Patrick Lefevere's weekly column this week focused on the World Championships. As the boss of Soudal - Quick-Step and Remco Evenepoel, he has a lot in play for this Sunday's race, but he believes it's more open than most expect.
“My impression of the World Championship in Zurich so far: a tough course, but certainly not just for climbers. I base my opinion on what I have seen of the juniors and under-23's and so I speak in two words.," Lefevere wrote to Het Nieuwsblad. "With the pros you always have a different racing dynamic, but I do not agree with the idea that it is only Pogacar versus Evenepoel on Sunday. Mathieu van der Poel is definitely in the running, Mads Pedersen maybe too.”
In reality, if those two are, then dozen other riders will be in contention as well. This will very much be true as, being the world championships, there are plenty quality riders coming in and with great form too. This includes climbers, classics specialists and others... "The name I throw out the most: Marc Hirschi. Ask anyone who has ever sat on a racing bike: a Swiss excels in his own country. Look at promising Jan Christen, who would always have become world champion without Jarno Widar."
"Winning in your own country is a once in a lifetime for a Swiss. In Belgium there are five races in a week, in Switzerland five in a year." Hirschi does come as one of the main favourites after winning the Clásica San Sebastián, Bretagne Classic and comes in as one of the strongest puncheurs in the field.
But this is the World Championships and the dynamics are very different than the normal here. "You can't estimate anything at a World Championship: it is not a course that the peloton has ridden over in the past hundred years. Riders who wear the same jersey are normally allies, but certainly not always at a World Championships. My opinion about national teams is well-known: I don't like them at all. You sometimes put riders in impossible situations."
He explains what he means, understanding that trade team dynamics may get in the way of the national teams. “We have only five riders at the World Championships, but you don’t want to see Kasper Asgreen closing the gap on Julian Alaphilippe. Believe me when I say that Tim Wellens won’t suddenly forget along the way that he is a teammate of Tadej Pogacar 364 days a year. Which is the most normal thing in the world, by the way," he concluded.
Happy Elite Men RR World Championships, everyone! 😍🌈 One of the most awaited days of this season: Tadej Pogacar targets his first Rainbow Jersey against multiple world champions Remco Evenepoel and Mathieu van der Poel and with it, the Triple Crown. Go Pogi! #Zurich2024
