Representing 44 nations, 192 riders lined up at the University of Richmond in Sunday’s elite men’s road race for a short neutral roll out before beginning the 261.4km course that included 16 laps of 16km through Richmond, Virginia. The course, with just 3 climbs; 2 of them cobbled, the longest within the final kilometer, and a false flat dragging into the finish, left the experts with a lengthy grocery list of possible winners. Peter Sagan, Alexander Kristoff, John Degenkolb, Michael Matthews, Niki Terpstra, Greg Van Avermaet, Alejandro Valverde were among the favorites and, if the rain clouds were to downpour as forecasted, another handful of names had to be added to the contenders.

 

In a part of the country where pro cycling does not have a strong foothold, the winding climb up Libby Hill and punchy 23^rd Street were packed with fans well before the race got underway.

 

The Dutch led by Jos van Emden.

 

Belgians Nikolas Maes, Philippe Gilbert, and Tom Boonen.

 

The field completed an early lap.

 

Greg Henderson and defending world champion Michal Kwiatkowski.

 

Though only a 6 man team, the Americans rode a strong race, eventually placing both Ben King and Taylor Phinney in the break and launching a late attack from Tyler Farrar. Below: Lawson Craddock, Farrar, and Brent Bookwalter.

 

Great Britain’s Alex Dowsett in the bunch.

 

Luka Mezgec, Bookwalter, and Danielle Bennati.

 

With just 2 teammates, Peter Sagan hid himself for most of the race.

 

A mechanical saw Phinney spend time at the neutral Shimano service vehicle and the American car before he eventually swapped bikes.

 

Ben King.

 

Racing his 11th world championships on Sunday, Alejandro Valverde has earned 2 silver and 4 bronze medals, finishing outside the top ten only twice, but never the gold.

 

Phinney.

 

A quick wheel change for a Ukrainian.

 

Gilbert, participating in his 16^th consecutive world championships, with Simon Geschke and Tony Martin of Germany.

 

Luke Durbridge, Rui Costa, and Sam Bewley.

 

Costa Rican Andrey Amador.

 

Kiwi Jesse Sergent, taking a pull, was in the early break which included Colombian Carlos Alzate, Serbian Ivan Stevic, Irish Conor Dunne, Ukrainian Andriy Khripta, Romania’s Serghei Tsvetkov, South Korea’s Sung Park, and American Ben King.

 

The peloton let the break hover around 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally pulling back to under 2 minutes before sitting up and letting it stretch out once more.

 

Richmond-born King was greeting with massive cheers every lap of the course.

 

Maciej Bodnar, who played an important role in Kwiatkowski’s 2014 world championship, again served his national teammate and friend.

 

Alexander Kristoff.

 

A relaxed peloton finished the last of 3 climbs in quick succession, knowing they had 12 flat kilometers to recover before repeating the climbs.

 

Kwiatkowski, Christian Knees, Matt Hayman, and John Degenkolb.

 

Tom Dumoulin.

 

The original break shed a few riders over the laps.

 

Dropped from the break and riding in no man’s land, Serbia’s Ivan Stevic gave the crowd an enthusiastic thumbs up for their support.

 

The Netherlands and Poland were among the countries that most often sat on the front of the peloton.

 

Dylan van Baarle.

 

Ben Swift and Kristijan Koren.

 

Kristoff and Sagan, 2 Classics sprinters expected to perform well on the Richmond course.

 

A powerful domestique with an aptitude for the Classics and bunch sprints, Lithuania’s Ramunas Navardauskas was considered a dark horse among dark horses.

 

Van Emden spent an enormous amount of time on the front.

 

Boonen won the world championships a decade ago.

 

Hugo Houle.

 

Done in the break, Sergent and Carlos Alzate soaked in the crowd.

 

The next break to go was the trio of Kanstantsin Siutsou, Guillaume Boivin, and Phinney.

 

Robert Gesink took a flyer off the peloton.

 

Durbridge.

