Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. Here’s a rundown of the latest results before we get started:
- UCI World Championships, Men’s Elite Road Race, Sun 27th September: 1st Brandon McNulty, United States, 6h 17min 04sec; 2nd Michael Matthews, Australia, +13sec; 3rd Mathieu van der Poel, Netherlands, +13sec.
- UCI World Championships, Women’s Elite Road Race, Sat 26th September: 1st Demi Vollering, Netherlands, 4h 45min 09sec; 2nd Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Poland, +00sec; 3rd Elisa Longo Borghini, Italy, +04sec.
- UCI World Championships, Men’s U23 Road Race, Fri 25th September: 1st Ashlin Barry, United States, 4h 17min 35sec; 2nd Héctor Álvarez, Spain, +53sec; 3rd Jesper Stiansen, Norway, +53sec.
- UCI World Championships, Women’s Junior Road Race, Fri 25th September: 1st Alejandra Neira, Spain, 2h 21min 00sec; 2nd Matilde Rossignoli, Italy, +00sec; 3rd Anja Grossmann, Switzerland, +00sec.
Demi Vollering and Brandon McNulty win rainbow jerseys
The UCI World Championships culminated with the elite road races and boy, did they not disappoint. On the women’s side, Demi Vollering (Netherlands) managed to grab the one main victory missing from her palmarès despite her initial attack being snuffed out by Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Poland) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) – who finished second and third respectively. It’s been quite the time for Niewiadoma-Phinney who just penned a two-year deal with Lidl-Trek too.
Brandon McNulty (United States), meanwhile, scored the biggest win of his career thanks to a 32.5km solo attack, a big helping of ‘group two syndrome’ and some dogged determination. He managed to evade the chasers as a sprint finish decided the final two spots on the podium. Michael Matthews (Australia) raced to silver as Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) grabbed bronze.
India to host UCI Road World Championships in 2032
The UCI has confirmed Pune in India will be the location of the UCI Road World Championships in 2032. It marks the first time that the country will host the events in what will be the 105th edition of the World Championships. The country will be the fourth Asian host, following Japan in 1990, Qatar in 2016 and the United Arab Emirates, which is due to host the Worlds in 2028.
Pune is in the state of Maharashtra in southwest India and sits 119km as the crow flies from the country’s largest city of Mumbai.
Il Lombardia 2026 route unveiled
As history dictates, the host and finish locations for Il Lombardia have swapped once again this year, meaning the men’s peloton will cover 239km from Bergamo to Como on Saturday 10th October. The hilly parcours serves up the Madonna del Ghisallo 178km into the day, with a punchy finale thanks to two ascents of the San Fermo della Battaglia sandwiching the Civiglio.
There will be a new winner this year as four-time consecutive defending champion Tadej Pogačar has ended his season through injury.
Katy Marchant retires
Olympic, World and European Champion Katy Marchant has retired from track cycling after 13 years. Marchant, who came to cycling later than most having started her career as a heptathlete, notably won gold in the women’s team sprint alongside Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell in the 2024 Olympic Games. The trio made history by becoming the first British Olympic champions.
See you next week.