On the hunt for rainbows

We’re referring about the World Championships in Glasgow (Scotland) which, this year, unique occasion, will gather all the races of all disciplines in one event, from July 3rd to 13th.

For the fans of road cycling, the busy program has begun today with the junior races. Tomorrow, Sunday 6 August, all eyes will be on the Men’s Elite Road Race, which will feature nine Lidl-Trek riders representing seven nations.

The first one to deserve a mention is Mads Pedersen, already crowned world champion in 2019 in Harrogate, who is in his own right is within the group of favourites for the 2023 title. He will represent Denmark together with national champion Mattias Skjelmose, who was tenth last year in Australia and came close to a place on the podium after a gutsy ride in the breakaway.

For Belgium we will be cheering for Jasper Stuyven, who came close to a rainbow podium in Leuven in 2021 and claimed a world title in 2009 as a junior. For Latvia, our support goes to Toms Skujins and national champion Emils Liepins.

The Luxembourg squad will feature the national champion Alex Kirsch, whilst Daan Hoole will represent The Netherlands. Racing for Italy we have the 2021 U23 World Champion Filippo Baroncini. Last but not least, one of Lidl-Trek’s strongest talents, Czech Mathias Vacek, who came close to the U23 title last year, finishing second.

To see the riders of the Lidl-Trek women team in action, you will have to wait a week. The Women’s Elite Road Race is scheduled for the last day of the World Championships, Sunday 13th. At the start there will be two of our athletes who have already experienced the rainbow joy, namely Lizzie Deignan, representing Great Britain and winner in Richmond in 2015, and Elisa Balsamo, leader of the Italian national team who won the rainbow jersey in 2021 in Leuven (as well as in 2016 in Qatar among the juniors).

For Australia, there will be Amanda Spratt (twice on the podium at the World Champs in 2018 and 2019) and Lauretta Hanson. For The Netherlands we have the young Shirin Van Anrooij, for Germany Lisa Klein and at the end, for Italy, in addition to the aforementioned Balsamo, Ilaria Sanguineti.

The final mention goes to Belgian Thibau Nys who will be in action on 12th August in the Men’s U23 road race. For him it will be the debut in the category, after taking sixth place in 2021 among the juniors.

The first event of the time trials is Team Time Trial Mixed Relay, scheduled for Tuesday, August 8th. Five riders will be involved: one man, Daan Hoole (The Netherlands), and four women, namely Lauretta Hanson (Australia), Shirin Van Anrooij, (Netherlands), Elynor Bäckstedt (Great Britain) and Lisa Klein (Germany).

In the men’s time trial, scheduled for Friday 11th, there will be three riders at the start: national champions Toms Skujins (Latvia) and Mathias Vacek (Czech Republic), as well as Daan Hoole from the Netherlands.

At the end of our guide, a special mention is reserved for Elisa Balsamo and Lisa Klein, whose schedule will also be enriched by track races.