Netherlands the strongest squad but plenty of nations in contention for rainbows in Wollongong
Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy), Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands), Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) are among the favourites for road race glory in Wollongong(Image credit: Getty Images composite)
The women's road race at the upcoming UCI Road World Championships looks set to be an attacking, attrition-fest that favours punchy riders.
The bunch heads south from the start in Helensburgh, hugging the dramatic Pacific coast. The first test, Mount Keira, comes 42km into the racing after the peloton first passes through Wollongong and onto a single circuit of the 34.2km loop that takes the race back up to the Illawarra escarpment. If it’s raced full gas, its 5% average gradient over 8.7 kilometres could shatter the race early.
Next there are six circuits around Wollongong, with the climb of Mount Pleasant the centrepiece. In all, there are an estimated 2,433 metres of climbing and the 164.3km route will be the longest in the event’s history.
The Dutch will line up on September 24 as favourites, given their incomparable strength in depth. Almost every rider in their eight-woman line-up could legitimately challenge for the win.
However, Italian Elisa Balsamo is the defending champion, after breaking their four-year winning streak in Belgium last year, following the wins Annemiek Van Vleuten (2019), Anna van der Breggen (2018 and 2020) and Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (2017).
But with Van Vleuten planning to start the race with a fractured elbow after crashing in the Mixed Relay event, is she still the main favourite? Or will Marianne Vos and Demi Vollering be their contenders for the hallowed rainbow jersey? Cyclingnews takes a look at ten riders to watch for the elite women's road race in Australia.
Van Vleuten is a past world champion, having triumphed in Harrogate in 2019 (Image credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images))
Her power, experience and stamina make her a threat no matter what the course. For this one that suits her, Van Vleuten will be especially motivated to add a second elite road rainbow jersey to her collection. This is her penultimate chance, too, with retirement pencilled in for the end of 2023.
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The form is undeniably there: the 39-year-old has been the rider of the season, with victories at the Tour de France Femmes, Giro d’Italia Donne, Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this year.
The world title Van Vleuten took in Yorkshire 2019 was a show of strength, going on a solo attack for 105 kilometres after breaking away on Lofthouse Hill. Mount Keira is longer and harder, but it also comes even earlier in the race.
However, with her fractured elbow, Van Vleuten was pessimistic about being able to attack on the short, sharp climb of Mount Pleasant on the city centre circuit because her injury has rendered her unable to climb out of the saddle.
"I am super disappointed because of this. You cannot do this steep climb seated," she said.
Vos was runner-up to Balsamo in Leuven last year (Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Vos is still a fearsome bike racer after 15 years at the top of the sport. She keeps on racing and winning, taking a brace of stage wins at the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d’Italia Donne this year.
She offers a lethal option from a reduced group sprint for the Netherlands. A fourth rainbow jersey on the road– 16 years after her first – would be a special achievement in a long and distinguished career. Her other two titles came in 2012 and 2013.
Perennially the team to watch, the Dutch take that title once again this year; they also have Tour de France Femmes runner-up Demi Vollering on hand. Such strength in depth is a boon, but also requires a delicate balancing act of ambition, ego and teamwork. Vos will play a significant part in that, too.
Brown on the attack during the 2020 Worlds road race (Image credit: Alex Whitehead PoolGetty Images)
Few other racers have such a powerful personal or geographical attachment to this year's World Championships. Brown grew up just 75km north of Wollongong in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown.
The home race has been on her radar ever since it was unveiled. In terms of Aussie hopes, look no further than her in both the time trial and the road race. The Liège-Bastogne-Liège runner-up is the kind of rider who takes a mile if her rivals give her an inch. She has won a Women's Tour stage, a stage at the recent Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta and the Commonwealth Games time trial this year .
A podium finish would be a fine result for the FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope racer. The rainbow jersey would be unprecedented: Australia have had three silver medals in the last decade, but have never emerged with victory in this event's 64-year history.
Longo Borghini (third from right) celebrates Elisa Balsamo's title win with her Italy teammates in Leuven (Image credit: Luc ClaessenGetty Images)
Longo Borghini can pretty much do it all. Her historic Paris-Roubaix victory notwithstanding, she has rarely been out of the top ten in her hilly targets this year. She took Women's Tour victory at the last gasp with a typically tenacious showing, was fourth overall at the Giro d’Italia Donne and fifth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Expect to see her mixing it in attacks in the race's finale. On a strong and versatile Italian team, Marta Cavalli is another option. She has broken through with Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne triumphs this spring, though it remains to be seen how she has recovered from her Tour de France Femmes crash.
