World Championships 2021 – MEN ELITE ROAD, You don't see it on tv like this! Flanders 2021 WK Leuven

Cycling came home today at the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2021 in Belgium.
We arrives in Bertem to the centrum of Leuven ( we walked 17,5 km today) and saw the riders 8 times!
You don't see cycling on tv like this! ENJOY!

A very strong Julian Alaphilippe has successfully defended his world title of Imola in Flanders. In a tough match, with countless getaways, he managed to kill the competition with a quartet of attacks. Dylan van Baarle won the silver medal on behalf of the Netherlands.

As if a real popular festival had erupted: so many Belgian cycling fans had travelled to Antwerp to applaud the peloton at the start of the world championship. That gave the riders a lot of good cheer for the race, but it wasn't full of race from the start. We had to deal with the almost 'classic' leading group at an international championship, filled with riders that we did not or hardly saw for the rest of the year.

Where the leading group sometimes manages to hold out for quite a long time at a World Cup, the eight men at the front had to settle for a distant supporting role this time. That all had to do with the situation that took place at 180 (!) kilometers from the end in the peloton. It was Anthony Turgis who threw the bat into the on behalf of the French. Although his attempt did not hold up, the tone was immediately set.
It was Turgis' compatriot, Benoit Cosnefroy, who took over. On one of the climbs he opened fire. He got Remco Evenepoel and Magnus Cort Nielsen in his wheel. Although there was already quite a bit of strength in their attack, the race was completely open when a crack appeared in the peloton. The front part joined the group-Evenepoel, after which we got a strong block of pursuers in the race.

The term 'strong' is perhaps to put it mildly. In addition to Evenepoel, Cosnefroy and Cort, we got Primoz Roglic, Kasper Asgreen, Arnaud Démare, Brandon McNulty, Stefan Bissegger and more. The big absentee: Italy. The country of leader Sonny Colbrelli had to work hard to repair the damage. The gap with the frontrunners had increased to more than a minute in no time due to clever stopping work by the Belgians.

This period lasted for a long time. It took until ninety kilometers from the line until we got to see another serious attack attempt. This time it was Nils Politt with the acceleration. The action of the German led to a group being able to separate themselves from the peloton. Here too there were the necessary strong riders: Evenepoel was again one of the initiators. Dylan van Baarle was represented on behalf of the Netherlands.
The match continued dynamically. The Moskesstraat ensured that five riders of the group remained at the front. Evenepoel and Van Baarle were there and were joined by Neilson Powless, Valentin Madouas and Andrea Bagioli. In the peloton there was not one country that got the initiative right, but the pace was high. Slowly the group was thinned out further.

In the peloton, Julian Alaphilippe seized on a hill zone to force a tiebreaker. That was a clear signal for many top players to sit with. such as: Matej Mohoric, Sonny Colbrelli, Florian Sénéchal, Giacomo Nizzolo, Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven and Zdenek Stybar. This group quickly approached the group with Evenepoel, an amalgamation followed.

Alaphilippe clearly had strong legs, but also a restless temperament. After an earlier attack attempt (with Colbrelli then in his wheel) failed, he decided after consultation at 21 kilometers from the end to go again. This time he used the Wijnpers as the moment of his attack, resulting in a small lead for the Frenchman. After some exciting moments, the group then clumps together again. Everyone had to get out of their room completely.
After the amalgamation, Alaphilippe tried again, but again others were right on his wheel. Van der Poel and Van Aert were behind a fracture. Van der Poel refused to close the gap and counted on his Belgian colleague. He did not hesitate and then did it himself, after which everyone could return to the first group.
And still it wasn't done with Alaphilippe. And the fourth time it was hit. No rider in the leading group had an immediate answer to the yet another attempt of the Frenchman, after which he hit a gap of about twenty seconds. Stuyven, Valgren, Van Baarle and Powless formed a group behind him. The rest were forced into a role in the chase.

A nerve-wracking finale arrived. Alaphilippe's lead wasn't big, but in the background everyone was broken.
For Alaphilippe, the mission was clear: to drive as fast as possible. For the rest behind him, it was a lot less clear. Partly because of this, the world champion of Imola only managed to extend his lead in the last part of the race. After he had also successfully conquered the Wijnpers, it was clear: Alaphilippe would succeed himself as world champion.