Van Avermaet: I’m the joker at the World Championships
&lsq🍸uo;My chances of winning are s❀mall, but I still have a chance’
168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Greg Van Avermaet says that the odds are against him winning the elite men’s road race at the 2018 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck on Sunday. He admitted the decisive final cli🐷mb over Höll doesn’t suit his characteristics as a puncheur, but he’s still going to take his chances as a wildcard.
“I saw the course this week, and it’s going to be super hard,” Van Avermaet told Cyclingnews. “I don’t have to ꦇbe too ambitious about my Worlds but I’m going to start, and I&r💮squo;m going to have a chance.
“I d🌱on’t feel any pressure – like maybe in other years when they were really good courses for me – now I&r♏squo;m here to prepare myself as good as possible. I’m in good shape. I think on this course we have other favourites, other than riders like me, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The elite men will race 258.5km on a parcours that includes one long loop from Kurstein and takes the field up to Gnadenwald, a steep 5km ascent. They then descend onto the six shorter circuits around Innsbruck, routed over the c𓆏limb to Igls.
The toughest 🔜challenge is at the end of the race, where the course kicks up over the final Höll climb, with pitches as steep as 25 per cent, before the descent to the finish line in downtown Innsbruck.
“I saw the climb, and it’s super hard, probably🐷 too hard for me,” Van Avermaet said. “It will be good for super light climbers or even puncheurs who do well at races like Liège-Bastogne-Liege or Il Lombardia. It favours them more so than the big Classics guys of Flanders and Roub💜aix.
“ꦜMy chance for winning is small, but I have a chance, and I w🎃ill see how far I can come.”
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, di🌞rect to your inbox!
Defending champion 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Peter Sagan and many other 🅘riders used the Vuelta a España to prepare for this hilly World Championships, but Van Avermaet crossed the Atlantic to race the two Canadian WorldTour races in Quebec and Montreal. He showed good end-of-season form finishing second and third, respectively, both times behind Michael Matthews.
“I hope I can carry that forꦡm into Worlds, yes, because I think I was in good shape and was good at the Canadian races, and Worlds is always so💞mething special,” he said.
Van Avermaet is joined by a teaꦿm of wildcard contenders in Tiesj Benoot, Tim Wellens and Dylan Teuns, along with Laurens ജDe Plus, Ben Hermans, Xandro Meurisse and Serge Pauwels.
“I think we have a great team,” he said. “Benoot was good at the last race [Tour de l'Eurométropole]. Wellens is in good shape, and Dylan was strong at ﷺthe Vuelta.
“We have a strong team, even though we might not have a favourite because those guys have never really… they showed that they are capable of doing something good, but they're notꦇ the same kind of a rider as someone like [Julian] Alaphilippe.
“I think we have a strong team, and we all have a chance, and we will see how we ꧙can come.”
Belgium could decide to raꦇce aggressively and try to form🅺 both early and late-race breakaways that would be in their favour, but Van Avermaet chose not to reveal his team’s specific race strategy.
“We haven't talked about the tactics yet, but I thi𝐆nk all of our riders will be free to make their o🧸wn choices during the race. It’s important to know how you’re feeling inside the race itself,” he said.
“For sure, we need to kℱeep somebody for the final; we always need one last card to play just in case it all comes back together. We haven&r♍squo;t decided who that rider is yet."
Asked if he could be 𝓀that last card to play, Van Avermaet said he would decide his position on the team based on how he feels during the race.
"I’m starting the Worlds as a joker. I’m not going to be the team lea💮der. They can decide how to race, and they don’t have to protect me. And even I’m feeling bad; I will support th🎶em as best as possible.
"I will decide during the race. I won’t make my tactics clear, but I will have to feel it by myself and see how far I can come. We will see how it goes. I have a chance.”

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a back🍬ground in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to🧸 professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – 🎃overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of🌟 women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.