race starts.
Evenepoel’s canny victory in San Sebastián on Saturday put a wind at his back and suggested the 23-year-old has unlocked his former kryptonite, the sprint.
If he has, Evenepoel’s skillset moves a step closer to that of Van Aert.
“I really believe in it [a world title defense] myself,” Evenepoel said after he won the Basque classic.
“I’ve ridden three one-day races this year and I have won all three. I had a really good feeling on the bike today – I had some good altitude training and I felt in the race that I was the best.
“This win is good for the head and is a motivation for the rest of my season. Bring on Glasgow.”
Who moves first?
Evenepoel’s new-found sprint puts him at a similar skillset to Van Aert. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
The course on tap for Glasgow’s road race looks hard as ever. At 271km long and with 3,570m vert, the stats stack up similar to the Wollongong parcours that Evenepoel dominated last year.
Four-time Tour de France fastest finisher Philipsen is likely to be relegated to a very luxury “Plan C” on a course that could prove too tough for the big bunch sprinters.
With 40+ corners in the final circuit and as much road furniture as the cruelest inception of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Glasgow course could favor the early moves.
Van Aert was pre-empted by Evenepoel on a similar course in Wollongong last year when his Belgian “frenemy” blew the race open from way out.
He might not be so willing to see Evenepoel go alone Sunday on the type of long raid that won him gold in Wollongong but threw a wrench in the team’s plans in Leuven.
For Van Aert, Glasgow makes for a pot of gold that could put a dazzling sheen on a season short of victories in his coveted cobbled monuments and the Tour de France.
“It’s true, more is expected of me. And I also expect more from myself, I want to win victories,” Van Aert admitted in his pre-Tour press conference. “This season has not been easy. I was always close to it, but often it wasn’t enough.”
Unlike last year, Wout has no orders to wait and no clear strategy to stick with.
“Last year Wout was the man who had to wait for a possible sprint. That role is now for Jasper, which means that Wout will be able to race more offensively,” coach Vanthourenhout said. “What Wout’s ultimate role will be will largely be determined by the competition.”
‘Honesty will prevail’
Philipsen won the green jersey and four stages at the Tour de France – but might struggle on the steeps of Glasgow. (Photo: JASPER JACOBS via Getty Images)
There’s no way to say how a seven-hour race will play out. The possibility of typically grim Glaswegian weather Sunday adds more unpredictability onto a course some call treacherous.
As Vanthourenhout said, the Evenepoel-Van Aert-Philipsen trident offers flexibility and depth. In theory, it cannot go wrong.
But in the possibility it all comes down to a small-group sprint on Glasgow’s George Square?
“Honesty will prevail. You can talk about it in advance, but the race will determine who sprints,” Vanthourenhout said. “Whoever has the freshest pair of legs will take care of the sprint. Sprinting in pairs is not the intention.”
Belgium’s luxury of depth is one most nations lust for.
Vanthourenhout will be hoping it doesn’t turn into an embarrassment of riches on Sunday.
ICYMI | Yesterday we announced the 6⃣7⃣ riders heading to Glasgow for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
Here’s our road squad 🔥@CyclingWorlds#GlasgowScotland2023 #BelgianCycling pic.twitter.com/ndOVKjOf9h
— Belgian Cycling Team (@BELCyclingTeam) July 18, 2023