Riders brave apocalyptic conditions during the elite men's road race
Image 1 of 18
Some very British weather for the elite men's road race at the 2019 World Championships in Yorkshire (Image credit: Getty IMages)
Image 2 of 18
Colombia's Nairo Quintana bravely goes bare-legged in the atrocious conditions (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 3 of 18
An official-timing car gingerly makes its way through one of the course's deep puddles (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 4 of 18
The riders push on through deep water early in the elite men's road race (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 5 of 18
The day's early break gets its feet wet on a very wet section of the course (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 6 of 18
The Netherlands' Jos van Emden leads the peloton through one of the course's larger puddles (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 7 of 18
The Australian team dreams of sunny beaches back home (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 8 of 18
Umbrellas were the order of the day among the crowd, but there was no such protection for the riders (Image credit: Getty IMages)
Image 9 of 18
France's Julian Alaphilippe shows the after-effects of a long, wet day in the saddle (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 10 of 18
It was an unlucky day for former world champion Philippe Gilbert (Belgium) who crashed early on the wet finishing circuits and quit the race after trying to get back into contention (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 11 of 18
Riders push on through one of the large puddles on the course (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 12 of 18
Ecuador's Jefferson Cepeda kicks up some spray going through one of the many large puddles on the course of the elite men's road race at the 2019 World Championships in Yorkshire (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 13 of 18
Slovakia's Juraj Sagan almost looks like he's enjoying himself (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 14 of 18
Luxembourg's Ben Gastauer grits his teeth and goes for it through one of the race's many huge puddles (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 15 of 18
It was a long day for Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) who eventually finished eighth (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 16 of 18
The Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel was unable to match the huge expectation that had been heaped upon him, fading to finish 43rd after at one point having been part of the winning breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 17 of 18
Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet is still full of fight on the wet Harrogate finishing circuit (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Image 18 of 18
Denmark's Mads Pedersen defies the weather – and his rivals – to win the 2019 World Championships elite men's road race in Harrogate (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The rain before the race was so intense that the UCI was forced to shorten the race from 288km to 261km, cutting out some of the most badly flooded areas on the moors. The peloton still had to traverse some deep standing water early in the race, soaking everyone through to the skin.
On the closing circuits, the showers were on and off, but the plummeting temperatures left many riders too cold to put forth their best efforts.
Defending champion Alejandro Valverde said he was 'completely frozen'.
Looking at some of these pictures in our 'bad-weather gallery', it's easy to understand why.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
