As several top elite riders continue to announce they will skip the road world championships, Denmark has confirmed it will not enter any riders in the time trial events.

A packed schedule and a world championship on another continent have led the Danish Cycling Union (DCU) to focus exclusively on the road races at the UCI road world championships. Furthermore, neither junior nor under-23 riders will participate in this year’s road race, as previously announced.

The ongoing controversy of the first ever worlds in Africa

In February, Denmark opted not to send junior or under-23 cyclists due to high travel costs. There’s also the question of acclimation, as the race in Kigali is at altitude. The European Parliament also voted overwhelmingly (443 in favour, four against) to request the event’s suspension because of the ongoing conflict in Kivu. (A Congolese region bordering Rwanda.) That is where the ‘M23’ rebel group, supported by the Rwandan government, has caused thousands of deaths and displaced approximately hundreds of thousands of people. There were even rumours at one point that the race might be cancelled and relocated to Switzerland. The UCI has been steadfast that these worlds—the first ever in Africa—will proceed.

‘A necessary decision’

As far as the TT, DCU’s Morten Bennekou said the decision was unavoidable.

“Of course, it is really unfortunate that we are not able to take part in the World Championship time trials. But we see it as the right and necessary decision. Due to the championship being held on another continent and the fact that this year’s worlds and European champs are scheduled immediately after each other. On two different continents. All in all, these circumstances have created so many obstacles that we have chosen to focus 100 percent on the Europeans and compete at the worlds in Rwanda in the way that makes sporting sense,” he said. (The world road race championships run from Sept. 21 to 28, and the European championships are the first weekend in October.)

In the elite race, so far Wout van Aert, former champ Mads Pedersen and 2023 champ Mathieu van der Poel have also said they won’t race. Defending women’s champ, Lotte Kopecky, has still not confirmed if she will race. Recently, UNO-X has encouraged its riders to also skip the Rwanda race, according to Velo. The squad said it was better to focus on Les Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal.

Danish national coach Michael Mørkøv said instead, the team’s focus is on the road race.

“As national coach, I am very disappointed that we are unable to start in one of the two world championship disciplines—it is the highlight of the year. But I also have to accept that this cannot be different this year. On the other hand, for the eighth consecutive year, we have qualified as a nation with a full eight-rider team for the elite road race. I am very much looking forward to starting with a strong team that can compete for the gold,” Mørkøv said.

There is a high probability that Jonas Vingegaard will be there—so it could be an exciting rematch of the Tour de France between the Dane and Tadej Pogačar. However, there are those who believe Vingegaard doesn’t stand a chance in the one-day race against the reigning world champion.