2018 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
# 2018 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race

The Men's road race of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 30 September 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the 85th edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the three times defending champion, a record in the event. 188 riders from 44 nations entered the competition.

After previously winning six medals in the race without taking the gold medal, Spain's Alejandro Valverde took his first world title after a four-rider sprint finish decided the medals. Valverde went clear with a small group of riders on the steep Höttinger Höll climb, making headway on the descent with France's Romain Bardet and Canadian rider Michael Woods. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) joined the trio on the run-in to the finish, but his efforts to do so resulted in him missing out on the medals, behind Bardet (silver) and Woods (bronze).

Valverde's victory was the first for Spain in the event since Óscar Freire won the title in Verona, Italy in 2004. France and Canada also ended long streaks without a medal in the event as Bardet's silver was the first medal for France since Anthony Geslin won the bronze medal in Madrid, Spain in 2005, while Woods won only the second medal for a Canadian male rider in the road race, after Steve Bauer's bronze medal at the 1984 race, also in Spain in Barcelona.

## Course

The race started in Kufstein and headed south-west towards Innsbruck with a primarily rolling route, except for a climb of 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) between Fritzens and Gnadenwald – as had been in the time trial events earlier in the week – with an average 7.1% gradient and maximum of 14% in places. After 84.2 kilometres (52.3 miles), the riders crossed the finish line for the first time, before starting six laps of a circuit 23.8 kilometres (14.8 miles) in length. The circuit contained a climb of 7.9 kilometres (4.9 miles), at an average gradient of 5.9% but reaching 10% in places, from the outskirts of Innsbruck through Aldrans and Lans towards Igls. After a short period of flat roads, the race descended through Igls back towards Innsbruck.

On the seventh and final lap, the race continued onto a further loop of just over 7 kilometres (4.3 miles) at Hötting, with the 2.8-kilometre (1.7 mi)-long Höttinger Höll climb towards Gramartboden starting almost immediately. The climb featured an average gradient of 11.5%, with a portion of the climb reaching 28% around two-thirds up. Upon reaching the top, the race descended through Hungerburg back towards rejoining the original circuit with around 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) to go and heading towards the finish line in front of the Tyrolean State Theatre. In total, the race featured 4,681 metres (15,358 feet) of climbing.

## Qualification

Qualification was based mainly on the UCI World Ranking by nations as of 12 August 2018. The first ten nations in this classification qualified eight riders to start, the next ten nations qualified six riders to start, with the nations ranked 21st to 30th qualifying five riders to start. One rider from each of the next twenty nations was also qualified to start. In addition to this number, any rider within the top 200 of the UCI World Ranking by individuals that was not already qualified, the outgoing World Champion and the current continental champions were also able to take part.

### UCI World Rankings

The following nations qualified.

| Criterium | Rank | Number of riders | Number of riders | Nations |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Criterium | Rank | To enter | To start | Nations |
| UCI World Ranking by Nations | 1–10 | 13 | 8 | Italy Belgium France Great Britain Netherlands Spain Colombia Australia Denmark Slovenia |
| UCI World Ranking by Nations | 11–20 | 9 | 6 | Germany Norway Slovakia Poland Switzerland Ireland Czech Republic Russia Austria Luxembourg |
| UCI World Ranking by Nations | 21–30 | 7 | 4 | Portugal United States South Africa New Zealand Canada Kazakhstan Ecuador Latvia Belarus Estonia |
| UCI World Ranking by Nations | 31–50 | 2 | 1 | Ukraine Eritrea Japan Argentina Algeria Rwanda Iran Romania Croatia Costa Rica Turkey Hong Kong Venezuela Lithuania Sweden Morocco Azerbaijan Greece South Korea Brazil |
| UCI World Ranking by Individuals (if not already qualified) | 1–200 | 2 | 1 | — |

### Continental champions

| Name | Country | Reason |
| - | - | - |
| Peter Sagan | Slovakia | Outgoing World Champion |
| Amanuel Gebrezgabihier | Eritrea | African Champion |
| Yousif Mirza | United Arab Emirates | Asian Champion |

### Participating nations

188 cyclists from 44 nations were entered in the men's road race. The number of cyclists per nation is shown in parentheses.

* Argentina (1)
* Australia (8)
* Austria (6)
* Belarus (4)
* Belgium (8)
* Brazil (1)
* Canada (4)
* Colombia (8)
* Costa Rica (1)
* Croatia (1)
* Czech Republic (6)
* Denmark (8)
* Ecuador (2)
* Eritrea (2)
* Estonia (3)
* Ethiopia (1)
* France (8)
* Germany (6)
* Great Britain (8)
* Greece (1)
* Hong Kong (1)
* Iran (1)
* Ireland (4)
* Italy (8)
* Japan (1)
* Kazakhstan (4)
* Latvia (2)
* Lithuania (1)
* Luxembourg (6)
* Netherlands (8)
* New Zealand (4)
* Norway (6)
* Poland (6)
* Portugal (4)
* Romania (1)
* Russia (6)
* Slovakia (7)
* Slovenia (8)
* South Africa (2)
* Spain (8)
* Sweden (1)
* Switzerland (6)
* Ukraine (2)
* United States (4)

