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World Road Championships 2010

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Road Race Preview

Geelong, Victoria, Australia 2010

The road race course may not have the beauty of European mountains but the courses will certainly challenge the women. The 2010 women’s road race will be the 50th in history and it isn't going to be a race for the pure sprinters. The punchy, attacking riders will be anticipating making their move on a course that should be well matched to their abilities. Based on recent form, you would have to look to Marianne Vos (NED), Judith Arndt (GER), Noemi Cantele (ITA), Emma Pooley (GBR) to be in the mix for the medals. Also in good recent form are the Russian's Tatiana Antoshina and Olga Zabelinskaya.  

Geelong is almost guaranteed to host an exciting, tactical race. Its steepest point, averages out at around 8% gradient, peaking at 13% but the top of the climb actually hits 22% for 120m. The sprinters and non-climbers should not have too much difficulty passing over this climb for the early laps but as the race gets older, expect this climb to split the field considerably. Weather conditions are forecast to be 21 degrees and sunny for tomorrows race so conditions should be good. 

France is leading the all-time medal table with 10 gold medals. The Netherlands will be trying to win their 22nd medal in total, which would put them solely on top, with one more than the Soviet Union. All-time medal table for the women’s road race. 

Some Facts about the women's race:

Only one of the riders in Friday’s peloton has won multiple world titles in the women’s road race. The indomitable Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) has five world titles to her name. Five riders will try to add a second world title to their name. Marianne Vos (NED) will try to extend her streak of winning a medal in every of the last four world championships. If she wins a fifth medal this year, she will break the record she currently shares with Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) of winning four medals in a row. Tatiana Guderzo (ITA) will be looking at becoming the first rider since Susanne Ljungskog (SWE) in 2002-2003 to win back-to-back world titles.One of the Australian riders might add her name to a short list of only four riders who have managed to win the world title in their home country.Emma Pooley (GBR) or Amber Neben (USA) might become only the second woman in history to win the world title in both the time trial and the road race. Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (FRA) is the only woman to have achieved this feat before. The 51-year old has five world titles in the road race (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1995) and four in the time trial (1995, 1996, 1997, 2001). 

France dominates the women’s road race world championships held outside Europe. The French have won no fewer than five of the editions. This is only the 8th time the World championships held outside Europe. The last time was in 2003 in Hamilton, Canada.

Riders from 35 countries will take the start in Saturday’s women’s road race - the second highest number in the history of this event. Only in 2007, in Stuttgart, Germany, were more countries present at the start line.

Start List

Comments

A number of riders conducted pre-race interviews with the Melbourne Media team:.

Belgian women expect race of attrition.

2010 Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) winner Grace Verbeke (BEL) says a breakaway in the women's road race at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships would increase her nation's chances on Saturday. 

Verbeke said the 127.2km race would be one of attrition as the cyclists ride two short, steep climbs including a 120m stretch with a gradient of 20 per cent, during each of the eight laps around Geelong. "It is hard, and after half the race most of the people will not be there," Verbeke said. "It will be a race with very important last two laps… with a little group you can go to the finish."

Teammate Lieselot Decroix (BEL) said the team's chances would improve if the peloton split during the race. "If we want to go to a podium spot, we don't want to go to a big sprint with a group," Decroix said.

Verbeke said riders could launch a possible escape from the bunch after the second climb finishes on Aphrasia Street. "The section after the hill, it is not quite immediately downhill, so it keeps going," she said. "The winds on the course are also a big factor, particularly close to the coast."

Australian Ruth Corset has a lot of pressure on her. She is the designated leader for tomorrow and after her crash in the run up event, she will be looking to stay upright to give her a chance on Saturday. "It’s fine now, a little bit of bruising but it’s come up pretty good,"  said Corset. Asked about the road race course Corset added, "I’ve been over the course a few times now and we are really excited by it. We were told it was a hilly course so we knew it would suit us, but a lot of the other girls hadn’t seen the course at all and they were pretty shocked at how hilly it was."

On how the race might be run, "I think it will definitely come down to a small group, with the hard climbs especially going to make it difficult,"  said Corset.

Carla Ryan (AUS) chatted about the team readiness for the women’s road race at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships this Saturday, "We’re all set and ready to go. We had a bit of bad luck (ahead of the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic Ballarat on Sunday, 26 September), myself and Tiffany [Cromwell] (AUS) got a bit of food poisoning, plus a couple of crashes on the day of the race, but everyone is fit and healthy and ready to go."

Discussing the opportunity to raise the profile of women’s cycling in Australia, thanks to the Championships being held here, "We race in Europe for the whole year and no one (in Australia) really knows what we do over there. It’s such a low profile sport (in Australia) but, in Europe, it (cycling) is like Australian Rules Football. To bring it out to Australia and give the public a chance to see us is really special for us."

Asked about the significance of the Championships being held in Australia, "Really important, being the home worlds. It’s super special, a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so I’ll be going out there to give it my all."

The race will be rode without race radios, "Everyone is in the same position. It’s not as if you have an advantage or disadvantage, but I think it will make things a lot more interesting. I will have to check the girls and look out for them a lot more. It will be an interesting opportunity."

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