The well-drilled squadra azzurra ultimately had the upper hand over the Dutch at last year's race with Balsamo; can they do it again?
This year's road race is only the third of Belgian leader Kopecky's career (Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
In her first season with Team SD Worx, Kopecky shone in the spring, driving Belgium "crazy" with her Tour of Flanders win and taking victory at Strade Bianche. Her transition into a puncheur-sprinter who can handle tough hills is clear to see.
It’s not been plain sailing in recent months though. By her own admission, she expected more from the Tour de France Femmes, though two third place finishes on stages were no disgrace. Last month, she sat out the European Road Championships with a reported back injury, having won two golds on the track.
Kopecky has top 10 potential in Australia, offering a threat from a small group or a reduced bunch with her sprint. However, the less-than-ideal preparation could see her consigned to the fringes.
Niewiadoma has enjoyed a consistent year but hasn't yet taken a big win in 2022 (Image credit: Alex Broadway PoolGetty Images)
To describe Niewiadoma as consistent is an understatement: she has only finished outside the top 20 once in eight World Championships participations. On a course with plenty of climbing, she ought to be a protagonist.
The burning question is, can she win? The Pole continues to be pipped to race victories, caught before the finish in attacks or outsprinted from small breakaways by rivals. Her last victory was over three years ago at the Women's Tour, yet she has finished second or third 19 times since, including this summer's Tour de France Femmes. That barren spell has become a source of pressure.
Winning at Worlds would end the hoodoo in some style, and she has the strength and descending skills to hold on off Mount Pleasant.
In the pink: Faulkner has enjoyed a 2022 season to remember – can she keep it up in Australia? (Image credit: Dario BelingheriGetty Images)
The BikeExchange-Jayco rider has stepped up a level this season, having moved to the Women's WorldTour and is not afraid to test the waters, as the second of her Giro d’Italia Donne stage wins showed.
A latecomer to the sport having worked in venture capital before making the switch, the 29-year-old Alaskan has learned the ropes rapidly and is still improving and growing in confidence after shifting up to the WorldTour ranks with BikeExchange-Jayco this season.
With fast-finishing teammate Coryn Labecki out of the race with a broken collarbone, it looks like the stars and stripes squad will favour going on the offensive and with Faulkner they have the perfect rider for that challenge.
38-year-old García leads Spain in Wollongong (Image credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images))
Her Trophée Ceratizit triumph in Plouay last month will give the former duathlete heaps of confidence. Third place in the Giro d’Italia Donne overall and a stoic battle with Van Vleuten on the surprisingly pivotal stage 4 was another suggestion that the 38-year-old is only getting better.
She'll be racing on the scene into her fifth decade, too, having signed for Liv Racing Xstra through to 2024.
While her so-so sprint often sees her beaten, there's no doubting her stamina or audacious style that regularly sees her up the road, leading from the front in gruelling one-day races.
Uttrup Ludwig heads to the Worlds in good form having won last month's Tour of Scandinavia (Image credit: Luc ClaessenGetty Images)
Something has clicked in recent months for the peloton's queen of charisma. After knocking on the door of big wins for a long time, she has burst through it.
She took a Tour de France Femmes stage win, outsprinting Vos no less, and followed it up with Tour of Scandinavia victory. The Danish champion has yet to really leave her mark at a Worlds road race yet, though two eighth places in the past two attempts suggest she's getting closer.
Ludwig should be in contention for Wollongong, though she'll need to be at her very best to beat the Dutch or Italian teams, who are packing far more firepower.
Reigning world champion Balsamo won her last race in rainbows at the Ceratizit Challenge (Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo MorenoGetty Images)
The reigning world champion will do well to get over the hills under the pressure of attacks from the world’s best puncheurs. However, her win in Leuven last year was a case in point of what can happen when a strong team goes all in for one rider.
What's more, Balsamo looks to have come on in leaps and bounds in her first season with Trek-Segafredo. She has won nine times in 2022, unburdened by the rainbow jersey, including her final race before Australia, the closing stage of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta.
However, the nature of the course and the number of rivals who want a small breakaway or a solo win could play against her.
