There will be no Contador, Froome and Quintana but the world championship that is being held this Sunday in Richmond in Virginia, despite the lack of three big names of this weight, has the charm of a race that is worth a career even if lately it hasn't brought good luck to those who l 'won seeing that with Gilbert wearing the rainbow jersey, Rui Costa and the outgoing one, the Polish Kwiatkowski, achieved little or nothing. The Americans, despite the Armstrong scandal, after decades in which they snubbed it, it is clear that they have taken a liking to this sport by crafting a non-trivial path that presents enough pitfalls not to take the final sprint of quite a few world championships for granted like a billiard table: sixteen laps of a circuit 16200 meters long, for a total length of 259,2 km with a height difference of 103 meters which leads to a total length of approximately 1700 metres. Three climbs, concentrated in the last 5 km, short and different from each other. The final 2km opens with a flat 500m on a wide road where you will be able to face each other before the final showdown. Then you start to climb at 3-4% up to a right-hand bend which coincides with the "flame rouge" of the last km: here the Governor Street stretch begins, 420 meters of ascent at a regular 7-8%. Sharp left and we are at the last 700 meters on a slight slope with a slight gradient of 1-2% on West Broad Street.
A track which, also featuring stretches of pavé, therefore lends itself to many possible interpretations, but which seems closed to pure sprinters such as Nacer Bouhanni or André Greipel, but not to sprinters such as Alexander Kristoff, John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan, capable of tolerating hard but short without compromising power in the final rush. And they are the favorites with the Australian Michael Matthews in the bets on the eve. The Italians show up in Richmond with the enigma Nibali who after the setback in the Vuelta has a great desire for redemption. The victory of the Coppa Bernocchi convinced coach Cassani to take him to the States. Even if his season has been faded compared to the blazing one of 2014, he, the Shark, is the only one of the fantastic four present in Richmond. The bookmakers quote him at 25 like Kwiatkowski, while Diego Ulissi, the second strong point of the blue line-up, is given at 33 like Simon Gerrans. Among the big foreigners at the starting line, keep an eye out for the gritty regularity of the two old Spaniards, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez, who could attempt the coup in a final very similar to a classic in the Ardennes. A finish that doesn't displease Philippe Gilbert either, leader of the Belgian team together with Greg Van Avermaet and the irreducible Tom Boonen, always on the hunt for a prestigious victory that can refresh his exceptional palmarès but for too long without success.
