WORLD СНАМРIONSHIPS RR & TT PREVIEW

The breathtaking coastal scenery of South East Australia's Wollongong forms the backdrop for this year's Road World Championships - we preview the road race and time trial parcours and assess the top contenders' form cards

COURSE DETAILS

Road races

Worlds week is crowned by the weekend's elite road races, and the women's event at Wollongong is particularly notable this year for being the longest ever, at 164.3km. The distance has grown steadily since its inauguration in Reims, 1958, when it was 59.4km, and this is the first time it has risen above the 160km mark.

Both men and women begin with a 30km southward coastal traverse from the start at Helensburgh to the heart of the championships at Wollongong. Once there, both the men and the women embark on a single circuit over the considerable climb of Mount Keira, which sits just inland from the city and offers incredible views. At 8.7km long with a 5% average grade and ramps of up to 15%, it will add fatigue to the legs and see riders from lesser cycling nations dropped.

There is a long way for any splits to be repaired, but with both races going straight from Mount Keira into the more technical and lumpy Wollongong city circuit, controlling the time gaps will be difficult.

The 17-kilometre Wollongong circuit is essentially a criterium on steroids with a tough climb thrown in for good measure. With the men riding 12 laps and the women six, this is where most of the action is likely to happen. Descending off Mount Keira, the elite riders enter the course just after the finish line for a straightforward first few kilometres, before things get more tricky with frequent 90° turns left and right. This section leads to the short, sharp twin peaks of Mount Ousley and Mount Pleasant around the back of the course. These take riders pretty much from sea level to 119m in just over two kilometres, with a short downhill in the middle.

It's then a fast descent back to the coast and five kilometres along the seafront to the finish line.