1987 UCI Road World Championships – Men's Road Race
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The Men's Individual Road Race of the 1987 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on September 6 in
Villach Villach (; ; ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Austria and the second-largest in the federal state of Carinthia. It is an important traffic junction for southern Austria and the whole Alpe-Adria region. , the population is 61,887. Together wit ...
, Austria. The route consisted of twenty-three laps totaling to a length of . Irishman Stephen Roche won the race, while Italian Moreno Argentin and Spaniard Juan Fernández finished second and third, respectively. By winning the race, Roche also completed the Triple Crown of Cycling, which consists of winning two Grand Tour races and the men's road race at the
UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...
in a calendar year.


Race route and details

The race route contained 23 laps of , equaling a total of racing in all. Each lap featured two climbs that were and , respectively, with some portions having a ten percent
gradient In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function f of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p gives the direction and the rate of fastest increase. The g ...
. The race started at 10:30 AM local time. Sportswriters found the course to be suited for sprinters, believing that the race would likely result in a sprint finish. Swiss rider Bernard Gavillet stated that it favored the sprinters and the pure climbers chances "are almost zero." The race featured a 500,000 Swiss francs prize for the first place rider, to split among his fellow countrymen. The
Italian Cycling Federation The Italian Cycling Federation or FCI (in Italian: ''Federazione Ciclistica Italiana'') is the national governing body of cycle racing in Italy. The FCI is a member of the UCI and the UEC. History The Italian Cycling Federation was born, ...
had an additional bonus that they'd award each team member 120,000 Swiss francs if an Italian won the race.


Participants and race favorites

The race began with 168 riders from 26 different countries, of which 71 finished. ''L'Impartial'' writer Michel Deruns felt the race was open to 40 or so riders to win the event as he felt it would likely end in a bunch sprint. The starting field featured the previous year's winner Moreno Argentin, who was seen as the race favorite by many journalists and the Austrian bookmakers. Guido Bontempi (Italy), Sean Kelly (Ireland), Teun van Vliet (Dutch), and Eric Vanderaerden (Belgium) as other riders capable of winning the race. Swiss rider
Erich Maechler Erich Mächler (also spelled Maechler) (born 24 September 1960 in Hochdorf (Lucerne), Hochdorf) is a former professional Swiss cyclist. In the 1987 Tour de France, he wore the yellow jersey for 6 days. He was the Swiss National Road Race Champions ...
who won
Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...
that season was viewed as Switzerland's best hope to win the race. A writer for ''Amigoe'' believed the Dutch and Italian teams to be the best teams competing in the race. ''La Stampa'' writer Gian Paolo Ormezzano believed an Italian rider would win the race, specifically Argentin or Bontempi, but stated the Dutch riders were a team to "fear." Cees Olsthoorn of ''Het vrije volk'' believed that
Steven Rooks Steven Rooks (born 7 August 1960) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995. Career In the 1988 Tour de France, Rooks finished second and won a finish o ...
and van Vliet were the Dutch riders with the best chances of winning.
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and
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
winner Stephen Roche was viewed as a contender due to his great form throughout the season. There was significant media coverage around Roche because if he won the race, he would win cycling's Triple Crown, where one wins the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and the men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in one calendar year. Only five cyclists had won the two Grand Tours in a single season by that point. A writer for ''The Guardian'' stated that if the climbs were higher, Roche's chances would be better. There were concerns over Roche's fitness at the time because he took a break from racing following his Tour success and in his first race back (Italy's Three Valleys), he did not perform well.


Race summary

After speculation of the start being delayed due to severe thunderstorms, the race began on time, during heavy rain. The rain on course caused the earlier portion of the race to be slower, what ''De Telegraaf'' described as "dull." Portugal's Orlando Neves attacked off the front of the peloton early and established a lead of nearly two minutes, but was caught by the main field later. On the eighteenth lap, Jan Nevens (Belgium), Argentin (Italy), van Vliet (Dutch), and Juan Fernández (Spain) formed a breakaway. The quartet stretched a lead of one minute over chasing riders. As the riders chased the leaders, Roche (Ireland) and Steve Bauer (Canada) led a group of fifteen to join the leading four during the twenty-first lap. Roche had been principally working to help teammate Sean Kelly get to a final sprint. Shortly after joining the lead bunch,
Erik Breukink Erik Breukink (born 1 April 1964) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist. In 1988, Breukink won the youth competition in the Tour de France. In 1990, finished 3rd in the 1990 Tour de France. Most recently, he served as the manager of ...
made a move off the front, only to be caught by Belgian Jozef Lieckens. Van Vliet made another move between three kilometers and one and a half kilometers to go, which Roche,
Rolf Sørensen Rolf Sørensen (born 20 April 1965) is a former Danish professional road bicycle racer. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he has lived sin ...
(Denmark), Guido Winterberg and Rolf Gölz (Germany) followed. These attacks by the Dutch riders split the group of thirteen on the road, which left Kelly in the group behind. Sørensen feigned a move with close to remaining, which promoted Roche to react and overtake him as the finish approached. Roche beat Argentin to the line by four bike lengths, as the trailing group bridged the gap.


Result


Aftermath

Roche became the first ever Irishman to win the men's road race at the
UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...
. In addition, he became the second rider – after
Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...
in 1974 – to complete the Triple Crown of Cycling, which consists of winning two Grand Tour races and the men's road race at the
UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...
in a calendar year. Upon finishing the race, Roche stated that was like "a fairy tale" and that he "came to Austria to help ean Kelly" going on to mention how the course did not suit him and he was not well prepared for the race. Roche commented on his day's performance saying: "Normally, I never do that kind of move – sprinting from the front for so long – but I realized that If I didn't do something, I'd finish fourth or fifth." For his achievements during the 1987 cycling season, Roche was named Freedom of the City of Dublin and became the first athlete to be given this honor. Michel Deruns of ''L'Impartial'' felt that the race was one of the best in the past twenty years in the event, with Roche being the only rider deserving of winning. He stated that Roche did a great job at trying to support Kelly and the two quelled any attacks from the field as the race wound down. Dutchman Teun van Vliet stated that Germany's Rolf Gölz was on his wheel as Roche launched the final attack. Van Vliet stated "I was still fresh", but he elected not to chase hard after Roche as Gölz would benefit from his
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and have a great chance to win the race, to which van Vliet commented "I didn't like that thought." Fellow countryman,
Adri Van der Poel Adri van der Poel (born 17 June 1959) is a retired Dutch cyclist. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included six classics, two stages of the Tour de France and the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 1996. He als ...
felt the Dutch team had a strong showing and commented: "If we can continue to build with this group, there will be more in the future. Then success cannot be inevitable." ''De Telegraaf'' felt the Dutch team performed very well, citing three riders finished in the top nine placings. Jean-Paul van Poppel was regarded as the worst Dutch performer as his legs' "blocked" during the first lap and did not finish the race. Durens felt the Swiss riders collectively raced an aggressive race, with two riders, Guido Winterberg and
Jörg Müller Jörg Müller (, ; born 3 September 1969) is a Dutch-born German BMW factory driver. Racing career Born in Kerkrade, Netherlands, Müller won the titles in 1989 German Formula Opel Lotus Challenge and in 1989 European Formula Ford 1600. Th ...
, finishing in the lead bunch. He felt that if the two riders worked together in the final sprint, Winterberg could have finished in the top five or placed on the podium.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1987 UCI Road World Championships - Men's road race UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race UCI Road World Championships - Men's road race 1987 UCI Road World Championships 1987 Super Prestige Pernod International