Leuven (Belgium) (AFP)

Julian Alaphilippe puts his title of world cycling champion on the line on Sunday in the Flandrian lands of Wout van Aert, the big favorite of this spectacular World Cup.

A year after the coronation of Imola in Italy, the French said to reset "the counter to zero".

At the start of the 268.3 kilometers in Antwerp, he is only one of the contenders, the first asset of an ambitious French team but aware of tackling a strong part.

"It's a very difficult race," warns national coach Thomas Voeckler.

"We are not at all in the configuration of last year, the world champion will be a strong one, for sure, but we can have surprises".

"You have to do it according to several parameters", insists Voeckler, citing jumbled up the course, the weather (rather lenient according to the forecasts), the formula of the national selections which breaks with the teams of brands, the friendships or personal enmities likely to influence the tactical game beyond the official instructions.

The course ?

"It makes one think of a classic, with the intensity that the race will have, with the distance of nearly 270 kilometers", explains van Aert, inducted only leader of the Belgian team but without any of his usual teammates in the selection.

"The Flandrian circuit will be tough. The final loop in Louvain is not difficult in itself but it has many turns, obstacles, revivals. We could see a group of 30 to 50 riders in the final".

Belgian Wout van Aert during the Tokyo Olympics in Oyama, Japan on July 24, 2021 Tim de Waele POOL / AFP / Archives

"The race will be very difficult, it will be necessary to be strong to make the difference", adds Alaphilippe, satisfied by a year rich in strong emotions and reasonably confident before the meeting: "I really feel better and better. I'll be there, I've worked hard. "

- Race control -

"Everything does not depend on me", adds the defending champion who is surrounded in the national jersey by riders accustomed to the Flandrian classics, such as Christophe Laporte, Anthony Turgis and especially Florian Sénéchal (in great shape), the puncher Benoît Cosnefroy and also the sprinter Arnaud Démare supposed to have come only as a team member.

But it is Alaphilippe who focuses the eyes of the opponents.

"He will respond present", confirms the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, usually the great rival of van Aert in the Flandrian classics but this time out of step because of a preparation thwarted by his fall of the Tokyo Olympics in mountain biking.

+ VDP +, missed out on a title that seemed promised to him in 2019 due to a breakdown of his legs in the last kilometers, claims to be ready.

"Otherwise I would not take the start," he adds.

However, Raymond Poulidor's grandson also designates van Aert as his favorite: "He would make a fine world champion. There are few riders who are faster than him on a finish like this. I think. so it's up to the Belgians to control the race. "

The other credible candidates for the title are to be sought on the side of Italy, with the European champion Sonny Colbrelli from a brand team (Bahrain) euphoric for several months, from the Danish block able to bet on numerical superiority if the race is settled in the final (Asgreen, Cort, Honoré, M. Pedersen, Valgren) and renowned individuals who shone at the beginning of the summer.

Briton Tom Pidcock, Olympic mountain biking champion, and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, winner of the Tour de France (and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April), have the right profile.

© 2021 AFP