By Jamie Finch-Penninger – @FishysCP
The World Championships are going to be held in Richmond this year from the 20th-27th of September. The 16.2 kilometre road circuit is fairly straightforward until the final 4 kilometres, where there are 3 short, punchy climbs leading to a slight uphill finish into the line. Two of the climbs in the finale are cobbled, but these aren’t the cobbles of Flanders or Roubaix, and should be more similar to a paved road, with the main difficulty coming if it rains during the race. It should be a course for the strong sprinters, but the attackers will have their chance as well.
Australia have decided to bring a team centred on these two scenarios, Michael Matthews is the clearly a contender in this sort of sprint finish, and Simon Gerrans will also be present, and will likely cover dangerous moves, or could even shift to being the sprinter if the race is particularly selective. Heinrich Haussler will operate as the fail-safe option in the event of rain, he is strong over the cobbles, and can sprint very well at the end of a hard race, showcasing that when he won the Australian national title this year. Simon Clarke is another fallback option and an admirable one to have, as he proved in 2013 when he stepped up after Cadel Evans crashed out to finish 7th on a very hilly course. The rest are likely to be the workhorses for their leaders, with experienced men like Matt Hayman, Rory Sutherland and Adam Hansen providing a wealth of experience and firepower in these sort of races. Jay McCarthy and Mitchell Docker are making their first appearances for the Elite Men’s team in the Worlds, and are perhaps the surprise selections, with Docker being more renowned on flat terrain, and McCarthy still young at 22 years old to be picked, although he does look a great talent.
Unlucky to miss out are Nathan Earle, Nathan Haas, Michael Rogers, Luke Durbridge, Matt Goss and Cameron Meyer, who would all have done a good job on this sort of course, and are riding in good form at the moment. David Tanner is another that would have been likely to have been picked after winning two stages of the Tour of Austria over similar terrain, but crashed out of the Vuelta Espana, and won’t have been able to take his spot on the roster. Richie Porte is a less noteworthy missing name, he is struggling with tendonitis and probably won’t race again until next season. Caleb Ewan was also not picked, which seems to be the right choice, whilst he did take a maiden World Tour win in the Vuelta, that was the only stage where he arrived at the finish with the front group, and he will be hard pressed to stay with the field here. The big omission is Rohan Dennis, who opted out of the road race squad, with his concentration firmly on the TTT and the TT.
Australia will face a number of strong teams that are mounting strong challenges for the title, themselves, with notable sprint contenders like Kristoff (Norway), Sagan (Slovakia), Degenkolb (Germany), Lobato (Spain) and perhaps even Bouhanni (France). All of those will be hoping that it comes down to a bunch sprint to decide the winner, but teams like Belgium, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and defending champions Poland will have a more attacking mindset in their planning. Thus, it makes good sense to pick a squad that has a few options of how they are going to approach the race, especially when selecting from a few weeks out, when the form of the respective riders is entirely clear.
In the women’s race, Australia doesn’t really have that sort of strong, climbing sprinter that can match it with the elite riders of the world, but the right attack could see an Australian climb atop the podium with a bit of luck. 2012 world championship silver medallist Rachel NEYLAN is in good form after taking her first overall UCI victory at the Trophée d’Or, and will be a rider to put in an attack towards the finish in the hopes of avoiding a sprint. Former dual national champion Gracie ELVIN and one time winner Amanda SPRATT will add to the attacking power of the Australian line-up, and it looks like the best chance of an Australian victory lies in an ambitious move from afar. Loren ROWNEY has recently taken two wins in France, and who ends up sprinting for Australia will likely comes down to who feels better on the day between her, Tiffany CROMWELL and Lauren Kitchin, as well as who can hang on over the climbs. Elizabeth Williams and Katrin Garfoot are likely to be riding in support, and are both strong riders who can be relied upon to do a good job for their team.