 

Fresh off his first grand tour, Canadian Antoine Duchesne participated in his first elite road race at the world championships.

 

Mezgec and Kwiatkowski.

 

Ryan Roth.

 

National and trade teammates, Simon Gerrans and Michael Matthews both aimed for a strong person result in Richmond.

 

Michael Woods, riding his second world championships, will move up from Optum to Cannondale Garmin in 2016.

 

Winner Anacona.

 

Boivin and Phinney.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Martens, Sagan, and Duchesne.

 

Michael Woods and Ryan Anderson.

 

King.

 

 

 

Johannes Frohlinger.

 

With just a couple of laps to go and their work done for the day, a large group sat up. Chris Juul-Jensen waved to Danish fans on the corner while Daryl Impey and Jay McCarthy enjoyed a chin wag.

 

The group rolled on.

 

Juraj Sagan and Michael Kolar of Slovakia both did not finish the race but knew their remaining teammate, Peter Sagan, was more than capable of finishing without them.

 

Kwiatkowski and Matteo Trentin.

 

Degenkolb.

 

Zdenek Stybar would have benefitted had the predicted rain fallen but the course stayed dry all day.

 

Gesink and Daniel Moreno.

 

In an all hand on deck approach, sprinter Andre Greipel took a huge pull on the front of the peloton to help reel in the break before sitting up.

 

Hitting the 23rd Street hill for the final time, Sagan emerged from hiding to surge ahead, gaining a small advantage on the following decent. The handful of seconds he had on his chasers gave him a little wiggle room on the Governor Street climb.

 

Cameras at the ready as the crowd anticipated seeing a solo Sagan fly around the corner in the final kilometer of the race.

 

Sagan had a few seconds on the peloton.

 

Turning the final corner, Sagan could see the finish line 700 meters up the road.

 

A group of nearly 2 dozen riders stormed up the Governor Street climb in desperate pursuit of the dangerous Slovakian.

 

Rigoberto Uran led the charge with Kristoff, Greg Van Avermaet, and Tom Dumoulin riding for their lives.

 

Van Avermaet.

 

Viacheslav Kuznetsov.

 

Michael Matthews and Rein Taaramae.

 

Kwiatkowski following Matthews’ wheel.

 

Silvian Dillier and Bookwalter.

 

Luis Leon Sanchez.

 

With the chasers barreling down upon him, Sagan crossed the finish line alone, 3 seconds ahead of the followers, with his arms open in an gesture of celebration.

 

Navardauskas was the first Lithuanian to ever stand on the podium at the elite men’s road race.

 

A sorely disappointed Matthews won the bunch sprint to earn his first elite medal at the world championships.

 

In what was probably the most entertaining podium ceremony the world championships has ever witnessed, the Slovakian leapt off the podium, kicking his heels together, and hugged his support crew off stage. Eschewing the stairs, the charismatic Sagan jumped back on the podium with a Slovakian flag. He also pounded his chest with a tight fist, as he did when finishing second to Ruben Plaza on stage 16 at this year’s Tour de France, a salute to Matthew McConaughey’s character in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” when he told the press he had, “big balls.” He was now ready to receive his gold medal and the rainbow jersey from UCI president Brian Cookson.

 

 

 

1^st Peter Sagan

2^nd Michael Matthews

3^rd Ramunas Navardauskas

Austria came away from the junior men’s road race with their first medal of the 2015 World Championships in Richmond, Virginia after Felix Gall held off France’s Clement Betouigt-Suire who opted to bunny hop, rather than throw, his bike at the finish line.

 

The win came after 129.6km of racing on slick roads with the Americans constantly posing threat, but ultimately unable to put Adrien Costa on the podium. The opening kilometers saw a number of riders go down, most of whom would eventually abandon. Breaks formed and got reabsorbed throughout the race and it was only on the last lap that the winning group escaped. A trio of riders surged for the line, but Gall held off Betouigt-Suire and Denmark’s Rasmus Lund Pedersen to earn the rainbow jersey.

