Way back in May when I was in Florence to catch a Giro stage, seeing this ad planted the idea in my head of coming to see the Worlds.
I can’t remember exactly when I actually planned my travels to make sure I would be here for the cycling, but today’s race was the one I was most excited about. The winner of the elite men’s road race gets to wear the coveted rainbow jersey for all road races and training rides until the following year’s world championships. Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert has been wearing the rainbow stripes since last September so the question today was, who will wear the stripes tonight?
The world championships road race is always a doozy. This year’s course was 272 kilometers including 10 laps of the 16.5 kilometer Florence/Fiesole circuit that the road races earlier in the week also used. The start in Lucca was wet and nasty across Tuscany and the forecast showed little sign of improving throughout the day.
I arrived at the finish area about an hour before it opened and found my seat, not that I actually ever sat in it. I set my stuff down and then stood at the fence, waiting first for the race to get underway and then for the riders to reach Florence.
I watched the first 110 kilometers on the big screen, trying to identify my favorites hidden underneath their rain gear. It was great to see Garmin teammates Alex Howes’ and Rohan Dennis’ excited reactions when they realized they were riding next to each other right off the bat despite working for different countries today. Next to them was another pair of my favorites, Johan Vansummeren and Jan Bakelants, riding together for Belgium. Nearby, Taylor Phinney smiled to himself as he rode alongside his BMC and national teammate, Tejay van Garderen.
With the peloton en route, various riders launched attacks trying to create a successful breakaway. A 5 man breakaway finally got some open road and took off. The escapees were Austria’s Matthias Brandle, Poland’s Bartosz Huzarski, Venezuela’s Yonder Godoy, the Czech Republic’s Jan Barta, and, my newest favorite rider, Tunisia’s Rafaa Chtioui. I had seen him a couple of times across the city in the past week and anytime I gave him a little cheer, the man looked like he’d just won the lottery. Lucky for him, I prefer to support riders who seem to enjoy their job and his enthusiasm puts him safely in this category.
Ten laps to go
The kilometers went by as the peloton wound its way across a rainy Tuscany. The clouds were hardly spitting at the finish line until the riders arrived in Florence. Then the sky darkened like someone had turned the lights off and no more than 5 minutes before the breakaway reached the start of the circuit, it started to bucket down. Left to right: Jan Barta, Bartosz Huzarski, Rafaa Chtioui, and Yonder Godoy.
Less than a minute after they had gone through, the rain suddenly eased off, only to start up again in time for the peloton. The Brits used Mark Cavendish to do much of the work on their way to Florence.
France’s Thomas Voeckler in the white helmet and Australia’s Rohan Dennis wearing his blue Garmin helmet.
Nine laps to go
The breakaway’s 8 minute advantage held through the next lap.
Italy had come to the front with Germany (Marcus Burghardt in the yellow shoes and John Degenkolb far right) enjoying the free ride.
Right: Jan Bakelants.
Ramunas Navardauskas representing Lithuania in the blue helmet and Canadian Frank Parisien in the white helmet.
Taylor Phinney turned back to see if Tejay van Garderen was still with him.
Nick Roche, left, showed evidence of a crash.
It was significantly easier to pick out riders on this lap, once I’d had the opportunity to see everyone in their rain capes and with the peloton quickly stretching out.
A gruppetto was already forming. Wiggins and 2 other riders slowly cruised by with Cavendish not far behind, scanning the seats for someone before he threw his water bottle into the VIP area and abandoned the race, his work done.
One of the 2 Canadians, Christian Meier, had suffered a puncture, and was not long for the race.
Another rider I was keen to see, kiwi Jack Bauer, was even further back after crashing, which meant it was just a matter of time until he, too, abandoned.
Eight laps to go
The rain switched from bucketing to a modest monsoon so I didn’t take any pictures on this lap and instead focused on finding riders. I was really excited to have found one of my 2 favorite Canadian cyclists, Frank Parisien, on this lap! He looked good, despite having no teammates. Jan Bakelants, however, did not look so good. He was in the cars, likely returning from a crash and Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels was cradling his arm after suffering a crash himself. Dan Martin was another crash victim. The slippery conditions were causing spills regularly. It was stressful just to watch, I can’t imagine how the peloton on must have been feeling.
Seven laps to go
No change in the breakaway despite the rain kicking up again.
More and more riders were coming by with torn up kits from crashes.
There were plenty of big names hanging off the back, including Chris Froome who rode along, shaking his head, and Michael Matthews, winner of 2 Vuelta stages this year, who was in a world of hurt. Every couple of minutes would bring news of yet another crash. The announcers didn’t always identify who had been involved, but it was obvious to see the riders in shredded kits or gingerly resting an injured arm.
Six laps to go
The pace was starting to get to Rafaa who had fallen off the original breakaway by almost a minute.
The Italian squad remained at the head of the peloton, doing the lion’s share of the work.
Five laps to go
The breakaway dropped 2 more of its founders and was whittled down to just Huzarski of Poland and Barta of the Czech Republic.
Like the cyclists, the storm was going full gas. The thunder was so intense that it sounded like hard a dozen jets simultaneously firing their engines.
Italy was still at the front but Belgium, France, and Switzerland were starting to help out.
The peloton was slowly reeling in the breakaway to just a 4 minute advantage.
Four laps to go
Huzarski and Barta lost another 2 minutes on their lead while thunder clapped and lighting flashed every few minutes. This storm was not messing around.
Out on the course, several riders tried to attack solo. Nothing managed to stick but this must have heightened the anticipation among the race favorites.
