On the last day of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, Team USA competed in the Elite Men’s Road Race, contesting 267 km throughout New South Wales.
Neilson Powless (Roseville, Calif.; EF Education-EasyPost), Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers), Scott McGill (Fallston, Md.; Wildlife Generation), Kyle Murphy (Washington, D.C.; Human Powered Health), and Keegan Swenson (Park City Utah; Santa Cruz Bicycles) lined up for the Elite Men’s Road Race.
One hour and 39 minutes into the race, a break of eleven riders broke away from the field, including 24-year-old McGill. A 5-person chase caught the bridged to the lead group, growing their numbers and increasing the pace, pushing the gap between the leaders and the main field to as large as 6 minutes.
This lead group stuck for 191 km, but the pace from the peloton was dialed up as the race went through the Mount Pleasant climb for the eighth time. Attacks started regularly coming, from both the lead group and the peloton, making for very dynamic racing. After his hard work at the front, McGill was dropped but continued riding strong. The lead group narrowed down to eight riders, but a group of 25 were on the chase, including McGill and Powless. The chase held strong, closing the gap to the leaders, keeping them within 30-seconds.
At 55 km to go, the chase caught the leaders, attacks picking up the pace. At that point, two Americans were in the lead group with McGill and Powless. One by one, riders attacked at the front in an unrelenting drive to the finish, including Powless attacking with 40 km to go. Finally, Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) attacked, but Remco Evenpoel (BEL) wouldn’t let him go, counterattacked, and broke away from the leaders.
On the penultimate lap, Evenpol extended his lead to over a minute, soloing off the front to eventually win the World Championship. The top American for the day, Powless, finished in the final bunch sprint taking 18th place, along with McGill finishing with a ride he could be proud of.
1. Remco Evenpoel (BEL) – 6:16:08
2. Christophe Laporte (FRA) – +2:21
3. Michael Matthews (AUS) – +2:21
18. Neilson Powless (USA) – +2:21
73. Keegan Swenson (USA) – +6:37
78. Magnus Sheffield (USA) – +6:37
