This weekend, 206 men and 174 women will line up in Yorkshire, England, for the . Unless you鈥檙e a hardcore cycling fan, you probably aren鈥檛 going to watch. But you should, because it may be your last chance to see two once-in-a-generation talents race on the road, maybe for several years.
Start with , the 22-year-old American who, on Tuesday, became the youngest-ever women鈥檚 world time-trial champion since the event began in 1994. The Indiana native听didn鈥檛 just win the women鈥檚 elite event,听she utterly dominated it, catching and passing several riders, including one who started seven minutes before her. The gap to second place, 1:32, was the largest margin of victory in the history of the competition听and almost as much as the total gap across the next nine places combined.
In fact, as she neared the听final straight听her听time looked like a mistake: she was more than three minutes faster than then leader 鈥攁n eternity in a discipline where margins are often a handful of seconds. Crossing the finish line, she collapsed off the bike in an almost perfect imitation of her coach, Kristin Armstrong, when Armstrong won her third Olympic time-trial听title in 2016.听
Dygert Owen isn鈥檛 exactly an听unknown. She鈥檚 an elemental part of the U.S. team-pursuit track听squad, which she has helped power to three elite world-championship titles and a silver medal at the Olympics in Rio. She鈥檚 won two more elite world titles in the individual pursuit. But track doesn鈥檛 have quite the spotlight that road racing does.听
In some respects, it鈥檚 a surprise that she鈥檚 even here. A horrific crash at the 2018 Tour of California cost her the rest of that season,听 of a concussion (plus a lingering knee injury). She didn鈥檛 start easing back into high-volume training until January. Two months later, the cycling world was rocked by the news that her friend and pursuit 听Kelly Catlin听had .
For many riders, that combination of injury, lost form, and grief takes years to recover from. Some never quite do (head injuries are so highly individual that a crash one rider shakes off can end another鈥檚 career). But once Dygert Owen came back, she came back fast: by May, she鈥檇 already won two stages and the overall title at the domestic Joe Martin Stage Race听and two more stages听at the rugged Tour of the Gila in New Mexico.听
But Dygert Owen really laid it down听in August听at the Colorado Classic. On the final climb of the the first stage, she made a sharp attack听followed by a fearless descent on dirt roads to hold off the chasing field for the victory. The next day, she did the exact same thing, bridging up to a two-rider break on the final climb and then just powering away. Stages three and four? Rinse and repeat. You could argue it was unsuspenseful, or you could just marvel at the sheer inevitability of it all: Chlo茅听Dygert Owen simply could not be stopped.
The field听in Colorado听wasn鈥檛 as strong as the one she鈥檒l face this Saturday, and though knowledgeable pundits have听 for the win, she isn鈥檛听exactly first on听on most听fans鈥 minds as the rider expected to deliver a virtuoso performance at the worlds. That brings us to the other听generational talent to watch this weekend.
Dutch听racer was the breakout star of the spring鈥檚听one-day Classics season, where he won several events, including his home country鈥檚听Amstel Gold Race, after a dramatic chase and sprint finish.
Like Dygert Owen, Van der Poel is hardly unknown. A two-time elite world champion in cyclocross, he busted out听one of the most thoroughly dominant seasons in that discipline鈥檚 history last winter, with 31 wins in 33 elite races. But like Dygert Owen, Van der Poel, who is 24, had relatively little road experience, so fans weren鈥檛 sure what to expect for his first World Tour events in the听spring.
While his Amstel win is the stuff of , it was his ride at the Tour of Flanders, in April,听that looms larger. Flanders, arguably the most prestigious one-day Classic on the calendar, takes place on narrow Belgian farm roads and steep, cobbled bergs. Positioning is vital: simply being too far back in the pack at the wrong moment can doom a rider to never catching up. Just as the race was reaching a critical point, with less than 37 miles听to go, Van der Poel 听and was stuck on the side of the road, dazed and hurt, while the race simply rode away from him. Most riders would鈥檝e understandably packed it in, but instead, he took a spare wheel from a teammate, remounted, and began a furious chase, plowing solo through the remnants of the field with such speed it looked as though he had somehow gotten mixed up in the Flanders sportif amateur ride. He caught the main chase group, even as it was going full gas, and sprinted to fourth听behind breakaway winner Alberto Bettiol.
It鈥檚 performances like that which have him tipped as a favorite in Yorkshire, on a long, lumpy course that features mostly shortish听draggy climbs that favor his massive power.听And听a听forecast for raw, rainy weather is one that a mudder and first-class bike handler like Van der Poel will love.
Of the two young phenoms, Dygert Owen鈥檚 result听is more of an unknown: she鈥檒l be on a deep, experienced U.S. team, with top riders like Ruth Winder and Coryn Rivera, the latter听a bazillion-time national champion who鈥檚 in fantastic form right now.听Dygert Owen听also doesn鈥檛 consider herself a climber. But given her performances in听Colorado and New Mexico, I honestly don鈥檛 think you can classify her in any way currently except strong as fuck. Rival teams will be idiots if they let her get in a break.
No one in the men鈥檚 field plans to willingly let Van der Poel go either. But the Dutchman races as though tactics don鈥檛听exist. At Amstel, he singlehandedly dragged an elite chase group up to the lead trio,听then opened his sprint from the front, and simply held everyone off with ridiculous power.
Of course, with Dygert Owen鈥檚 breakthrough performance and Van der Poel marked alongside Peter Sagan as the one of the two presumptive favorites for the men鈥檚 race, it鈥檚 likely we鈥檒l see some defensive racing against both riders. Perhaps another young rising star, like Belgium鈥檚 Remco Evenepoel, will capitalize.
But win or lose, Dygert Owen and Van der Poel will be make听their听races worth watching, especially since chances to see them in road races may be few and far between for a while yet. We鈥檙e less than a year out from the Olympics in Tokyo, and Dygert Owen is again set to be a key part of the U.S. women鈥檚 team pursuit foursome,听meaning she will focus her time on the track. Meanwhile, Van der Poel is targeting the cross-country mountain-bike event in the Games. After Amstel, in April, he raced the heart of the Mountain Bike World Cup season, and aside from worlds on Sunday, he will likely race on the road sparingly, if at all, until after the Olympics. (The good news is that the World Cups for both track and mountain biking听are in the same NBC Sports Gold package as the Road World Championships; international readers can watch mountain biking听for free on Red Bull TV.)
Yes, I know it鈥檚 late September and much of the country is looking forward to a gorgeous fall weekend. Go ahead, get outside for that ride. But maybe check out the event replays or at least the highlights. The women race on Saturday, with coverage starting at 5:30 A.M. Eastern; the men鈥檚 event, on Sunday, starts at 3:30 A.M.听Eastern but听won鈥檛 end until 11 A.M Eastern.听You鈥檒l be sure to see Dygert Owen and Van der Poel on the front (or out front). Both may听add to their already considerable trophy cases鈥攁nd legends. And you鈥檒l get to enjoy watching the continuing emergence of two riders who may be among听the best we鈥檒l see in this lifetime.