The best cyclists in the world will fight today in Montreal to succeed Pogacar on the World Cup throne in a terrifying circuit
End of fireworks today (from 3:00 p.m.) in the Montreal World Cycling Championships (Canada) with the dispute of the men’s elite road race. An appointment marked by the already known absence of the Slovenian Tadej Pogacarwinner of the last two editions, after the hard fall suffered in La Vuelta and, precisely, the non-presence of the best cyclist in the world draws a different and much more open scenario, with several candidates to succeed the Slovenian in the World Cup winners’ list.
Ahead, and as we should expect from a World Championship, a brutal route, 273.4 kilometers, with the repeated ascent to the Voie Camillien-Houde (1.6 km at 7.5% average gradient) and eleven steps across the finish line. The second longest edition of a World Championship since 1994, the one with the greatest mileage since then is that of 2024, with 273.9 kilometers, it has brought together four cyclists who already know what it is to be world champion on the road. The Polish Michael Kwiatkowskand it was in 2014 in Ponferrada, the Dane Mads Pedersen in 2019, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel in 2022 and the Dutch Mathieu Van der Poel in 2023.
Of these four champions, three of them start with serious options to achieve gold, although two of them are the focus of all eyes. On the one hand, Van der Poel. The Dutchman, unlike the majority of the stars in the squad, opted for a different preparation for the World Cup than his rivals and decided to compete in the Luxembourg Tourin whose last stage he achieved a triumph from another planet, after triumphing after starring in a breakaway of 175 kilometers, of the 177 kilometers that the stage had. Look for the grandson of Raymond Poulidor a historic double for the Netherlands after the victory of Demi Vollering yesterday, something that Dutch cycling already achieved in 1979, with the triumphs of Jan Raas and Petra de Bruin.
But for a double the one who seeks Remco Evenepoel. Four-time time trial world champion, the Belgian, after sweeping the time trial, is looking for his second World Cup after 2022 and a second double to complete after that of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Winner of the previous Québec Cycling Grand Prix, Evenepoel will have to break the tie with his first enemy, and he has it at home: Wout Van Aert.
JUAN AYUSO: “THE FEELINGS ARE GOOD”
Juan Ayuso It is a priori the main asset of the Spanish team. The Lidl-Trek cyclist was confident in the preview: “I feel pretty good and the sensations are good. The circuit is different, it will be hard, the race will be from very far away. We have to make sure that the race is hard and that due to wear and tear they won’t be able to hold on. Enric will be very good after winning Las Vuelta. The entire team arrives quite well and we are one of the strongest teams in the World Cup.”
At his side, Enric Maswinner of La Vuelta 2026, added: “The Vuelta went great but this week I have been exhausted, trying to recover and sleep. Hopefully on Sunday I will feel good. It is ratty, with more curves, there are two hard slopes and we can do it well. It is a circuit that I like and I am looking forward to it”
The bouquet of candidates for victory is wide, and it should also include the Mexican Isaac del toro winner of the Montreal Cycling Grand Prix a few days ago; to french Paul Seixasto the British Tom Pidcock or to the Americans Quinn Simmons and Brandon McNulty. The Spanish team is led by Juan Ayuso, who claims to have a chance to fight for the medals, along with Enric Mas, who arrives after winning La Vuelta, Iván Romeo, Carlos Verona, Raúl García Pierna, Marcel Camprubí, Igor Arrieta and Markel Beloki. The last Spanish cyclist to become world champion on the road was Alejandro Valverde in 2018 (Innsbruck, Austria), today working as national coach.
