We were missing a world championship in the desert, but the UCI, in the methodical hunt for profits, promptly organized it this year in Qatar, paying little attention to the characteristics of the course, flat as flat as it gets, so as to induce the strongest riders of the moment to desert him, leaving the field free for the sprinters. But there is the charm of the desert, the attraction of an arrival in Doha on the phantasmagorical artificial island of Pearl, there is the emir's money, a lot of it: you want more. Patience if Froome, Nibali, Contador and Quintana, the rulers of the three great stage races – 10 victories out of 12 in the last four years of the Tour, Giro and Vuelta – stayed at home and with them many other protagonists of the season such as Chaves and Valverde. Having said that, this Sunday the rainbow jersey is still up for grabs, a title that is worth a lifetime, worn at least once in their career by the greats of the past, from Binda to Coppi, from Kubler to Bobet, from Merckx to Hinault, from Van Looy to Gimondi, with very few exceptions such as Anquetil, Bartali, Magni, Koblet and Indurain.
The favorites of this edition are obviously the great sprinters who have put Doha at the top of their programs since they learned the "non" altitude of the route. Even the technical commissioners of the 59 nations participating in the race have made an ad hoc selection. A thankless task for the German selector who had to award André Greipel with the captaincy of a team that includes two other super favorites of the race such as Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb. Britain had no hesitation in pinning all its hopes of success on Mark Cavendish regenerated by the triumphs captured at the last Tour. Norway moves an important pawn like Alexander Kristoff, looking for a success that cancels a disappointing season.
France relies on its two best sprint standard bearers, Arnaud Démare, the winner of the Sanremo, and Nacer Bouhanni, the former boxer with a poisoned tooth due to too many misadventures that have befallen him this year, starting with the chain jump in the sprint when he was already looking forward to winning the Sanremo. Only a year ago, no one would have bet a penny on a possible success of a Colombian in Doha, but the Colombia of the pedal, accustomed to producing only grimpeur since the days of Lucho Herrera, was born in La Ceja and discovered a small center on the offshoots of the Andes not far from Medellin, a new sprint talent: Fernando Gaviria, 22, who after what he showed in the Paris-Tours won last Sunday, is a candidate as one of Peter Sagan's most likely successors, the outgoing world champion who leads the small Slovakian team (made up of only three elements) and who will try to defend a jersey masterfully honored this year by winning the Tour of Flanders and the green jersey for the fifth time in the Tour.
Spain has not yet discovered Freire's heir: he was aiming for gold in the time trial with Castroviejo but the German Tony Martin made everyone agree by winning the world title of the specialty for the fourth time, tying the primacy of Fabian Cancellara, another great who didn't wait for Doha to hang up his bike nailed after the splendid victory in the Olympic time trial in Rio. As for Italy, also the coach. Davide Cassani has built a team at the service of Elia Viviani and Giacomo Nizzolo, our best sprinters. Even Australia with Ewan and Matthews and the Netherlands with Tom Dumoulin and Dyla Groenewegen are not defeated from the start. Last but not least, here is Belgium. Once upon a time in the distant seasons of the two great Riks, Van Steenbergen and Van Looy, and of Merckx – speaking of the great Eddy, we can bet that unlike Froome and C. he would certainly have also raced on the desert plate after winning Giro and Tour – the Flemish team would be the top favorites of the bookmakers ahead of the German battleship.
In Doha, Belgium, short of young players in the sprint, has to rely on a great old man, Tom Boonen, supported by Greg Avermaet, the winner of the Olympic gold also taking advantage of the bad luck of NIbali who fell one step away from victory. Tom Boonen, in addition to having won Roubaix three times in the cold and many classics in the North, for years he has also gotten used to winning in the heat of Qatar and its surroundings. Tom, known as the Tornado, is a great connoisseur of fans and in the 150 km of desert that this year's world race presents, in addition to the heat, the crosswind is often the master. If the group breaks up into many sections, perhaps knocking out some of the most popular names among sprinters, Tom Boonen's star could shine again on the highest podium of the most important race of the year. For the Belgian it would be his second rainbow jersey, the only rider to win it more than ten years after the first.
