2024 Cycling Worlds: live from the men's road race in Montreal

The men's peloton advances on Sunday towards a 273.7 km course in Montreal, with a final hilly circuit taken 12 times.

In the absence of Tadej Pogacar, all dreams are allowed. Double title holder but withdrawn since his fall in the Vuelta, the Slovenian leaves the field open in the world cycling championships, Sunday September 27, in Montreal. With a demanding course of more than 270 km, including 12 laps of the final circuit with three listed difficulties, the expected profile of the future world champion is that of a puncher-climber.

Remco Evenepoel is aiming for an unprecedented double. Now a quadruple time trial world champion, Remco Evenepoel could become the first rider in history to win the time trial and the road race in the same edition of the Worlds. His teammate Wout Van Aert, however, has the same ambition.

Paul Seixas doesn't talk about age. Five years after Julian Alaphilippe's second world title, another Frenchman is a declared candidate for the rainbow jersey: Paul Seixas. At barely 20 years old, the fourth in the last Tour de France is one of the main candidates for the iridescent jersey.

If collectives like the Netherlands, Italy or the United States will be worth watching, single men can shine, like the Briton Tom Pidcock, but especially the Mexican Isaac Del Toro. Winner of the Montreal GP ahead of Seixas two weeks ago, he arrives at the head of a very modest Mexican selection.

The flag is lowered, let's go for 273 km of racing! David Lappartient, the president of the UCI gives the real start of these Worlds, the 92nd in history.

It's a battle at the head of the peloton to form the first breakaway of the day, with some big nations represented like Italy and Norway.

Let’s talk now about the crazy story of the day: the Slovak masseur! Slovakia, overwhelmed by the packages, has lined up a member of its medical staff at the start: Vladimir Kovacik. This 28-year-old former runner is a masseur and trainer for the selection.

First tactical indication: it was the Netherlands who took the lead of the peloton, behind the breakaway. Which confirms that Mathieu van der Poel did not come to Montreal to discover the joys of poutine and maple syrup.