Preview: Women's World Championship Road Race 2022

The 2022 World Championships are taking place in Wollongong, Australia on Saturday. The course is technical and challenging. There will be a lot of opportunities for riders who lack support. The race will take place between opportunistic riders and a few stacked teams.

The 164.3 km course includes one ascent of Mount Kiera and six laps of the Wollongong city circuit. The first climb is 8.7 km long and lasts with a max grade of 15%. The back-to-back climbs on the circuit are also challenging. It's going to be a long race for the women. The final climb and run to the finish looks a lot like the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. Whoever crests the top of that climb first will wear the jersey shortly after. Women's World Championship Road race is one of longer one-day events on calendar.

The start list of every World Championships is a bit weird. This year it's especially interesting because of the inclusion of U23 race. The winner won't be able to wear the jersey in races next season. Dutch and Italians have the most riders on the startlist. Italians are better at working together than Dutch. Annemiek van Vleuten is not sure if she will race on Saturday.   The Dutch have a history of poor tactics. They have won in the past because they have strength. That doesn't seem to work out for them anymore. Anna Kiesenhofer was picked for the Olympic road race, and whoever is the new world champion on Sunday morning might not be top of mind today.

The women's world championship road race will be broadcast on GCN+ and Eurosport on Saturday, 24th September at 12:25 local time. North American viewers can find the coverage on FloBikes.