Alberto Bettiol finished tenth, 4:03 behind new world champion Mathieu van der Poel but that simple statistic told little of his brave solo attack with 55 km to go and the emotions the Italian showed post race.
Bettiol attacked alone soon after his fellow team leader Matteo Trentin hit the foot of a barrier and crashed hard. The EF Education-EasyPost rider bravely pushed on alone, even through a rainstorm, extending his gap to 40 seconds at one point.
He was eventually caught with 22 km to go after an attack by van der Poel (Netherlands) and then cruelly passed by other riders in the final lap and half of the Glasgow circuit. He was so tired he needed help post race but had no regrets.
“This morning my Italian teammates and I had a dream, we were convinced we could win the world title. We weren’t interested in a podium spot, we wanted to win,” Bettiol told Italian television in the post-race mixed zone, his body fatigued and his eyes full of tears.
“I suffered like everyone but I took my chance. It was a risky move but I went for it. I wanted to anticipate the big four, I wanted to make their life hard, I wanted to dream big. I didn’t want to stay with them and risk a surprise, I tried to surprise them myself.”
“When I saw it was raining I went for it because I knew the speed would be the same out front and in the group. It was a difficult worlds, a crazy worlds.”
Bettiol’s lone attack didn’t come off and it cost him and Italy a chance of a better result but he didn’t care about that.
“I’m tired but I’m happy,” he said.
“It’s a privilege to ride for the Italian national team and it feels like I’m back in the Liquigas team when I was a young pro, many of the riders and staff are the same. I can only thank everyone who helped me to live this great day of racing. It’s a dream come true despite the result.
“We race to entertain the people, at least I do. Winning is always hard but if the Italian team continues to dream and continue to race like this, sooner or later we’ll win too.”
