The Montreal Worlds ran over 270 km. Wout van Aert attacked with 88 km to go and made the breakaway, before being dropped 14 km later when Mathieu van der Poel accelerated. Late in the race he paced Remco Evenepoel, then finished the last stretch alone, in 28th.
Up front, Brandon McNulty rode clear of a group of twelve with 32 km left and was not seen again. Michael Matthews took second. Evenepoel finished 12th, 12 seconds off the silver medal.
“It was super tough and too tough for me. I rode a good race, but the lights went out 4 or 5 laps from the end. I’m bummed about it, but there wasn’t any more in it,” Van Aert told Cyclingnews. And also: “Kind of disappointed; came here for more as a team, personally as well, but on the other hand there’s not much regret that I can have.”
Evenepoel, for his part: “It was tough actually from the first lap on; I felt I was not on a great day.” And: “I think there are no excuses; the strongest always wins on World, so that’s life.”
Lights going out, I get that every winter on the club’s bikes. You don’t look far: a corroded contact, a battery that wasn’t charged the night before, a wire rubbing under the sheath. You don’t see it, you don’t hear it, and one day it’s dark. I’m talking about lamps, mind you, not him. He said what he had to say, and he said there wasn’t any more in it. Where I work, when there isn’t any more in it, you change the fuse. I’ll go and recharge the club’s lamps, then. Winter’s coming.
It’s true, we checked: Cyclingnews.