 

France’s riders taped cheat sheets to their stems to remember which countries and which specific riders to pay attention to.

 

Under a gloomy sky on a chilly morning, Colombia’s Julian Cardona quietly objected to the weather.

Belgium.

 

USA.

 

The peloton awaited the start gun.

 

Riding 23rd Street for the first of 8 times.

 

Jack Maddux and Julian Cardona grabbed a small advantage ahead of the second time up Libby Hill.

 

One lap later, Maddux was dropped and Belgium chased the Colombian.

 

Mongolia hung in for several laps despite an early crash and then suffering mechanical in the middle of climbing 23rd Street.

 

 

The peloton hit the bottom of Libby Hill.

 

The expected rain never amounted to more than a slight drizzle, but it was enough to leave the cobbles slick. A rider or 2 on just about every lap fishtailed at the bottom of Libby Hill, where the course dictated a tight right hand turn while hitting the cobbles.

 

Fishtailing and crashing weren’t problems on 23rd Street, though plenty of riders struggled to keep their momentum going.

 

Leo Appelt, winner of the junior men’s time trial, had a bike change and hustled to chase back to the main group.

 

Uzbekistan’s Dmitry Ponkratov.

 

Adrien Costa stayed well positioned but was forced to lead a chase when a break got a little too far up the road.

 

Over a dozen riders flew through the finish together to the sound of the bell.

 

 

Twenty some minutes later, Gall and Betouigt-Suire sprinted to the line with the Austrian narrowly coming out ahead.

 

Gall was overjoyed to climb onto the podium.

 

 

1st Felix Gall

2nd Clement Betouigt-Suire

3rd Rasmus Lund Pedersen

When you’ve won nearly a third of the races you’ve started all season, including your national championships, and placed in the top ten for almost another third, odds are the peloton will be watching you closely during the world championship road race. Despite her name being at the top of the list of dangerous riders, Lizzie Armitstead still managed to pull off the perfect race.

 

Sitting quietly among the first 6 or 7 riders for the bulk of the race, the cunning Brit bided her time and kept her cool. When a 9 rider break gained a minute up the road and had none of her teammates in it with under 30km to go, Armitstead continued to sit near the front of the bunch, all the while looking comfortable. The break was reeled in before climbing 23rd Street for the last time. Armitstead moved to the front and escaped with a small group of talented riders. Not wanting to be the first to attack, everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone else to make a move. Armitstead was patient and timed her move to perfection. It came down to a sprint in the final few hundred meters and, despite Anna van der Breggen giving fierce competition, no one could catch Armitstead. The Dutch rider took silver and Megan Guarnier claimed bronze as well as a spot on the American team for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

 

The American women were ready to go even during sign on.

 

 

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot wore number 1 as the defending champion.

 

Minutes ahead of the gun.

 

Roll out.

 

Hitting the cobbles of 23rd Street for the first of 8 times.

 

Megan Guarnier and teammate Shelley Olds.

 

 

Lizzie Armitstead.

 

 

Canada’s Karol-Ann Canuel ran her bike up the hill.

 

A full house at Libby Hill.

 

Evelyn Stevens 4th wheel and Lizzie Armitstead 7th.

 

Linda Villumsen.

 

 

 

 

It was the same scene on the following lap with the Netherlands on the front.

 

Denise Ramsden.

 

 

 

Kathryn Bertine.

 

Tiffany Cromwell.

 

Tayler Wiles.

 

The next lap, Evelyn Stevens shot up Libby Hill with Armitstead back at 5th wheel.

 

Trixi Worrack.

 

With no definitive break away formed, Stevens, still working for Megan Guarnier, attacked as the bunch at the top of the Governor Street climb.

 

Jeanne D’arc Girubuntu.

 

Poland’s Malgorzata Jasinka gained an advantage after attacking up Governor Street with just over a lap to go.

 

American sprinter Coryn Rivera took massive pulls on the front of the chase group, ultimately pulling the Polish rider back.

