This Sunday, August 6, the Road Cycling World Championship will be held in the city of Glasgow. Everything is prepared for it to be a unique World Cup in which Remco Evenepoel will try to defend his rainbow jersey and all the rest will seek to be his successor. The favorites are ready but some stars from the cycling firmament will be absent from this great World Cup event.
Whether it is due to a calendar issue or because the 272-kilometer route that ends in the Scottish capital does not suit their strengths, some protagonists will be missing in the great fight for the rainbow. Surely cycling will miss these five once the race is launched on Sunday.
He won the Tour with authority against none other than Tadej Pogacar, but the pale rider will not be in Glasgow to take the start. There are two main reasons why his absence is logical. The first of them is his calendar. After a very demanding Tour, Vingegaard has decided that he too will contest La Vuelta this 2023 and the Dane needs rest ahead of a new stage tour.
The second reason has to do with the profile of the route, which in no way adapts to its conditions. There are no big climbs where ‘Vingo’ can do damage and despite being able to move a lot of watts he is not a classics rider. It’s a shame not to be able to count on one of the riders of the moment, but it’s a logical decision for Jonas.
Another big name that has decided not to go fight for the rainbow is Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia wants to become the man who has won the Tour of Spain the most times and the date on which this World Cup takes place would mean not arriving in Barcelona in optimal shape.
He also shares a selection with Tadej Pogacar and this is not a minor detail. Slovenia is not full of gregarious and proposing a bicephaly of these dimensions without the possibility of properly covering its leaders could be counterproductive. In any case, Slovenia will be able to focus on ‘Pogi’ because Roglic will continue to concentrate on looking for the best of himself ahead of La Vuelta.
The Eritrean was listed as registered for the World Cup and not only that, he was one of the cyclists to watch in Glasgow. Cycling in Africa is in full bloom and finds its greatest exponent in Girmay. The route suited his abilities as a complete runner with a good top speed, but the fall he suffered in the Clásica in San Sebastián forced him to give up the World Cup event.
The expectations were high for Girmay and despite the fact that he was not one of the favorites to put on the rainbow, it was not unreasonable to think that he could be among those who played for victory. Without it, Africa is almost deprived of options. It will be time to wait until 2024.
As in the case of Roglic, Juan Ayuso designed his season with a view to La Vuelta and this is the reason that prevents him from debuting as a World Cup player. The young Spanish promise will have to wait to beat the copper in a World Cup, but with the quality that he treasures, the moment will come sooner or later.
It is an important absence for the Spanish team considering that the team sent does not have any prominent leader. Neither Enric Mas will be able to attend the race in Glasgow for the same reasons as Ayuso, however, the Spaniard from Movistar does not usually shine on routes such as those proposed by the UCI this 2023, which makes his lack less famous.
Great Britain does not have the first swords of yesteryear but they do have young men who are coming up strong. Thomas Pidcock is one of them, but the British team has not finally called him up.
The skilled INEOS cyclist is not the most powerful man in the peloton, but the truth is that there are very few riders with his driving ability and considering how technical the final circuit where the test will be decided is, it would have been interesting to see him in action. Great Britain has chosen to line up an ‘eight’ that leaves anyone cold and that aspires to little in this world championship where some of its cyclists will run at home.