2018 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

The Men's road race of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 30 September 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the 85th edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the three times defending champion, a record in the event.[2] 188 riders from 44 nations entered the competition.[3]

Men's road race
2018 UCI Road World Championships
The final podium (from left to right): Romain Bardet (France), Alejandro Valverde (Spain) and Michael Woods (Canada).
Race details
Dates30 September 2018
Stages1
Distance258 km (160.3 mi)
Winning time6h 46' 41"[1]
Medalists
   Gold  Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
   Silver  Romain Bardet (FRA)
   Bronze  Michael Woods (CAN)
Events at the 2018 UCI
Road World Championships
Participating nations
Qualification
Elite events
Elite road racemenwomen
Elite time trialmenwomen
Elite team time trialmenwomen
Under-23 events
Under-23 road racemen
Under-23 time trialmen
Junior events
Junior road racemenwomen
Junior time trialmenwomen

After previously winning six medals in the race without taking the gold medal, Spain's Alejandro Valverde took his first world title after a four-rider sprint finish decided the medals.[4] Valverde went clear with a small group of riders on the steep Höttinger Höll climb, making headway on the descent with France's Romain Bardet and Canadian rider Michael Woods. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) joined the trio on the run-in to the finish, but his efforts to do so resulted in him missing out on the medals, behind Bardet (silver) and Woods (bronze).[5]

Valverde's victory was the first for Spain in the event since Óscar Freire won the title in Verona, Italy in 2004.[6] France and Canada also ended long streaks without a medal in the event as Bardet's silver was the first medal for France since Anthony Geslin won the bronze medal in Madrid, Spain in 2005,[7] while Woods won only the second medal for a Canadian male rider in the road race, after Steve Bauer's bronze medal at the 1984 race, also in Spain in Barcelona.[8]

Course

The race started in Kufstein and headed south-west towards Innsbruck with a primarily rolling route, except for a climb of 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) between Fritzens and Gnadenwald – as had been in the time trial events earlier in the week – with an average 7.1% gradient and maximum of 14% in places.[9] After 84.2 kilometres (52.3 miles), the riders crossed the finish line for the first time, before starting six laps of a circuit 23.8 kilometres (14.8 miles) in length. The circuit contained a climb of 7.9 kilometres (4.9 miles), at an average gradient of 5.9% but reaching 10% in places, from the outskirts of Innsbruck through Aldrans and Lans towards Igls.[10] After a short period of flat roads, the race descended through Igls back towards Innsbruck.

On the seventh and final lap, the race continued onto a further loop of just over 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) at Hötting, with the 2.8-kilometre (1.7 mi)-long Höttinger Höll climb towards Gramartboden starting almost immediately.[10] The climb featured an average gradient of 11.5%, with a portion of the climb reaching 28% around two-thirds up. Upon reaching the top, the race descended through Hungerburg back towards rejoining the original circuit with around 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) to go and heading towards the finish line in front of the Tyrolean State Theatre. In total, the race featured 4,681 metres (15,358 feet) of climbing.[11]

Qualification

Qualification was based mainly on the UCI World Ranking by nations as of 12 August 2018. The first ten nations in this classification qualified eight riders to start, the next ten nations qualified six riders to start, with the nations ranked 21st to 30th qualifying five riders to start.[12] One rider from each of the next twenty nations was also qualified to start.[12] In addition to this number, any rider within the top 200 of the UCI World Ranking by individuals that was not already qualified, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions were also able to take part.[13]

UCI World Rankings

The following nations qualified.[13]

Criterium Rank Number of riders Nations
To enter To start
UCI World Ranking by Nations 1–10 13 8
11–20 9 6
21–30 7 4
31–50 2 1
UCI World Ranking by Individuals
(if not already qualified)		 1–200 N/A

Continental champions
Name Country Reason
Peter Sagan  Slovakia Outgoing World Champion
Amanuel Gebrezgabihier  Eritrea African Champion
Yousif Mirza  United Arab Emirates Asian Champion

Participating nations

188 cyclists from 44 nations were entered in the men's road race.[3] The number of cyclists per nation is shown in parentheses.

