World-class video: Bettiol's amazing save and the turn that decided men's race

Mathieu Van Der Poel crashed in the turn before the Montrose St climb but still won the World Championships in Glasgow
Mathieu van der Poel crashed in the turn before the Montrose St climb but still won the World Championships in Glasgow (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

The UCI Road World Championships were predicted to be decided on the steep climb up Montrose Street - and while it was on West George Street that Mathieu van der Poel launched his race-winning attack to claim the elite men's title, Montrose still proved decisive because of a corner leading into the climb.

It was on this corner that Van der Poel crashed while on his successful solo move, sliding out as rain soaked the course and breaking off one of the fasteners on his shoe. After ripping off the broken part, he stormed off up the climb and re-opened his unassailable lead.

In the elite chasing group behind the Italian, Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecuador) crashed in the same spot, splitting the group and leaving Wout van Aert (Belgium), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia) and Van der Poel to fly up the climb and create an unclosable gap.

Montrose Street might not have been the site of the race-winning move, but it certainly ended the hopes of riders like Neilson Powless (USA) who tried to close the gap but fell just short, and the other Belgian hopeful Remco Evenepoel who couldn't chase with Van Aert up the road.

The atmosphere on the climb was electric as fans from around the world cheered on their favourite riders. Expect no less for the upcoming road races for under-23 men and elite women.

Laura Weislo
Managing Editor

Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.