Ahead of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships, Cyclingnews is taking a deep dive into the key teams for the elite road races. Here, we put Belgium under the microscope. 

History

Belgium is the most successful nation in men's road race history at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:UCI Road World Championships. They've amassed 26 ♔rainbow jerseys, while on the women's side they are the fourth-most successful nation with six wins. 

However, the past two decades have been relativ🌌ely barren for the Belgian teams, with only two gꦕold medals and a total of five since the turn of the Millennium. Long gone are the dominant years of Rik Van Steenbergen, Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Freddy Maertens.

On the women's side, meanwhile, the cupboard is barer still. They haven't collected a medal since 1982 and there hasn't been a rainbow jersey since Nicole Van den Broeck's triu𝓀mphant ride in Barcelona nine years before th♏at. Two-thirds of their rainbow jerseys came via Nicole Reynders between 1959 and 1966.

The Belgian men's last three medals have been spread out across 16 years, which is some achievement given the depth of talent the country has turned out in that time. 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Philippe Gilbert's win in Valkenburg a decade ago counts as their most recenᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚt victory.

Line-up

Men elite

• Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)
• Stan Dewulf (AG2R Citroën)
• Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl)
• Quinten Hermans (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert)
• Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl)
• Pieter Serry (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl)
• Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo)
• Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma)

Women elite

• Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx)
• Valerie Demey (Liv Racing Xstra)
• Julie De Wilde (Plantur-Pura)
• Justine Ghekiere (Plantur-Pura)
• Jesse Vandenbulcke (Le Col-Wahoo)
• Julie Van de Velde (Plantur-Pura)

Key riders

Men

Few other nations in the peloton can boast a squad of left-behind riders which could feasibly compete as a standalone team in Wollongong, but Belgium have seen fit to leave a plethor🤡a of notable names back home.

Classics men Greg Van Avermaet, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Dylan Teuns, Tim Wellens, Oliver Naesen and Victor Campenaerts join climbers Mauri Vansevenant and Ilan Van Wilder – plus sprinters Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen and Arnaud De Lie – in all missing the cut for the fin🐻al eight-man selection.

Heading up that group in Australia, though, is one of the top favourites for the rainbow jersey in 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Wout van Aert. The 28-year-old has once 🥀again been one of the 𒊎best riders in the world this season and will be racing to plug a rare gap in his palmarès on Sunday. 

He can win from large groups, reduced sprints, solo moves, and can last over the hills as well – a perfect c🃏ombination of strengths for the tough hilly finishing circuit. He's in great form, too ♔– the past month has seen him win the Bretagne Classic, take second at the Bemer Cyclassics and GP de Montréal, and finish fourth in the GP de Quebéc. It will take some doing to get the better of Van Aert.

Fresh Vuelta a España champion 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Remco Evenepoel is his main lieutenant, with the pair hopefully avoiding a fall-out that tarnished their home Worlds last time out. The 22-year-old has stepped up several levels this season with Liège-Bastogne-Liège another new addition to his palmarès. If he races for the team and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:avo😼ids getting caught u💟p in media spats, he'll b༺e a key cog in the potential victory machine.

Next in line is 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Jasper Stuyven, a man who was inches away from a medal in his hometown of Leuven last year 🅰– yep, such is Bel൩gium's strength in depth. The 30-year-old is a top calibre Classics man but with the harsh hills on the menu throughout the day he's likely to serve firmly in a team helper role.

QuickStep-AlphaVinyl strongman Yves Lampaert is another Classics specialist who will be flogging himself at the service of his leaders, while 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Quinten Hermans – who last month said he 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:wasn't expecting a call-up – is a🦩 dangerous option to have in reserve on the hilly course.

Women

While the men's team have an overall favourite and a couple of other options should things go south for Van Aert, for the women it's all about 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Lotte Kopecky if they're to take the rainbow jersey for the first time in almost hal☂f a century.

In recent seasons, the 26-year-old has done little but improve, to the point where she's enjoyed the best campaign of her career in 2022. She may not have won since her June national time trial title, but spring saw Kopecky 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:take glory at Strade Bianche a🅰nd the Tour of Flanders in addition to a second place at Paris-Roubaix.

