Weihai is home to one of the most difficult World Cups of the year with an infamous bike course. This year’s event promises to be a tight affair as any of several men could take the win.
Lasse Nygaard Priester comes in as the favourite. He recently claimed a silver medal at the European Super Sprint Championships in Balikesir. As a former World Cup winner, he combines good recent form with the pedigree to succeed at this level.
In addition, he has enjoyed a successful Bundesliga season and won the German title.
One of Priester’s closest rivals will be his teammate, Johannes Vogel. Vogel’s best result in 2023 has been his 14th place at WTCS Cagliari. Last year, he also finished 6th at the Pontevedra World Cup and 11th at the Tongyeong World Cup. At the world level, then, Vogel has had a little more success over the Olympic distance. The course at Weihai could therefore suit him well.
Jumpei Furuya has the cycling ability to be a real player in Weihai. The main question mark, though, will be how he navigates his travel. Furuya raced at the Paris Test Event; he did not have the best day and finished 43rd. Prior to that, he finished 6th at the Yeongdo World Cup. Having flown long-haul from East Asia to Western Europe and then back in the space of a little over a fortnight, it remains to be seen how his energy has been sapped.
At his best, he could demolish the bike and contend for the win. Yet if his travel catches up with him, Furuya might miss out.
Aoba Yasumatsu will be another intriguing athlete to watch and could be the best placed of the Japanese team to strike should Furuya have an off-day.
The experienced Mexican trio of Crisanto Grajales, Irving Perez and Rodrigo Gonzalez should all be in the mix. All three are superb runners and if they are within striking distance out of T2 they could step onto the podium. Perez has had the better recent World Cup results, having finished 11th in Huatulco and 17th in Yeongdo. On their day, though, any of the trio could shake up the race.
The Hong Kong duo of Oscar Coggins and Jason Tai Long Ng will likewise be worth watching.
Ng, in particular, has had a good season. At times, he has been caught out by the moves of other athletes, such as at the Asia Cup in Samarkand. On a course like Weihai, he will have to make sure he covers breaks by the likes of Furuya and his race craft will likely shape his day as much as raw power. However he has the skillset to push for a medal.
From the home team, Junjie Fan will probably be the leading athlete. Several of the men’s Chinese team are very young and quite inexperienced. Having made his WTCS debut this year, Fan is at the vanguard of the new generation and can be expected to put in a big performance in front of a domestic crowd.
Leon Pauger of Austria will also be in the conversation for a medal, as will his compatriots, Lukas Pertl and Philip Pertl.
TriStats Predictions
- Lasse Nygaard Priester
- Jumpei Furuya
- Johannes Vogel
- Irving Perez
- Jason Tai Long Ng
