2010 Road World Championships - The fight for the rainbow jersey

3rd October 2010 - Men's elite road race: Melbourne to Geelong

Cadel Evans wore the jersey with style in 2010

In just over a week, one man will be adorned in all the colours of the rainbow, as he takes his place on the podium as the new road champion of world cycling.

The rainbow jersey is a funny one. Theoretically, you could have had an absolutely useless year, hit form at just the right moment, and in the course of one race become the world champion of cycling, just like that!

Of course the title has to be taken with a pinch of salt. It doesn't carry the same weight as for example, the world champions of football, rugby, or athletics. Those titles are the absolute pinnacle of their sport, fought for over months of qualifying, often weeks of competition, on a level and consistent playing field, and generally always produce a winner worthy of being called the best in the world.

Cycling on the other hand carries many prestigious prizes, for many different types of rider. Some of the best cyclists won't even be taking part on October 3rd, because the parcours doesn't suit them, they don't have the form, or they've simply already achieved their goals for the season. Alberto Contador for example could hardly top winning the Tour de France for the third time, nor would he compromise that goal by attempting to peak again for the World Championships. Also, not many would have argued at the end of last year that Cadel Evans was a better all round bike rider than Contador, but he was nevertheless a very worth world champion.

So why do all world champions adorn their jerseys with rainbow piping for the rest of their career? If it isn't the race itself, what makes the rainbow jersey so prestigious? In my opinion it is the riders who have worn it: Fausto Coppi, Tom Simpson, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Greg Lemond, Stephen Roche, Johan Museeuw, Oscar Freire, the list goes on, and on, and on. This is what motivates so many riders year after year to go for one final push, in one of the last but most anticipated days of the season.

Unfortunately, the rainbow jersey has traditionally carried a curse, often damning the winner to an atrocious season the following year. This only serves to illustrate what a fantastic year Cadel Evans had, littered with highlights, and if he is unable to defend his title next week, a feat accomplished by only 5 riders since the competition began in 1927, it will be with some sadness that I watch him give it up.

Funny, given that just over a year ago I couldn't stand the man who was all fists and elbows with reporters at the 2009 Tour de France. In 2010 he has shown he is a rider and a man of real character, if seemingly a little eccentric at times.

His season began strongly, placing 6th at the Tour Down Under, before going even better with a highly consistent 3rd overall at Tirreno-Adriatico. But it was at the Spring Classics that he really began to find his legs, with a strong showing at Amstel Gold and 5th in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which followed a brilliant win in the Fleche-Wallone. That win called on all the craft and experience attained from 6 previous attempts at the race, as a late surge for the line blew Joaquin Rodriguez and Alberto Contador out of the water.

Cadel Evans, victorious on the Mur de Huy

But it is Evans's two Grand Tours that I will really remember his year in the rainbow for. Although he eventually finished only, 'only', 5th in the Giro, he wore the maglia rosa for a day, won the points jersey, and won what has been touted as one of the best ever stages in a Grand Tour.

As the riders entered Montalcino at the end of stage 7, bloodied, bruised, and drenched to the bone with the wet and mud of the sodden Strade Bianchi, it was Cadel Evans with a typical late surge, reminiscent of his attack at Mendrisio, who took a famous win. He may have looked like the riding dead as he crossed the line but it only made his victory seem all the more epic.

The sight of Evans dragging his bike up the Zoncolan in pursuit of Basso is another memory I will cling to. He seemed to be tearing every sinew, fighting every demon to get to that line. He didn't have the legs but my God did he have the will.

His Tour de France was not quite so successful, eventually finishing 50mins behind Contador in 26th place. It was, nevertheless, with tremendous courage and resilience that he rode on to the end of the race with a fractured elbow. The number of times I saw him fighting to get back onto the leading group, having been dropped on the climbs, is testament to his worth as a world champion.

It wouldn't be crazy to suggest that there is a chance he could retain his title this year. The parcours is tough enough to eliminate a lot of the really fast men, and favours someone punchy and good in the classics, just like Evans. But I think it will be a real strong man who takes victory, and he will have fierce competition from a number of in form rivals.

The 2010 Road World Championship route profile

Everyone's favourite is Philippe Gilbert. He showed fantastic form in the Vuelta, the strongest performance for me being his stage win in Toledo. That finish was not dissimilar to the finish in Geelong, although the final climb in Geelong is shorter and sharper. But the finishing straight was a long drag, just as it will be in Australia. The way Gilbert held off a strong challenge from Tyler Farrar clearly shows he has very good legs on at the moment.

On the basis of that performance however, I wouldn't write off Tyler Farrar. He has proved he can get over a lump or two and still come up with a powerful finish. He is one of a selection of sprinters who could still provide a stern challenge come the end of the race.

Mark Cavendish is another. The Manxman has another extraordinary season, with 5 stage wins in the Tour, 3 in the Vuelta to go with his points jersey, and he seems to be finding top form again just in time to challenge for the rainbow stripes. He also proved he can overcome the bumps when he took a fantastic win in San Remo, 2009. For me though, the course is just too hard. Without a large team around him to pull any attacks back, he'll need to rely on the work of others as I can't see him being able to follow. Hopefully he can prove me wrong.

That leaves a handful of other assorted riders in with a shout: sprinters with strong resistance, like Oscar Freire who is going for a 4th title, even Pozzato; other strong classics riders like Frank Schleck who came into form at the back end of the Vuelta; perhaps even the climbers like Vincenzo Nibali, what a feat that would be on the back of his first Grand Tour.

Two men it could also well be worth keeping an eye are Simon Gerrans and Peter Sagan. The young Slovak had a ferocious first half of the season, taking 2 stages at Paris-Nice, 1 at GP de Romandie, and 2 at the Tour of California. He will be more than ably supported by the Velits brothers and could be a big threat. Gerrans will be on home turf, and though he's had a season marred by illness, he is sure to come to the race in some kind of form and he is the ideal rider for a course like this.


It will come down to how the course is raced. A sprint finish will only be on the cards if the fast men are feeling good on the day, and if their teams have the manpower left to pull back any attacks. I would love to see Mark Cavendish in the rainbow jersey next year, but I get the feeling that once the attacks go, they will go hard, and the course around Geelong is enough to blow the race apart.

I predict a small coming together on the run in to the finish, with one of the quicker strong men taking it in a sprint.

Here's to hoping!