When rivals become team-mates: The tactical puzzle of the World Cycling Championships

​The Road World Championships are all about gold, silver and bronze, yet it is precisely at the most important one-day race of the year that the well-established structures of professional cycling are suspended. Riders who would otherwise be rivals become team-mates; clear hierarchies are sometimes absent; and without team radio, every tactical decision becomes even more complicated. Montréal could therefore become not only a battle between the strongest riders, but also a duel between the best national teams.

For the professionals, the World Championships present an unusual situation. Whilst they ride for their brand teams for almost the entire season, at the World Championships they suddenly find themselves competing in their national jerseys. In Montréal, for example, Belgium is fielding a strong team made up of riders from various professional teams. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) and Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) normally compete against each other, but on this day they have to work together.

This brings together a wealth of talent, but it does change the usual routines. Unlike in their professional teams, the riders do not compete together in this line-up for an entire season. At the World Championships, therefore, individual interests and differing strengths must be combined into a shared strategy within the space of just a few days of racing. Particularly for the major cycling nations, this is a challenge whose outcome can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Belgium and the problem of having two trump cards

The Belgian national team illustrates just how complicated this can get. Evenepoel and Van Aert both have the potential to become world champions. On the demanding course in Montréal, however, Evenepoel is the clear favourite. The newly crowned time trial world champion is not only in excellent form, but, judging by his recent results, is also one of the leading contenders for the rainbow jersey. Nevertheless, Van Aert seems far too strong to be deployed merely as a support rider. The Belgian national coach, Serge Pauwels, has therefore explicitly stated that he wants to maximise Belgium’s chances as a whole, rather than those of any individual rider. Both cards are to be played without the team captains racing against one another.

The fact that this is being discussed in such detail at all highlights the downside of such a dual leadership structure. Even before the 2022 World Championships, the division of roles between Evenepoel and Van Aert was a major talking point, following tensions that had arisen in the wake of the 2021 World Championships on home soil. In 2022, however, the arrangement worked: Evenepoel made it into the decisive group and went on to win the world title, whilst Van Aert maintained his own chance behind him. Belgium was also able to deploy both riders tactically in the 2024 Olympic road race, with Evenepoel ultimately winning gold.

So having two leaders is by no means a disadvantage. On the contrary: having two different options for victory can make a team difficult for the competition to read. The challenge lies in ensuring that each rider knows exactly when to pursue his own chances and when to work for the other. According to Pauwels, the race itself should therefore determine how the roles develop.

At the World Cup, opponents suddenly become helpers

However, the underlying problem is not limited to Belgium. A national team is not a traditional professional team. Riders who pursue different interests on the rest of the racing days of the year suddenly have to work together to control a race, close gaps or set up attacks. This does not necessarily have to go wrong. The best professionals have known each other for years from the peloton and are thoroughly familiar with the tactical demands of major races. Nevertheless, there is sometimes a lack of those automatic processes that can develop within a WorldTour team over the course of a long season.

Added to this are differing interests: one rider may be there purely as support, whilst another has a realistic chance of winning a medal. The stronger a nation’s line-up, the greater its tactical options may become, but the more important it is to have a clear division of roles. At a World Championship in particular, therefore, it is not just a question of who has the strongest captain, but also which country is best at rallying its riders towards a common goal.

Del Toro won’t have his usual UAE squad

Mexico represents the other extreme. Following his victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, Isaac del Toro is one of the hot favourites for the world title. Riding for UAE Team Emirates – XRG, the Mexican is used to competing at the very highest level as part of a team with numerous riders. However, the situation changes significantly when he’s wearing the national jersey.

Although Mexico has unequivocally named Del Toro as its key rider for the World Championships, none of his intended support riders will be competing at WorldTour level in 2026. This could well prove to be a significant tactical disadvantage compared to nations such as Belgium. A recent World Championships preview describes Mexico’s problem in similar terms: whilst Del Toro has already won on the Mont Royal course, he has significantly less team depth compared with other nations.

It’s not just a matter of keeping up with the team leader for as long as possible on the climbs. Support staff must monitor breakaway groups, identify dangerous racing situations, secure positions and ensure that their own favourite does not waste energy unnecessarily. The tougher and more chaotic a World Championship race becomes, the more valuable a strong team can be.

For Del Toro, this presents an interesting dilemma: he may well be one of the strongest individual riders in the race, yet he is still at a tactical disadvantage compared to his main rivals. If he has to respond to decisive attacks himself, whilst other favourites can rely on their support riders, it takes its toll. And over a distance of almost 274 kilometres, any unnecessary strain can ultimately make a difference.

No team radio: Suddenly, the riders have to make their own decisions again

An additional factor exacerbates this dynamic: at the World Championships, riders have no access to team radio. The Belgian national coach, Serge Pauwels, also explicitly points this out and, for this very reason, sees the need to determine in advance exactly when Evenepoel or Van Aert should attack or hold back.

This is one crucial way in which the World Championships differ from the day-to-day reality of many professional races. Information does not always reach the rider immediately from the support vehicle. Anyone who misses a dangerous group at the front has to assess the situation on the road for themselves. The gaps between riders, the composition of a breakaway group and the balance of power between the nations therefore take on added significance.

Yet that is precisely where its special appeal lies. What makes it harder for the teams to maintain control also restores some of the character of cycling’s early days to the race. The riders have to be more attuned to what is happening around them. Experience, racing instinct and communication within the group become increasingly important. Not every decision can be approved by the sports director before it is made.

Less control, more World Cup

And perhaps it is precisely this unpredictability that makes the World Championships road race so special. The world’s strongest riders line up at the start, yet they cannot simply bring their usual structures from their professional teams with them. Belgium has two outstanding options in Evenepoel and Van Aert and must devise a strategy that works with them. Mexico is effectively banking everything on Del Toro, but cannot provide its team leader with the same calibre of support riders that he is used to in his everyday professional life.

That shifts the balance of power. All the more so on a course where the strain builds up lap after lap and decisions may be made long before the home straight. A favourite can be physically outstanding and still lose tactically. A two-man lead can become a problem, but it can also be a decisive weapon. And a supposed support rider can suddenly find himself in a race situation where nobody can tell him over the radio what to do.

However modern professional cycling has become, the World Championships still retain a touch of their old unpredictability. Perhaps that is precisely what makes it so appealing: in the end, it is not just performance metrics that determine who wins the rainbow jersey, but also who makes the right decision at the right moment on the road.