Thursday recon video from Liévin.
DEFENDING World Champion Mathieu Van der Poel remains unbeaten this season and his seven victories - five in World Cup races ensure that he will have a front row start in the elite men's race in France on Sunday afternoon. Already on the back foot, his big rival Wout van Aert will start from the third row of the grid, but the open nature of the grassy Val Souchez venue - a wide, typically French course - will present plenty of opportunities to move up once the initial congestion eases.
Van Aert, a late addition to the Belgian team, has won two races this winter but crucially in the Maasmechelen head-to-head with Van der Poel, although looking strong, made an error which caused him to crash (twisting his bars) and Van der Poel went on to win by one minute 14 seconds. It's thought that his form that day, though, persuaded Van Aert to commit to the World Championship which was not originally on his race programme and most pundits are talking about it being a course that suits the Belgian.
Former Belgian world champion Paul Herygers suggests that Van der Poel will be "a bit happy" that Van Aert starts but "I think he is also getting a bit stressed. Because that same Wout van Aert has proven so often in the past that he is Van der Poel's equal. Van der Poel lost the world title to Van Aert three times. Without Wout, he could now aim for rainbow jersey number 10," Herygers told Sporza.
As Sporza point out: "The statistics are clearly in Van der Poel's favour, because of the last 11 duels between them, the Dutchman has emerged victorious 10 times," but in an hour is a long time when the World Championship title is at stake.
More disadvantaged on the start line will be Worlds silver medallist from 12 months ago Joris Nieuwenhuis. The Dutchman was sidelined with illness for most of the season but has returned in January with some impressive results - third in the Dutch Nationals and third in the World Cup in Maasmechelen - and he is an outsider for the podium on Sunday.
World Cup winner Michael Vanthourenhout is having one of his best ever seasons. "I'm very happy, the shape is getting better so I hope to have the best legs next week," the Belgian said after finishing second to Van der Poel last Sunday in Hoogerheide and securing his first World Cup overall title. Fellow Belgians Thibau Nys, Laurens Sweeck and Emiel Verstrynge have all had indifferent recent races but that just might mean they are going to produce their best form this weekend so we are likely to get an intriguing battle for the final step on the podium.
Several experts believe the French course suits Van Aert and the battle between the pair could be close but the sharp climbs, to my mind (if reasonably dry), favour the quick accelerations of Van der Poel. Ominously though Mathieu van Poel won the junior race when Liévin hosted its last UCI World Cup round here in 2012 and, going off his form in Hoogerheide, it's impossible to look beyond him winning on Sunday barring illness or a series of issues during the race with Van Aert the only rider capable of causing what would be an upset. Equally Spain's Felipe Orts is perhaps the only rider who can prevent all three medals going to the Netherlands and Belgium once again.
Photo: Jeff Corcoran.
Elite women
Current World champion Fem van Empel (above) is looking to take a hat-trick of rainbow jerseys but, as usual, she faces stiff competition from her fellow Dutchwomen who will take six of the eight places on the front row of the grid. Van Empel has not looked on stellar form recently - she has won ten races this season but also been beaten in nine - and we could see a fascinating battle between her and the other main contenders Puck Pieterse, Lucinda Brand and Kata Blanka Vas. As Paul Herygers told Sporza, "Van Empel is no longer her dominant self and the other women have noticed that too." Eight-time champion Marianne Vos is unfortunately sidelined with a calf injury and Zoe Backstedt (below) has decided not to move up to the elite category and defends her under-23 title on Sunday.
The parcours
It's the first time that Liévin has hosted the Worlds and surprisingly the last championships in France were in Pont-Château back in 2004. Several World Cup races have been held here though and previous courses at Liévin have included a succession of strength sapping climbs - some of them run-ups - and fast grassy descents and as footage of the 2022 French National Championships [ HERE] shows there are areas that will get pretty muddy and which by Sunday afternoon could be very heavy.
Heavy rain on Thursday slightly disrupted the first recon session with certain grass sections closed (with parallel alternatives) to protect them for the weekend, but no further rain is anticipated and cold mornings with temperatures rising to around five degrees are expected on Saturday and Sunday. Conditions on Thursday were decidedly muddy though as can be seen from the recon video above and one or two sections covered in rough hardcore could throw punctures into the mix.
Lars van der Haar has raced here before and told Wierlerflits, "There's a big embankment and you go up and down a few times. If it's muddy, you'll have to walk a few parts. Then it's just a tough cross. But if it's just in between, then you get a really nice cross with really nice power sections. There's a slightly longer slope there, which is really nice to take. It's a really versatile course."
While the main area of the venue is flat grassland, courses send the riders up and down the ledges of higher ground that bound it and the amount of climbing could well prove decisive. The national coach of France, François Trarieux, describes it as a "very physical circuit, both in terms of the gradient and the linear sections that allow you to pick up speed." The second of two lots of steps around the lap come quite close to the finishing straight and will present a tense finish to any race or medal being closely fought for.
Race schedule (all CET)
Friday 12:35 Team Relay (not televised) - Won by Great Britain.
Saturday 11:05 Junior women.
13:05 Under-23 men.
15:05 Elite women.
Sunday 11:05 Junior men.
13:05 Under-23 women.
15:05 Elite men.
Main photos: Red Bull.
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