For the primary time within the championship’s historical past, the ladies’s elite time trial rivals will experience the identical distance and comply with the identical course as their male counterparts.
In UCI custom, the winner of every occasion from the earlier 12 months shall be carrying the “rainbow jersey” – a white jersey with 5 horizontal bands within the UCI colors throughout the chest. They’ll solely put on the jersey when competing in the identical self-discipline, class and specialty wherein they received their title.
The reigning champions to look out for within the elite class embody two-time winners of their respective occasions, Filippo Ganna and Julian Alaphilippe. Alaphilippe confronted a setback final month when he dislocated his shoulder on stage 11 of La Vuelta in Spain.
Ellen van Dijk and Elisa Balsamo are additionally elite cyclists who took out titles in final 12 months’s championship.
Reigning ladies’s junior time trial champion Alena Ivanchenko, ladies’s junior highway race champion Zoe Backstedt and males’s under-23 highway race reigning champion Filippo Baroncini are all eligible to compete in the identical occasions this 12 months.
West Australian Ben O’Connor can also be one to look at for within the highway race, having completed fourth in his Tour de France debut final 12 months. Whereas O’Connor withdrew from that occasion this 12 months resulting from damage, he was again on the highway within the Vuelta a Espana this month.
Former Olympian Gracie Elvin mentioned the Dutch crew can be the one to beat in ladies’s biking, however that Australians Georgia Baker and Amanda Spratt had been sturdy probabilities. “[Baker] received the Commonwealth Video games gold medal this 12 months within the highway race,” Elvin mentioned. “And it’s just about a house race for Spratt.
“She’s one of many world’s finest climbers at her peak.”
For the lads’s class, Elvin mentioned reigning champion Alaphilippe might take out the title for the third time, however that Australians Matthews, Simon Clarke and Jai Hindley had been all contenders. “[Matthews and Clarke] each received a stage on the Tour de France this 12 months so that they’re very versatile,” she mentioned. “We even have a extremely nice climber in Jai Hindley. He was the winner of the Giro D’Italia this 12 months.”
How will you catch the motion?
In case you plan to look at from residence, the complete races shall be broadcast on Stan Sport. The ultimate two-and-a-half hours of the elite races shall be accessible free-to-air on the 9 Community.
The Wollongong Metropolis Council expects about 300,000 spectators on the occasion and a worldwide viewers of greater than 300 million individuals.
The occasion is free, however should you’re planning to attend, there are highway closures and public transport adjustments to pay attention to.
Main highway closures embody however usually are not restricted to Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Masters Street, Springhill Street, 5 Islands Street and Princes Freeway at Unanderra on Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25.
For these in search of a problem, Elvin beneficial attempting out components of the course forward of the competitors.
“It’s a actually troublesome course and I encourage anybody if they’ve the chance or time to go and check out it earlier than the occasion begins,” she mentioned. “Simply so that they get a little bit of an concept about how good the riders are which can be coming to race the World Championships and the way troublesome it’s to experience out that climb at a quick pace and a number of occasions.”
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The Wollongong 2022 Group Trip is scheduled for Saturday, September 17, and is a chance for most of the people to cycle a phase of the course, together with ending below the official arch, earlier than the professionals take to the roads.
Even when collaborating within the motion isn’t to your style, Elvin mentioned watching the races in individual can be an thrilling and visually arresting expertise. “That complete coastal line from the nationwide park all the way down to Wollongong is so gorgeous,” she mentioned. “The surge on that closing circuit with Mount Nice ensures that individuals who come out to look at in individual get to see the riders greater than as soon as.
“In case you get to face on any a part of that circuit, you get to see the ladies come by six occasions and the lads 12 occasions, so it’s a extremely nice vantage level.”
Stan Sport is the one place to look at each race from the 2022 UCI Street World Championships in Wollongong from September 18 – 25.
View the Stan Sport schedule right here.