As evidenced by her victory over fellow Worlds favourite Annemiek van Vleuten in Siena back in March, she has evolved far beyond the rider she was in seasons𒉰 past and represents Belgium's best chance a🉐t victory in the women's race in years, even if her participation had initially looked in doubt following a hard Tour de France Femmes.

Of Kopecky's five helpers in Australia, none are serious threats to win or medal as Evenepoel or Stuyven could be. The team will be dedicated to helping her break their country's lean spell in the race. Teen talent 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Julie De Wilde is the next-strongest woma൩n in the squad, the 19-year-old having put in several impressive rides throughout 2022.

She 🧜recently headed up a Plantur-Pura podium sweep at the wome💙n's GP de Wallonie and was second at Dwars door Vlaanderen back in March. It won't be her year this time around but she's certainly a rider to take note of for the future.

Strengths

Men

The strength of the men's squad comes through their depth, with perhaps only the French squad their equal in that regard. Year after year, others look to the Belgians to take control of 🌠the race, and that is unlikely to change on Sunday.

Few other nation🔯s can boast a series of hel💛pers like Stuyven, Hermans, Lampaert and Van Hooydonck, and fewer still have a one-two punch like Van Aert and Evenepoel.

It looks like it will take some doing to derail the light blue train in Wollongong, with repeated attacks likely to be the order of the day t🎶o disrupt Van Aert's best-laid plans.

Women

While the Netherlands come to the start of al💯m🐻ost every major championship with the strongest squad in the race, it doesn't always translate to the expected glory at the finish. Last year in Leuven and at the Tokyo Olympics things didn't turn out their way despite boasting a plethora of favourites.

Again, they take the start in Australi🐼a in a similar situation, the potential for a muddled tactical race lurk♍ing below the surface of the powerhouse squad. For Belgium there will be no such dilemmas or recriminations as Kopecky enjoys sole leadership. 

In a race such as the Worlds, which can be chaotic and unpredictable, there is value in having a defined team structure with a clear leader. Every woman in the Belgian squad will take the start in Helensburgh with a clear ro♓le and strategy in their head.

Weaknesses

Men

One worry among very few for the men's squad is Van Aert's sprint at the end of a long, hard race – assuming he's in the lead group at the finish, of course. While the superstar has shown time and again that he can do it all, there have be🍬en several pertinent examples of him just falling short at the final hurdle when he might, on paper, be expected to clean♕ up.

At the recent GP de Montréal, Van Aert gave a glimpse of how he might be beaten in Wollongong, 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:missing out in the sprint to Tadej Pogačar at the end of a 221km race with ov🃏er 4,000 metres of elevation – a parcours similar to Sunday's road race.

Despite being one of the best finishers in the world, a worn-down Van Aert won't be ꦡa dead-cert to triumph in a finishing sprint even against non-sprinters. It's something to keep in mind if his rivals can't get away f🎶rom him before the finale.

Women

While the men have a plan B in Evenepoel and even something approaching a plan C or♓ D in Stuyven and Hermans, it's hard to say the same about the women's squad. It's going to be all-in for Kopecky on Saturday, barring a miraculous overperformance from one🐼 of her domestiques.

That's not to do down the squad, though, but not every nation can be like the Netherlands or Italy, those squads blessed with various leadership options. ﷽It's worth remembering, though, that in Kopecky they have a real option for victory, which has been a rar💦ity for some time.

Conclusions

It's astounding to l൩ook at the list of top riders Belgium have enjoyed in their colours over the years and remember that they ꦺhaven't taken home an elite road race rainbow jersey in a decade – far longer in the women's case.

Nothing is certain at the Worlds, some of the longest days in the saddle all season. That's true for Belgium as it is for any other nation in the r♕ace. The country does have legitimate hopes, rather than far-fetched dreams, of taking a rainbow jersey at the weekend, though.

In Van Aert, Evenepoel, and Kopecky, they have a trio of leade꧂rs that most nations would envy, and it woul🌊d take a brave onlooker to bet against them taking home one medal, whatever colour.