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)
Colombia's Nairo Quintana bravely goes bare-legged in the atrocious conditions (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
An official-timing car gingerly makes its way through one of the course's deep puddles (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The riders push on through deep water early in the elite men's road race (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The day's early break gets its feet wet on a very wet section of the course (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The Netherlands' Jos van Emden leads the peloton through one of the course's larger puddles (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
The Australian team dreams of sunny beaches back home (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Umbrellas were the order of the day among the crowd, but there was no such protection for the riders (Image credit: Getty IMages)
France's Julian Alaphilippe shows the after-effects of a long, wet day in the saddle (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
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)
Riders push on through one of the large puddles on the course (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
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)
Slovakia's Juraj Sagan almost looks like he's enjoying himself (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
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)
It was a long day for Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) who eventually finished eighth (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
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)
Belgium's Greg Van Avermaet is still full of fight on the wet Harrogate finishing circuit (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
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 in the past 30 days*
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
