Belgian coach astonished by 2027 World Championships course: "It's something we've almost never seen in any race"
CyclingSaturday, 19 April 2025 at 19:04
One of the topics of the moment is the announcement of the route for the 2027 World Championships. The UCI presented an edition to be held in Sallanches, France, which will be one of the toughest mountain climbing courses the cycling history remembers.
The circuit will consist of 20 laps of more than 13 kilometers and 285 meters of elevation gain each. That adds up to a total of 5,700 meters of accumulated elevation gain throughout the entire road race. A real challenge for all cyclists, without exception.
As expected, opinions are multiplying, and they are very polarized. Serge Pauwels, one of the most interested parties being the Belgium coach, has recently spoken about it. In statements collected by Sporza, this is what he thinks:
"It's going to be very tough. It's something we've almost never seen in a World Championships or in any race. Towards 6,000 meters of altitude, that's only seen in very hard mountain stages. They're going for the exact copy of the 1980 World Championships won by Bernard Hinault," he begins. That year, only 15 riders reached the finish line.
The sprinters know they will have nothing to do at a World Championships like the one planned in Sallanches. That, for Belgium, is a drawback considering that two of their leaders are Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier. "They have to be patient. We will have to wait until Abu Dhabi, I guess, in 2028," adds Pauwels.
And the favorites?
Two years from now, Serge Pauwels says it is very difficult to predict who could become world champion at the brutal World Championships in 2027. Although logic points to Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel or Jonas Vingegaard, you never know:
"Within 2 years new names could come up again. Everything goes very fast. Every year new talents emerge and, who knows, then there could be new superstars," he finishes.
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- Yeah, a big one 😁
DareDevil06-05-2025 - That's a surprise
leedorney06-05-2025 - You were doing so well up until the last paragraph :-). So Almeida did not win a single stage race with UAE and now because of contract uplift he can win prestigious races? Come on. The man was being shaped to get to this level and took 2 years. After leaving QS he had lost his punch, he is not a sprinter of course but he had a good kick, he also lost a bit his TT performance, was a disaster going downhill. All this time he was improving his climbing and now he is recovering all the aforementioned qualities he had before. He is not putting on a show because of contract negotiations, he simply evolved also due to changing trainer. I think he will do a hat-trick in Tour de Suisse and then go with no pressure to the Tour. Depending on how well Jonas or Remco recover and how tired Roglic is from the Giro, a podium might fall on his lap. Then Vuelta maybe UAE can compensate his performance by making him the solo leader if Pogacar is doubting. However, where I am really interested to see Almeida is the World Championships. I am hoping the race is split early and then we see Almeida picking up corpses along the Rwanda streets up until he reaches an empty Pogacar and then tips him over the line. Then I wake up and life continues.Indioshak06-05-2025
- Jonas had also had a speed wobble on that same descent. They have both improved their descending skills since then, and in 2024 took scary risks on downhills.Hill3306-05-2025
- Should be a good one! It's been since 2022 since we have seen peak Pogi vs peak Vingo. 2023 Pogi had injuries and a suboptimal preparation. 2024 Vingo had even worse injuries and a poor runup to the Tour. UAE team has gotten stronger since 2022, while Visma maybe less strong.mobk06-05-2025
- You'd have to be an amoral prick to work for this team.Matt06-05-2025
- Jonas is a very solid descender. Remember him waiting for Pog when Pog crashed on a descent in 2022mobk05-05-2025
- For Pogi's first win against Jonas, he had a very subpar team relative to Jumbo. I don't think Jonas would have stood a chance if he had Pogi's team that year.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- He descended very well at the TdF last year after the first couple stages with technical descents.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- The funny thing about all of this is that Pogi can(that doesn't mean he definitely will) win the TdF while it's only one of many goals. Jonas is fully focused on the TdF. Yes, he does other races but they're solely in preparation for the TdF. Jonas is great, but much of the reason he has a fighters chance is that Pogi isn't a rider that's fully focused on stage races.Veganpotter05-05-2025
I like the idea of a variety of profiles over the years, giving any kind of rider a chance.
Anything else would be discriminatory towards certain types of riders.
I like how that do it but that's still not necessarily true. A rolling, technical race could let sprinters or climbers win. A race with a long flat after a very difficult climb could allow sprinters or classics specialists to claw climbers back. A race with a relatively long uphill finish after a lot of flat can let a climbers beat out sprinters.
That's why I like Milan San Remo. The nature and position of the climbs makes it completely unpredictable. Any type of rider could potentially win.
Waiting for the day when the WC course will be designated to one of the monuments or classics, perhaps as a centenary celebration?