Not much seems to be going right for Julien Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Alphavinil) in recent months, from his long layoff due to injury to his return to COVID-19, but Cadel Evans knows that a season that doesn't go according to plan can be a critical road world championship Cadel Evans is well aware that a season that does not go according to plan does not always follow the same path on race day.

Evans' hopes of turning his second consecutive second place in the Tour de France into yellow were dashed in 2009 with a 30th place finish, and his chances of winning the Vuelta a España were also put on hold when he failed to change neutral wheels. 2011 Tour de France winner will be back in action this September at the When asked for his opinion on who might be a threat at the world championships in his home country for the first time in 12 years, it is perhaps not surprising that not for a moment did he make a disparaging remark about a rider who has had a poor run of results recently.

Alaphilippe is firmly on Evan's radar as he looks to win his third consecutive World Championship in Australia. The 266.9-km elite men's race from Helensburgh to Wollongong, with an estimated elevation gain of 3,945 meters, is a race where he believes the style of the course will shift the advantage from Grand Tour GC riders, especially those already in the yellow contenders in the Tour de France, to riders who excel in one-day events He believes it could shift the advantage from Grand Tour GC riders, especially those already in the yellow contenders in the Tour de France, to riders who excel in one-day events.

"Of course, when (Taddei) Pogachar is in form, he can win any race. I think a rider with a style like Julian Alaphilippe's would be better suited."

Alaphilippe won the 2020 road world championships in Imola by attacking on the final climb with 12km to go to take the solo win. The road world championships in Wollongong will once again be a course where the field is likely to be thin, and the battle for the rainbow jersey will likely come down to a select group or a well-timed attack.

However, as much as this course is Alaphilippe's forte, the two-time world champion's season has not been smooth sailing. He broke his shoulder blade and two ribs and suffered a punctured lung in a crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"He was out injured all year, but won his first race back. I think he's fresh, ready and hungry."

He's not the only rider looking to turn around a rough season.

Australian sprinter Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal) has been developing his staying power on short climbs admirably over the past few seasons, and it is hard to discount him as a favorite to win if selected for a course with a lot of climbing, but he has had some ill-timed illness, crashes and bad luck, and this year failed to achieve results in an important goal.

"If Caleb is feeling well, he will be able to compete. He was really unlucky."

"It was a bad season by Caleb's standards, like the 2009 Worlds. But if Caleb doesn't make it to the final, Michael Matthews, this course was made for him." [Michael Matthews knows how to race at home. He won the Under 23 World Championships in Geelong. And I think he's keen on this Wollongong course."

And while the Tour de France was not a good one for Yuan - he put the climbing distance in his legs by riding to the end - fellow Australian Matthews broke through on stage 14 to take his first Grand Tour victory since 2017. It was also the last time Matthews stood on the podium at a world championships, adding to his silver medal in 2015 and the U23 title he won in Geelong in 2010 with a third-place finish.

Evans also pointed to another former winner, Danish rider Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), as a potential contender.

"We look at the race profile and the hills and think of them as a selection target, but if you go back to the Yorkshire World Championships, it was the corners that were the selection target, and I talked to a rider who raced in Belgium last year and it was the same thing," Evans said. 'So let's not discount the Classics specialists, even though it's quite hilly.'

The road world championships will run from September 18-25, beginning with the women's and men's elite time trials and concluding with the men's elite road race.