Oscar Onley has had to deal with a lot more attention than usual this summer. After finishing fourth at the Tour de France, the Scot has had a lot to deal with.
The 22-year-old from Kelso featured daily on ITV’s coverage of the Tour, was the subject of features in the national news, and even gained his own slogan for cardboard signs – Onley Fans.
This is Onley’s second World Championships, after Zürich last year, where he finished 16th after impressing on a tough course. This course is even tougher, and at altitude too. The Picnic PostNL rider is ready to keep fighting throughout, knowing how important this is in such a huge one-day race.
“Things change so fast when it’s over 230 or 240km. There’s a big difference in the drop-off of riders. Last year I was probably on the wrong side of that, I put myself in the position to get a result quite early in the race – that was the way I had to do it – but I didn’t have the legs to hold on in the final couple of laps.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Onley will be watched, but that suits him just fine – along with Tom Pidcock, GB have two good cards to play, something he thinks will be key on Sunday.
“It’s quite exciting with both of us being in contention on Sunday, because it’s really important when you can play off different teammates, it makes a big difference,” he said. “It’s not something I get to experience much across the year, and I’m really excited for it. The stronger your team is, even if you have four or five leaders, the chances of you winning or getting a better result is better than if you’re the sole leader.”
Confidence is key, key to believing he should be up there with Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and the rest; this was something he showed at the Tour, often hanging onto Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard in the high mountains.
“I go to every race believing I can win or do a really good result, and Sunday is no different,” Onley explained. “The overall goal of the team is to get a medal, whether that’s myself, Tom, Joe [Blackmore] or anyone. It would be really nice to get a medal for myself and it would cap off a really good year. I think as long as I do a race I’m proud of, then I’ll be satisfied.”
GB haven’t had a medallist in the men’s road race since Mark Cavendish won in 2016, something Pidcock and Onley hope to change on Sunday in Kigali. “The more chaotic the race, it suits us better,” Onley concluded. Expect chaos.
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