Alejandro Valverde Clinches Road Worlds Victory in Close Sprint to Finish
Spain’s Alejandro Valverde ended years of frustration to win the 2018 UCI Road World Championships on Sunday, outpacing France’s Romain Bardet and Canada’s Michael Woods in a thrilling sprint for the finish line.
The trio had boosted their victory chances after crossing the summit of the notoriously difficult “Hottinger Hell” climb, featuring one section with a whopping 29-percent gradient, to leave key rivals in their wake.
Despite being joined with a little over 1K to go by Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, Valverde held his nerve inside the final meters to race unchallenged to the finish, where he beat Bardet by a bike length.
A breathless Valverde, who finished runner-up in the 2003 Road Worlds, broke down with the emotion of finally securing the rainbow jersey-arguably the most prestigious prize in the sport.
“It’s incredible, after all these years, struggling for the world title and to finally get it,” the 38-year-old Movistar rider said. “I knew I had no margin for error and that it was up to me to take my own destiny in hand.”
As soon as the quartet came into the final kilometer, Valverde looked the most likely to win. Both Bardet and Woods are stronger climbers, while all-rounder Dumoulin also lacks Valverde’s top-end finishing speed. “I knew I was possibly the strongest and was waiting for someone to make a move,” Valverde said.
Pre-race favorite Julian Alaphilippe, as well as Adam Yates and Vincenzo Nibali, were dropped on the steep gradients of the final climb.
“I have no excuses,” said Alaphilippe, who claimed the climber’s polka dot jersey at the Tour de France this year. “The last climb had me, my legs just couldn’t take it. I’m bitterly disappointed, but very happy for Romain [Bardet].”
Three-time and defending champion Peter Sagan had few hopes of winning a fourth title on the hilly circuit. After the fourth of seven ascents, the Slovakian called it a day.
The race started in the pretty town of Kufstein, Austria, where the temperature sat just above freezing as the riders set off through the lush Inn valley toward the finish in Innsbruck. Soon, an 11-man breakaway formed and opened a gap of almost 20 minutes.
The two final survivors of the original 11, Kasper Asgreen of Denmark and Vegard Stake Laengen of Norway, were eventually overtaken 22K out.
The peloton had upped the pace to catch the escapees, and with around 20K to go some of the pre-race favorites started to flag. Irish hopeful Dan Martin, whose wife recently had twins, began to struggle ahead of the last lap. Simon Yates, who won the Vuelta a España this year, and Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski quickly buckled as well.
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