Initially, the World Cycling Championships were to take place in the Swiss mountain town of Eagle, which is also home to the International Cycling Union (UCI). In August, however, the Swiss government decided to tighten restrictions to combat the rapid spread of Covid – 19. The decisions made made it impossible for the World Cup to take place in Switzerland.
Operationally, the UCI worked on the transfer of the championship to another country. The important competition was moved to the Italian city of Imola, near Bologna. The competition will take place this week from Thursday to Sunday. The titles of the champion this year will be determined only in the elite group, but previously the athletes of the junior and U-23 groups also competed in the world championship.
Latvia will be represented at the World Championship by five athletes. Skujiņš and Neilands, who have successfully completed the “Tour de France”, will start from the riders of the group of elite men, which will take place on Sunday. They will also be joined by the new Latvian champion in the group race – Lukševics.
Latvia will have two representatives in the women’s competition. Already on Thursday, Rožlapa will start his individual race. The athlete, who grew up in Talsi, convincingly triumphed in the Latvian championship this year, coming to the title for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, the multiple Latvian champion Laizāne will start in the world championship group race on Saturday.
The terrain of the competition distances in Imola promises to be rich in ascents, which will be more convenient for those cyclists who can prove themselves well on ascents of many different lengths and steepness. For sprinters and classicists, this distance is not really suitable.
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