## Results

### Final classification

Of the race's 188 entrants, 76 riders completed the full distance of 258 kilometres (160 miles).

| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Alejandro Valverde | Spain | 6h 46' 41" |
| 2 | Romain Bardet | France | + 0" |
| 3 | Michael Woods | Canada | + 0" |
| 4 | Tom Dumoulin | Netherlands | + 0" |
| 5 | Gianni Moscon | Italy | + 13" |
| 6 | Roman Kreuziger | Czech Republic | + 43" |
| 7 | Michael Valgren | Denmark | + 43" |
| 8 | Julian Alaphilippe | France | + 43" |
| 9 | Thibaut Pinot | France | + 43" |
| 10 | Rui Costa | Portugal | + 43" |
| 11 | Ion Izagirre | Spain | + 43" |
| 12 | Bauke Mollema | Netherlands | + 49" |
| 13 | Mikel Nieve | Spain | + 52" |
| 14 | Sam Oomen | Netherlands | + 1' 21" |
| 15 | Nairo Quintana | Colombia | + 1' 21" |
| 16 | Peter Kennaugh | Great Britain | + 1' 21" |
| 17 | Jan Hirt | Czech Republic | + 1' 21" |
| 18 | George Bennett | New Zealand | + 1' 21" |
| 19 | Jack Haig | Australia | + 1' 21" |
| 20 | Jakob Fuglsang | Denmark | + 1' 21" |
| 21 | Domenico Pozzovivo | Italy | + 1' 21" |
| 22 | Andrey Zeits | Kazakhstan | + 1' 21" |
| 23 | Ben Hermans | Belgium | + 1' 32" |
| 24 | Simon Geschke | Germany | + 1' 54" |
| 25 | Sergey Chernetskiy | Russia | + 2' 00" |
| 26 | Mathias Frank | Switzerland | + 2' 10" |
| 27 | Steven Kruijswijk | Netherlands | + 2' 10" |
| 28 | Antwan Tolhoek | Netherlands | + 2' 10" |
| 29 | Dylan Teuns | Belgium | + 2' 10" |
| 30 | Odd Christian Eiking | Norway | + 2' 42" |
| 31 | Rudy Molard | France | + 2' 42" |
| 32 | Sébastien Reichenbach | Switzerland | + 2' 42" |
| 33 | Rigoberto Urán | Colombia | + 2' 57" |
| 34 | Primož Roglič | Slovenia | + 4' 00" |
| 35 | Rafał Majka | Poland | + 4' 00" |
| 36 | Alexey Lutsenko | Kazakhstan | + 4' 00" |
| 37 | Adam Yates | Great Britain | + 4' 00" |
| 38 | Wilco Kelderman | Netherlands | + 4' 00" |
| 39 | Nelson Oliveira | Portugal | + 5' 00" |
| 40 | Alessandro De Marchi | Italy | + 5' 05" |
| 41 | Merhawi Kudus | Eritrea | + 5' 44" |
| 42 | Xandro Meurisse | Belgium | + 5' 44" |
| 43 | Vegard Stake Laengen | Norway | + 5' 44" |
| 44 | David de la Cruz | Spain | + 5' 56" |
| 45 | Michael Gogl | Austria | + 5' 56" |
| 46 | Emanuel Buchmann | Germany | + 5' 56" |
| 47 | Pavel Sivakov | Russia | + 6' 00" |
| 48 | Sergio Henao | Colombia | + 6' 02" |
| 49 | Vincenzo Nibali | Italy | + 6' 02" |
| 50 | Greg Van Avermaet | Belgium | + 8' 08" |
| 51 | Pavel Kochetkov | Russia | + 8' 08" |
| 52 | Kasper Asgreen | Denmark | + 10' 22" |
| 53 | Franco Pellizotti | Italy | + 10' 33" |
| 54 | Carl Fredrik Hagen | Norway | + 12' 24" |
| 55 | Emil Vinjebo | Denmark | + 12' 57" |
| 56 | Łukasz Owsian | Poland | + 13' 05" |
| 57 | Ilnur Zakarin | Russia | + 13' 05" |
| 58 | Tony Gallopin | France | + 13' 05" |
| 59 | Patrick Konrad | Austria | + 13' 05" |
| 60 | Steve Morabito | Switzerland | + 13' 05" |
| 61 | Jesús Herrada | Spain | + 13' 09" |
| 62 | Toms Skujiņš | Latvia | + 13' 13" |
| 63 | Brent Bookwalter | United States | + 14' 23" |
| 64 | Damiano Caruso | Italy | + 14' 23" |
| 65 | Dario Cataldo | Italy | + 14' 23" |
| 66 | Hugh Carthy | Great Britain | + 14' 23" |
| 67 | Nicolas Roche | Ireland | + 14' 23" |
| 68 | Tim Wellens | Belgium | + 14' 23" |
| 69 | Pieter Weening | Netherlands | + 14' 23" |
| 70 | Rob Power | Australia | + 14' 23" |
| 71 | Richard Carapaz | Ecuador | + 14' 48" |
| 72 | Ben King | United States | + 15' 57" |
| 73 | Eduardo Sepúlveda | Argentina | + 16' 51" |
| 74 | Nico Denz | Germany | + 18' 17" |
| 75 | Gianluca Brambilla | Italy | + 19' 35" |
| 76 | Rob Britton | Canada | + 19' 37" |

