Cycling: While the World Championships in Bergen are still underway, work is already in full swing on the next event. Looking at the profiles for the road race and the time trial in Innsbruck, we see few positive aspects for the German riders. The World Championship slogan, "The Heart of the Alps," already hints quite accurately at just how tough it will be for the riders.
Georg Spazier (Head of the Organizing Committee): “We have pushed all the sporting requirements to their absolute limits in every race. The courses are not only exceptionally steep – with gradients of up to 25 percent – but also exceptionally long. This combination presents a major challenge for the athletes and promises to be the toughest World Championship in history.”
The UCI regulations are not observed
Even at the current World Cup in Bergen, the organizers have only partially adhered to the prevailing regulations of the UCI. At the World Championships in Innsbruck in 2018, however, almost all limits will be broken. The route of the men's road race is shorter than actually allowed and the individual time trial exceeds the maximum. While the UCI regulations stipulate between 260 and 280 kilometers for the road race, the route planners around Thomas Rohregger stayed just under the specifications with the 259,4 kilometer course. In the time trial, 54,2 kilometers have to be completed, although the maximum is actually 50 kilometers. Even with the women, the juniors and the U23 class, the specifications are sometimes exceeded or exceeded. A total of seven of the twelve competitions are outside the UCI regulations. Why nobody seems to care and why the rules exist at all if nobody follows them remains a mystery.
In 2018 we can expect a World Cup of mountaineers
Aside from the distances, the 2018 World Championships in Innsbruck also impress with their course profile. The organizers are certainly living up to their slogan, "The Heart of the Alps ." The elite men's race features a grueling 4.670 meters of elevation gain. The women have to tackle slightly more than half that. In the time trial, the men face 654 meters of climbing. Roughly halfway through the race is the 4,9-kilometer Gnadenwald climb, averaging over seven percent gradient. It will once again be a course that doesn't suit pure time trialists – such as Germany's Tony Martin and Switzerland's Stefan Küng. In any case, only a truly exceptional climber will be able to become world champion in the road race. Sprinters like Marcel Kittel and André Greipel can already start planning something else for the end of September. The 2018 World Championships are sure to provide plenty of excitement and enthusiasm for the spectators. However, for the German professionals, they offer little to no chance of winning medals.