 

In the last lap, a break of about 8 had gone clear and someone was on her way to the rainbow jersey. Armitstead was at the front as they approached the false flat finishing straight and claimed gold just a few hundred meters later.

 

Settling for bronze, American champion Guarnier achieved one of her goals by securing a ticket to Rio.

 

Anna van der Breggen picked up her second silver medal after Tuesday’s time trial.

 

On the podium, the new champion could hardly contain her smile.

 

1st Lizzie Armitstead

2nd Anna van der Breggen

3rd Megan Guarnier

 

Armitstead’s emotional teammates joined on the podium for photos after the ceremony.

With 171 riders and no defending champion taking to the U23 Men’s road race World Championship, it was a massive question mark as to who would pull on the rainbow jersey after 10 laps of the 16km course.

 

Algeria relaxing ahead of the race.

 

 

Warm up for El Salvador.

 

Queueing for sign on.

 

Kazakstan and Russia.

 

New Zealand.

 

 

Belgium.

 

 

On the start line.

 

 

The race is full gas from the gun because there is no designated neutral roll out at the World Championships.

 

France’s Kevin Ledanois.

 

The course features 3 significant climbs and a few descents. Here the peloton descends down Broad Street.

 

 

 

 

 

The peloton arrives at the top of Libby Hill, the first of the trio of climbs that hit the riders in quick succession.

 

 

Hayden McCormick.

 

Jakob Kaczmarek.

 

 

Eddie Dunbar pulls a group up the climb.

 

Greg Daniel.

 

 

Alex Cataford.

 

 

Gabriel Cullaigh.

 

Lennard Kamna.

 

A mechanical for Mongolia.

 

 

The break.

 

 

Eddie Dunbar.

 

 

 

 

 

The peloton approaches.

 

Out of the saddle on Libby Hill.

 

Tao Gaogheghan Hart.

 

Cobbled climbing.

 

The photographers hug the fences as the riders take up every bit of dirt they can so as to lessen the agony of the cobbles.

 

Greg Daniel.

 

 

Eddie Dunbar puts in tremendous work at the front of the break away.

 

Silver medalist at Monday’s time trial, Max Schachmann chases solo.

 

The bunch.

 

Tao Gaoghegan Hart.

 

Tyler Williams.

 

The break, grown to include Max Shachmann, hits the bottom of the 23rd Street climb.

 

A strung out peloton arrives. On at least one previous lap, a few riders were spotted running up the hill carrying their bikes.

 

 

The leaders face a long descent almost immediately after reaching the top of 23rd street.

 

 

The break.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel Eaton looks over his should to find a Russian and a quickly approaching peloton.

 

The peloton chases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The peloton descends.

 

Soren Andersen briefly escaped the pack but was reeled in before too long.

 

 

 

By the last lap, a gentle rain began to fall. It was nothing too substantial, but it was certainly enough to slick the roads. On a wide U turn, a few riders go down. Shortly thereafter, with under 5km to the finish line, the peloton nears the top of Libby Hill when Nathan Van Hooydonck, in second position, loses his rear wheel and crashes, clogging up the cobbled road. A few opportunists benefit and Kevin Ledanois of France is eventually able to jump away.

 

His lead is never more than a handful of seconds, but he keeps turning the pedals.

 

Under 1km to the finish line.

 

 

Italy’s Simone Consonni and a teammate give chase while France’s Anthony Turgis hangs in.

 

The peloton is mere seconds behind.

 

Ledanois clearly tires but, with the finish line within spitting distance, pushes out a few last pedal strokes and nabs the rainbow jersey. Teammate Hugo Hofstetter, rounding the corner and seeing the replay on the big screen behind the crowd, pumps his fist in the air in celebration.

 

 

Bronze for Anthony Turgis.

 

 

Silver for Simone Consonni.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ledanois.

 

The French pair belt out the Marseillaise.

 

 

1st Kevin Ledanois

2nd Simoni Consonni

3rd Anthony Turgis

 

Celebrating a team effort.