Benoit Cosnefrois, winner of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec, could be part of the French delegation to the World Championships, despite having announced his absence in Australia after his recent victory in Canada.

Cosnefrois, a former U-23 world champion, was among those who withdrew from the UCI Road World Championships for various reasons. However, according to L'Équipe and other sources, Kosnefrois was seen boarding a plane to Australia over the weekend. He was scheduled to arrive in Sydney a few hours earlier than his teammates on Monday evening local time.

The winner of the Quebec GP could replace time trialists Bruno Almirail and Remi Cabaña in Sunday's elite men's road race.

Kosnefroe won the under-23 world championship in Bergen in 2017. He was also instrumental in teammate Julian Alaphilippe winning the rainbow jersey in Belgium. He was part of an early attack that eventually led to a premature move by local favorite Remco Evenpole, helping Alaphilippe's late charge to victory.

Cosnefrois won last year's Bretagne Classic and finished second at La Flèche Wallonne in 2021 and this year's Amstel Gold Race. He is a puncher in the Classics, but had decided to sit out this year's World Championships after a poor summer of racing.

After winning the Quebec GP 10 days earlier, Kosnefroe made it clear that he would not be going to Australia.

"I had already decided not to go to the World Championships, and I had planned it that way with Thomas Voeckler, the French national coach," he revealed. 'To this day I haven't won a race and I haven't proven myself. I also want to win the AG2R in the last race of the season and going to Australia means a long trip and jet lag."

With Alaphilippe in uncertain form and Kosnefroi in impressive form, French national coach Thomas Voeckler seems to have convinced him of the late and enigmatic trip to Australia.

Cyclingnews reached out to AG2R-Citroën for comment late Monday, but was told that only the French Cycling Federation was available for questions regarding his participation in the world championships. Voeckler was also asked about the same story earlier by the AFP news agency and referred the media to a press conference in Australia on Wednesday where he plans to reveal the final lineup for Sunday's race.