Van Aert Primed To Shed Nearly Man Championship Tag At Worlds
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published September 17, 2021 | 08:30 AM
Paris, Sept 17 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Sep, 2021 ) :Wout van Aert can round off a superb season by being crowned men's world road race champion on home turf and shake off his tag of championship nearly man, giving Belgium a record-extending 27th rainbow jersey in male events.
In all, 11 titles are up for grabs in the eight days (September 19-26) of wheel-to-wheel combat in Flanders, a cycling hotbed, which should draw massive crowds as Belgium plays host for the 10th time but first since 2002 and on the championships' 100th anniversary.
The fairytale ending for them would be for Van Aert to take the men's road race honours on the final day of competition and follow in the footsteps of fellow Belgians like Eddie Merckx (1967/71/74) and two-time champion Freddy Maertens (1976/81).
The 27-year-old took silver in both last year's road race and at the Tokyo Olympics -- the latter after three stage wins in the Tour de France.
Van Aert will face stiff competition for the road race on September 26 -- a 268.3 kilometres ride from Antwerp to Leuven -- from defending champion Julian Alaphilippe.
Van Aert, though, landed a psychological blow ahead of the end of season showpiece by winning the Tour of Britain with the Frenchman in third.
"I think my form is where I want it to be," said Van Aert, who is bidding to become the first Belgian road race champion since Philippe Gilbert in 2012.
Alaphilippe is far from disheartened at his showing as he focuses on achieving his target of successfully defending his title having opted out of a tilt at Olympic glory in order to do so.
"Fire in the legs for the end of the season, it will pay off," he posted on his Instagram account during the Tour of Britain.
- 'So much bigger' - Maertens had a five-year hiatus between his two world titles but for British great Mark Cavendish it would be a decade since his triumph in Copenhagen.
The 36-year-old showed in the Tour de France he is no busted flush with four stage wins but if he falls short his younger team-mate Ethan Hayter -- a silver medalist in the Madison track trace in Tokyo -- is in fine fettle after a runners-up spot behind Van Aert in the Tour of Britain.
"Based on what we know about the course and with so many riders in top form, we've made the decision not to go with one team leader, giving us a number of options as the race plays out," British Cycling's performance director Stephen Park said.
For Cavendish's former team-mate Bradley Wiggins, however, there is only one name who fits the bill in being crowned world champion.
"For me, there has to be one clear favourite and that is Belgium's very own Wout Van Aert," Wiggins told Eurosport.
"He made history this year by winning incredibly a mountain stage at the Tour de France which took in the historical climb of the Mont Ventoux, a spectacular time trial win on the penultimate day and a very impressive sprint stage in Paris on the Champs-�lys�es to round off a truly remarkable Tour de France achievement." The women's road race -- a 157.7km ride from Antwerp to Leuven -- should also be a fascinating encounter.
It pitches Austria's surprise Olympic champion and mathematician Anna Kiesenhofer up against Dutch silver medalist Annemiek van Vleuten.
The Dutch rider will hope this time to deny the Austrian a memorable double gold -- and also avoid a repeat of her Tokyo misery when she raised her arms on crossing the line thinking she had won.
Kiesenhofer admits her life has been turned upside down since Tokyo but treasures her gold medal.
"This Olympic gold medal is so much bigger than my PhD," she told Cyclingtips.com.
"This was harder. If you count the number of people with a PhD in the world and those with a gold medal."Come September 25 she will hope her sums add up and a second gold medal is hanging in her cupboard.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
HEC reviews curricula for environmental sciences degree programme
ICC Asia looking forward to an action-packed Asia Cricket Week
Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 Ambassador
Greece hands Olympic flame to 2024 Paris Games hosts
Two Kyiv hospitals evacuating over feared Russian strikes
World must act on neurotech revolution, say experts
Charles & Catherine's cancer diagnoses
Champions Alcaraz and Sabalenka through in Madrid Open
King Charles to resume some public duties during cancer treatment: palace
US defense chief announces $6 bn in security aid for Ukraine
Heavy rains cause damage to Spezand-Taftan railway track
Woman stabbed in Israel, attacker killed: police
More Stories From Miscellaneous
-
Modern Education Techniques: A pathway to achieve economic development
19 hours ago -
Kite Flying: From cultural festival to deadly sport
19 hours ago -
PDMA predicts gusty wind, rain with thunder, hails
3 days ago -
Iranian president Raisi given guard of honour at PM House
5 days ago -
Intellectuals, writers accolades Naseer Mirza on his literary contribution
5 days ago -
Bahawalpur Adabi Sangat hosts memorable mushaira
6 days ago
-
Cattle farming vital to alleviate poverty in rural areas
6 days ago -
Pakistan: A land of tourism, archeological wonders
6 days ago -
Transforming education sector: from job hunters to job creators
8 days ago -
Amjad Bobby remembered on 19th death anniversary for timeless contributions to music
12 days ago -
Legendary actor Nadeem’s 26 films released on Eid-ul-Fitr days in 50 years
12 days ago -
Besant Hall Cultural Centre to celebrate evening with Sanam Marvi on 26 April
13 days ago