Three laps to go
The umbrellas came out in force as the rain continued to pound.
Incredibly, Barta and Huzarski held on to a small lead.
Brandle and Wilco Kelderman were gaining on the leading duo.
Cyril Gautier and Giovanni Visconti were not far behind.
Johan Vansummeren lead out the main bunch.
You can get a sense of how wet the scene was between the falling rain and the water bouncing off the riders and their bikes. Center: Frank Parisien.
Two laps to go
The same pair remained out in front but it was just a matter of time until they were caught.
Johan Vansummeren led the chase.
After the main field had passed, there was a break in the clouds and the sun started to shine on the course for the first time all day. Having ridden for over 6 hours and with no teammates depending on him, Frank Parisien pulled out of the race, but not before smiling and waving to the spectators. The crowd ate it up and responded with a roar of approval.
One lap to go!
Barta couldn’t hold on anymore and Huzarski rode solo until Italy’s Visconti bridged the gap. The crowd woke up for the first time and went wild for their countryman. Attacks were coming regularly now from solid riders like Carlos Betancur and Marcus Burghardt. With under 20 kilometers left in the entire course, Jan Polanc of Slovenia attacked.
The peloton was not going to let him escape.
Amaël Moinard and Jan Bakelants with his crash souvenirs.
Cyril Gautier.
Final lap!
Every rider was giving everything he had left to make it to the line first. Rigoberto Uran was in contention until he suffered an ugly crash that eliminated his chances at the jersey. The Italian crowd was going crazy watching Nibali attack on the big screen. The race had come down to the lone Italian, Spaniards Valverde and Rodriguez, and Portugal’s Rui Costa. Costa took off and Rodriguez followed, surprised that Valverde hadn’t come with him. Costa and Rodriguez sprinted down the home straight, both men giving everything they could muster. Costa began to pull ahead and Rodriguez, inexplicably, let up after the first white line, just a few meters shy of the finish. Whatever the reason, Costa won the world championship!
Valverde took third and Nibali fourth.
Andriy Grivko was fifth.
The first decent sized group came in, every rider looking weary. Far left: Simon Clarke.
Pete Stetina and his teammate Alex Howes, the only Americans to finish, both rode an outstanding race. Watching Stetina, it was hard not to think of his father, Dale Stetina, a former pro cyclist who was seriously injured in a recent cycling accident. When Stetina attacked with 3 laps to go, I got emotional knowing his world championship ride was dedicated to his father’s long recovery. Next year, Stetina will swap his argyle kit for BMC, but I’ll still be cheering in his corner regardless. He came in 37th place.
Marcus Burghardt in 39th place and Jan Polanc in 40th.
Rigoberto Uran had that terrible crash, flipping while still clipped in, yet he got back on his bike and finished the course, coming in 41st.
John Degenkolb in 42nd.
The field started with 208 kitted riders and just 61 saw the race through. Twitter was full of comments and jokes from the peloton about the number of crashes. Kiwi Sam Bewley suggested the rainbow jersey should go to whoever didn’t crash and Cadel Evans overheard someone in the radiology department wondering who was still in the race if all the riders were at the hospital.
I didn’t watch the rest of the field come in even though there was less than 2 dozen more riders to finish. I was hoping to get to the podium to see the jersey be presented, but there were no signs security would open up the road to fans, so I watched some of the riders make their way to their buses. Below: Jonathan Castroviejo.
Simon Clarke, 7th place finisher, discussed the day’s crashes with a coach and noted his luck to avoid them. I overheard him saying he knew that he was the only Aussie left in the race and simply wanted to finish.
Pete Stetina headed to the buses while Alex Howes stole a few moments of relative calm to rest and catch his breath in a corner while giving an interview.
The best I could do regarding the podium was to watch through the chain link fence. My angle wasn’t ideal as the flagpoles usually made sure someone’s face wasn’t visible, but you get the picture.
On the podium, Rodriguez was visibly upset that his Spanish teammate hadn’t supported him. Costa looked beyond tickled to be in the world champion’s jersey while Valverde seemed pretty neutral to the whole situation.
Interview done and breath caught, Alex Howes went to the buses.
Thibault Pinot made his way through a sea of spectators to get to the buses himself.
Johan Vansummeren looked fresh and relaxed after his work on the front.
I don’t know at what point Bernie Eisel abandoned the race, but he clearly had had enough time to freshen up and rest since he was walking around the parking lot as if he was on his way to a summer BBQ.
The Italian bus was completely mobbed.
A Dutch rider navigated his way through the ambling spectators.
A BMC mechanic worked on former world champion Philippe Gilbert’s bike. I’m guessing Gilbert is going to miss zipping up his rainbow kit, wearing his rainbow sunglasses and shoes, and riding his rainbow bike, but I suspect there’s a part of him feeling immensely relieved that the inevitable burden of the rainbow jersey is no longer his problem. Having just met Rui Costa at the Quebec races and appreciating how friendly and accessible he was, I’ll be curious to see if his new title changes him.
Purito Rodriguez, winner of the silver medal, certainly loves his cigars.
There were dozens of cyclists just wandering around and, as much as I’d have loved to get some new autographs, the parking lot was a zoo and a lot of the riders seemed to be a bit overwhelmed and exhausted, so I didn’t want to bother anyone. Lucky for me, my favorite Eritrean rider was just hanging out at the team car and everyone else was ignoring him, so I was able to get a picture with Daniel Teklehaymanot.
And with that, my 2013 cycling season came to an end.
