Georgios Bouglas ready to fly the flag for Greece at Road World Championships
Georgios Bouglas will make his World Championship debut as the sole representative for Greece today having been registered for the elite men’s road race 10 minutes before deadline last Friday.
The Greek national road champion originally wasn’t going to be sent by his federation however arrived two days ago with just his Continental team SP Tableware trainer Vasilis Anastopoulous.
“They thought that they didn’t want somebody to be here with the pros but obviously they can understand the value, how important it is just to be here at the start of the race,” Bouglas told Cycling Weekly in a telephone interview yesterday.
“I’m not saying that I’m going to win the race, I don’t know if I’m even going to finish the race, but the most important thing for a small cycling country like Greece is just to be present and be on the start line with all the big names of elite cycling. It’s a huge honour for me, and for Greek cycling, of course, to be at the start line with the elite riders.”
Anastopoulous, who is also a coach to Thomas Dekker and Johan Vansummeren, has been able to relay information about the 18.2km circuit in Ponferrada, Spain to the astute 23-year-old Bouglas, who has not personally seen it prior to today’s 254.8km title race.
“I didn’t manage to have a look at the course but I have studied it on YouTube. My trainer works with some big pros, like Johan Vansummeren, so he was out yesterday the whole day with the Belgium team. He gave me all the info from them about the course - how it is, where the dangerous parts are.
“I don’t think it’s too difficult but it’s tactical,” he continued. “There’s a descent that is really, really dangerous coming into the city and there may be a lot of crashes, especially if it rains.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
“The select group will go in the last lap I think. The race will be decided there because if you reach the top of the hill alone then it’s way too difficult to catch you before the line, which happened at the under-23 event. I’m expecting an aggressive race.”
Bouglas is from Trikala - a town in the geographical centre of Greece some 200km from the capital Athens - where he was introduced to the sport and is still based. He had been training for the Greek national track championships, in which he is a former gold medallist in endurance events, but, with just over a week to spare, averted his focus back to the road.
“It’s popular in my hometown so I’ve been cycling since I was 10 years old. I had some success on the track and then the road,” he said. “The whole year we stay in Greece and travel to races from there.”
Bouglas started his season in March at the Tour of Taiwan where he finished third behind Luke Keough (UnitedHealthcare) and Wouter Wippert (Drapac) in the opening circuit stage. He has raced consistently and enters the World Championships on the back of July's Sibiu Cycling Tour in Romania. However, according to statistics website Cycling Quotient, Bouglas has completed 11 race days for a total of 1,363km this season - if you only include finished and category .1 races or above. It makes his start today more impressive.
Bouglas has no trade team-mates competing in the elite men's road race and is one of five riders, including Azzedine Lagab (Algeria), Segundo Navarrete (Ecuador), Ben Gastauer (Luxembourg) and Tobias Ludvigsson (Sweden), who will race as sole nation representatives in a 203-strong peloton. He is hopeful his presence at Ponferrada will also help in the search for a new team with SP Tableware set to fold.
“I talked to my trainer and the obvious tactic is to try and be in the breakaway from the beginning,” he said of race strategy. “It’s difficult for me even to finish the race in the bunch because it will be a really, really hard race, especially in the last three or four laps. I’ll try to be in the breakaway and if that doesn’t succeed I’ll stay in the bunch and try to ride as much as possible in the bunch.”
Twitter: @SophieSmith86
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Sophie Smith is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and author of Pain & Privilege: Inside Le Tour. She follows the WorldTour circuit, working for British, Australian and US press, and has covered 10 Tours de France.
-
'I don’t know where I’d be without my leg' – Paracyclist Meg Fisher to tackle Ecuador’s Highest Peak, 20,549ft Chimborazo, to help provide life-changing prosthetics for amputees
'I will never forget how people told me to keep my expectations of my abilities low...I’m doing this to see if I can do it and to show others that they can do it too,' says Fisher.
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
Tweets of the week: Tadej Pogačar's special nutrition isn't as pro as you think
The Giro d'Italia winner has his own Italian dish
By Tom Davidson Published
-
UCI Road World Championships 2024: Elite women's and men's time trial start times
The full rider lists and start times for the individual time trials in Zurich
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Jorgenson and Faulkner to lead a strong Team USA at UCI Road World Championships
The 2024 UCI Road World Championships are held in Zurich, Switzerland, September 21-29
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
‘Unprecedented’ television audiences revealed for cycling Super Worlds
Fans around the world watched more than 200 million hours in August
By Tom Davidson Published
-
Team USA at Road Worlds: Are Powless and Dygert our best hopes for a medal?
Here's who we'll be watching in the rainbow battles in Glasgow, Scotland.
By Henry Lord Published
-
Glasgow UCI World Championships bags Lidl partnership
Supermarket chain becomes official fresh food partner for the championships taking place in Glasgow in August
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Ukrainian cyclist disqualified from World Championships after blood sample result
Mykhaylo Kononenko's blood sample revealed the presence of the banned substance tramadol
By Tom Davidson Published
-
How many calories do you burn winning the World Championship road race?
It’s the equivalent of six margherita pizzas, according to Remco Evenepoel's Strava data
By Tom Davidson Last updated
-
Don’t expect too much from Zoe Bäckstedt, says teenager’s British Cycling coach
Junior academy coach Emma Trott has warned against piling pressure on the 18-year-old
By Tom Davidson Published