World Cycling Championships: Favourites check with Jens Voigt: Five stars for two stars

*** Julian Alaphilippe

30 years, France

He has already been world champion twice (2020, 2021) - he is a champion and can handle pressure. At the Vuelta he is after his fall was eliminated. That looked very painful. Of course, he should have ridden the entire Vuelta to get the many kilometres of hard racing he needed after his long break following a serious crash in the spring. near Liège-Bastogne-Liège would have needed.

Click through: All previous world champions of the 2022 World Cycling Championships

On the other hand, perhaps the entire Vuelta would have been too much for him because he also had to work a lot for Evenepoel there. He was able to travel to the World Cycling Championships in Australia earlier and therefore has no jet lag problems. He is one of my extended favourites. As the reigning world champion, he is not travelling to Australia to finish 15th. So he trusts himself to drive well. Personally, I love watching him: He drives like a youngster: he just always wants to win.

*** Ethan Hayter

24 years, Great Britain

He's still very young, but he's already been British time trial champion twice, is extremely fast and hardy. In 2022, he was successful throughout the year - with two stage wins at the Tour de Romandie and overall victory at the Tour of Poland.

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Hopefully he has recovered properly after a corona infection and his withdrawal from the Vuelta. He is definitely a candidate for third to sixth place in Wollongong. He can also win if everything goes perfectly.

**** Tadej Pogacar

24 years old, Slovenia

He won the one-day race in Canada at the beginning of September. GP Montreal in a marvellous way - it was a similar circuit to the World Cycling Championships. For me, he is the biggest challenger of the two Belgians. He won't win the sprint against Wout van Aert and will have to and want to go on the offensive early on - that will make the race nice for us spectators.

My guess: this year he has the Tour de France He hasn't won yet, so he's still hungry and wants to finish the year with a bang at the World Championships. He has skipped the Vuelta to prepare himself.

***** Remco Evenepoel

22 years, Belgium

Belgium is well positioned, with two super-strong and equal captains. Alongside van Aert, Remco Evenepoel will lead the team - he is my second top favourite. He is the next superstar of cycling. He delivered an impressive performance at the Vuelta. Even a crash didn't rattle him there. I was impressed by how calm, composed and self-assured he was.

The Belgians will have a sensible plan to make it work - and will have learnt from the mistakes of the last World Cycling Championships, when there were discussions about Evenepoel's riding style.

***** Wout van Aert

28 years, Belgium

He is a world-class rider, is always close to 100 per cent of his form and has no weak point as a cyclist - except perhaps that he can't keep up with the best for three days in a row in the high mountains.

He proved his top form by winning the GP Ouest France Plouay four weeks before the World Cycling Championships. He is hard on the pace and the fastest in a bunch sprint. However, he could become a victim of his own fame and success. Everyone will say: He's so damn fast, I won't ride in a group with him.