WannaB wrote:
Going to be awesome to see him line up with stripes on all year! Such a suitable ambassador.
Do we know what racing he has on deck for the rest of the season. This worlds was one of the best ever. The course did not favour any particular type of rider and you have all those coming off the TdF Block and those doing their Giro build. It looks like those coming off the TdF were the ones who were strongest once the race got into its 6th hour though.
I think Alaphilippe was also luck that Van Aert was in the chasers. Had he not been in the chaser group the other 4 riders would have likely done way more work to close the gap, but with Van Aert there, it was half hearted, because then they would have been working for him to take the gold medal. Had Van Aert been dropped, on that climb, then everyone probably works that much harder. Kwiatowski + Hirschi + Roglic combined should be able to close the gap on Alaphilippe. All these guys are probably better TTers than Alaphilippe and unlike the Tdf Stage 2 or Milano San Remo there was a lot more riding on the flats to do after the descent.