  •  Argentina (1)
  •  Australia (8)
  •  Austria (6)
  •  Belarus (4)
  •  Belgium (8)
  •  Brazil (1)
  •  Canada (4)
  •  Colombia (8)
  •  Costa Rica (1)
  •  Croatia (1)
  •  Czech Republic (6)
  •  Denmark (8)
  •  Ecuador (2)
  •  Eritrea (2)
  •  Estonia (3)
  •  Ethiopia (1)
  •  France (8)
  •  Germany (6)
  •  Great Britain (8)
  •  Greece (1)
  •  Hong Kong (1)
  •  Iran (1)
  •  Ireland (4)
  •  Italy (8)
  •  Japan (1)
  •  Kazakhstan (4)
  •  Latvia (2)
  •  Lithuania (1)
  •  Luxembourg (6)
  •  Netherlands (8)
  •  New Zealand (4)
  •  Norway (6)
  •  Poland (6)
  •  Portugal (4)
  •  Romania (1)
  •  Russia (6)
  •  Slovakia (7)
  •  Slovenia (8)
  •  South Africa (2)
  •  Spain (8)
  •  Sweden (1)
  •   Switzerland (6)
  •  Ukraine (2)
  •  United States (4)

Results

Final classification

Of the race's 188 entrants, 76 riders completed the full distance of 258 kilometres (160 miles).[1]

Failed to finish

112 riders failed to finish.[1]

References
  1. "Final Results / Résultat final: Men Elite Road Race / Course en ligne Hommes Elite" (PDF). Sport Result. Tissot Timing. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. "UCI Road World Championships 2018: dates, route, where to watch and more". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  3. "Start List / Liste de départ: Men Elite Road Race / Course en ligne Hommes Elite" (PDF). Sport Result. Tissot Timing. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  4. Pender, Kieran (30 September 2018). "Evergreen Alejandro Valverde triumphs in World Road Championships". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  5. Ostanek, Daniel (30 September 2018). "Valverde crowned World Champion in Innsbruck". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  6. Llamas, Fernando (30 September 2018). "¡Grandísimo Alejandro Valverde, oro mundial con una exhibición de España!" [Great Alejandro Valverde, world gold with an exhibition for Spain!]. Marca (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial. Retrieved 30 September 2018. La exhibición del equipo español y la buenísima forma de Alejandro Valverde, el rematador, nos han regalado la primera medalla de oro del equipo español desde la de Óscar Freire en 2004. [The exhibition of the Spanish team and the very good form of Alejandro Valverde, gave us the first gold medal for the Spanish team since Oscar Freire in 2004.]
  7. Ezvan, Jean-Julien (30 September 2018). "Mondiaux d'Innsbrück : Valverde sacré, Bardet en argent" [Innsbrück Worlds: Valverde mighty, Bardet silver]. Le Figaro (in French). Dassault Group. Retrieved 30 September 2018. Les Bleus décrochent quand même la première médaille mondiale depuis Anthony Geslin en 2005. [The Blues still win the first world medal since Anthony Geslin in 2005.]
  8. Sturney, Rob (30 September 2018). "Rusty Woods bronze, Valverde gold in thrilling finale to Innsbruck 2018". Canadian Cycling Magazine. Gripped Publishing Inc. Retrieved 30 September 2018. It's Canada's first medal in the elite men's road race since Steve Bauer's bronze in Barcelona in 1984.
  9. "Rohan Dennis beats Dumoulin for world time trial title". New Jersey Herald. Keith Flynn, Quincy Media. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018. The course through the Austrian Alps was rather flat for the first 30 kilometers, until a five-kilometer climb from Fritzens to Gnadenwald with an average gradient of 7.1 percent.
  10. "2018 UCI Road World Championships - Technical guide" (PDF). UCI.ch. Union Cycliste Internationale. p. 57. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  11. Farrand, Stephen (30 September 2018). "A Sunday in Holl: Steep final climb to decide men's Worlds – Preview". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  12. "Qualification system for the 2018 UCI Road World Championships" (PDF). UCI.ch. Union Cycliste Internationale. 16 August 2018. pp. 1–2. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  13. "Nations and quotas of athletes revealed for Innsbruck-Tirol, Austria" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Deltatre. 16 August 2018. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.

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