Stars & stripes perhaps somewhat underexposed heading into World Championship: "Belgians are favorites as far as I'm concerned"

Considering the World Championship favorites, Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, and Marc Hirschi summarize most previews. According to the bookmakers, Matteo Jorgenson, captain of the American selection, is the fifth favorite. What can we expect from the stars & stripes in Zurich on Sunday?

Neilson Powless completed the Mixed Relay with Brandon McNulty and Kevin Vermaerke on Wednesday and passed in the mixed zone afterward with his experiences of the World Championship lap. "The second part of the course could be hectic in the peloton, but it will be a tough lap. In the descent, the peloton will be on a line, but after that, it will be hard to move up from behind. So positioning will be essential," the EF Education-EasyPost rider believes.

Powless finished fifth at the 2021 World Championships in Leuven and was well-placed in 2022 and 2023. "That is the Americans' goal again this year," he points out. "We want to get into the finals with as many riders as possible. We don't have too much pressure to ride, so hopefully, we know how to work our way into the final with, say, four riders."

The obvious names also pass his review. "But it's not just about Tadej Pogacar. The Belgians are favorites as far as I'm concerned; they have a solid team here. Tadej does not have the strongest team compared to other countries. That's to his disadvantage, but he can also attack from far away on this course. It will be an interesting race anyway," Powless concluded to IDLProCycling.com and others after the Mixed Relay in Zurich.

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Jorgenson and America will compete to win at World Championship

The most interesting man on behalf of the United States may be Jorgenson. He failed to gain a spot at the podium in GP Quebec and GP Montreal but cycled to win. In Friday's race, his attack was wiped out by the peloton, while in Sunday's race, he tried to follow Pogacar up the climb in Mont Royal Park.

Jorgenson stopped by The Gruppetto to discuss the World Championship before the race. "We have a strong team. There are eight of us, which already shows that we have a good level as a country. We will race to win, but of course, the competition is also strong," said the American, who lives in Nice, who won Paris-Nice and Dwars door Vlaanderen this year.

"I think I'm the leader in a way, but I don't think there's much point in riding with seven men before me. We're better off being aggressive riders, so I'd rather see us use all our strength," said Jorgenson, hoping for an unpredictable race. "I looked at the course on VeloViewer, but it's hard to estimate. I hope it won't be a pure W/kg test, but it shouldn't be a sprint. If it's in between, it should suit me well."