### Failed to finish

112 riders failed to finish.

| Rider | Country |
| - | - |
| Enric Mas | Spain |
| Simon Clarke | Australia |
| Omar Fraile | Spain |
| Jonathan Castroviejo | Spain |
| Jacques Janse van Rensburg | South Africa |
| Tanel Kangert | Estonia |
| Michał Kwiatkowski | Poland |
| Wout Poels | Netherlands |
| Jesper Hansen | Denmark |
| Markus Hoelgaard | Norway |
| Peter Stetina | United States |
| Kilian Frankiny | Switzerland |
| Andriy Hrivko | Ukraine |
| Ildar Arslanov | Russia |
| Marcus Burghardt | Germany |
| Dan Martin | Ireland |
| Bob Jungels | Luxembourg |
| Ilia Koshevoy | Belarus |
| Tobias Ludvigsson | Sweden |
| Karel Hník | Czech Republic |
| Tao Geoghegan Hart | Great Britain |
| Damien Howson | Australia |
| Nick Schultz | Australia |
| Matej Mohorič | Slovenia |
| Simon Yates | Great Britain |
| Simon Špilak | Slovenia |
| Jan Polanc | Slovenia |
| Zdeněk Štybar | Czech Republic |
| Felix Großschartner | Austria |
| Sepp Kuss | United States |
| Patrick Schelling | Switzerland |
| Maximilian Schachmann | Germany |
| Amanuel Gebrezgabihier | Eritrea |
| Alexandr Riabushenko | Belarus |
| Daniil Fominykh | Kazakhstan |
| Michael Schär | Switzerland |
| Miguel Ángel López | Colombia |
| Ruben Guerreiro | Portugal |
| Rider | Country |
| Paul Martens | Germany |
| Michał Gołaś | Poland |
| Chris Hamilton | Australia |
| Edvald Boasson Hagen | Norway |
| Winner Anacona | Colombia |
| Conor Dunne | Ireland |
| Hideto Nakane | Japan |
| Ryan Mullen | Ireland |
| Laurens De Plus | Belgium |
| Jhonatan Narváez | Ecuador |
| Tsgabu Grmay | Ethiopia |
| Gregor Mühlberger | Austria |
| James Knox | Great Britain |
| Connor Swift | Great Britain |
| Tiago Machado | Portugal |
| Antoine Duchesne | Canada |
| Josef Černý | Czech Republic |
| Anthony Roux | France |
| Alexandre Geniez | France |
| Ben Gastauer | Luxembourg |
| Rory Sutherland | Australia |
| Mads Würtz Schmidt | Denmark |
| Laurent Didier | Luxembourg |
| Grega Bole | Slovenia |
| Jan Tratnik | Slovenia |
| Lukas Pöstlberger | Austria |
| Georg Preidler | Austria |
| Maciej Bodnar | Poland |
| Maciej Paterski | Poland |
| Patrick Bevin | New Zealand |
| Peter Sagan | Slovakia |
| Nikita Stalnov | Kazakhstan |
| Rohan Dennis | Australia |
| Serge Pauwels | Belgium |
| Dion Smith | New Zealand |
| Sebastián Henao | Colombia |
| Daniel Felipe Martínez | Colombia |
| Rider | Country |
| Tiesj Benoot | Belgium |
| Josip Rumac | Croatia |
| Matti Breschel | Denmark |
| Nicholas Dlamini | South Africa |
| Dmitry Strakhov | Russia |
| Rodrigo Contreras | Colombia |
| Sven Erik Bystrøm | Norway |
| Martin Haring | Slovakia |
| Tom Wirtgen | Luxembourg |
| Juraj Sagan | Slovakia |
| Patrik Tybor | Slovakia |
| Michael Kukrle | Czech Republic |
| Marek Čanecký | Slovakia |
| Krists Neilands | Latvia |
| Ian Stannard | Great Britain |
| Jempy Drucker | Luxembourg |
| Román Villalobos | Costa Rica |
| Andrii Bratashchuk | Ukraine |
| Warren Barguil | France |
| Domen Novak | Slovenia |
| Hugo Houle | Canada |
| Vasil Kiryienka | Belarus |
| Luka Pibernik | Slovenia |
| Rein Taaramäe | Estonia |
| Ignatas Konovalovas | Lithuania |
| Yauhen Sobal | Belarus |
| Niklas Eg | Denmark |
| Erik Baška | Slovakia |
| Martin Mahďar | Slovakia |
| Esmail Chaichi | Iran |
| Sam Bewley | New Zealand |
| Serghei Țvetcov | Romania |
| Alex Kirsch | Luxembourg |
| Stylianos Farantakis | Greece |
| Norman Vahtra | Estonia |
| Ho San Chiu | Hong Kong |
| Nícolas Sessler | Brazil |
