Michael Woods finally believes he can beat the best in the world and his result at worlds proves he’s close
31-year-old was a late entrant to the sport but has established himself as one of the best in the world on hellishly steep climbs.
Michael Woods came very close to becoming the first Canadian to win the elite men’s world championship road title. In a four up sprint against the ageless Alejandro Valverde, Frenchman Romain Bardet and Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands, Woods finished in the bronze medal position. A historic result for a Canadian cyclist. On the final steep Höttinger Höll climb, Woods arguably looked the strongest.
“It’s certainly a slight surprise for me to make the podium but I was hoping for this. It was my goal coming into this race. When we did the course recon, I realized this last climb was for me. When drafting isn’t important, I’m pretty good,” Woods said about his ability to negate the effects of gravity on the steep climb. “Up the Höll, my ears were ringing because the people were so loud and I could hear their cowbells. Even before the race, I told myself I’d try to get inspiration and energy from what the fans bring to the race. There were so many fans today!”
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There 31-year-old from Ottawa crested the climb alongside the leaders to the finish line in Innsbruck where the win was contested. Valverde’s superior speed on the flat sprint finish landed the Spaniard the rainbow bands but Woods held his own to finish third. Woods had aspirations as a young man to go to the Olympics as a runner. His specialty was the 1,500 m. The now well-known story of how he switched to cycling because of injury and climbed the pro ranks has captured cycling fans imaginations for some time now.
“Coming from another sport, it’s been hard for me to believe that I could win when so good riders are in the field but my stage victory at La Vuelta helped me boost my confidence. Now I’m starting to believe in myself,” Woods said after finishing third in Innsbruck.
The medal performance is historic. The last Canadian to bring home an elite men’s world championship medal was Steve Bauer back in 1984.
“I was hoping I could do as well as Steve has done in the past, and get Canadians inspired to ride bikes,” said Woods. “After a couple of hours on the bike, I started to think ‘yeah, this is going to be a good day’. On those types of climbs [extremely steep], the draft is irrelevant, so it’s better to just dictate the pace. You might as well put the hurt on others instead of them putting the hurt on you.”
Woods certainly pushed the pace on the climb, he released his Strava file with power numbers which demonstrate just how hard he pushed the pace after 260-km of racing to not just stay with the leaders but put the likes of Gianni Moscon, Julian Alaphilippe, Tom Dumoulin and a dozen other world-class riders under pressure.
It was always going to be hard to beat Valverde in a sprint but Woods was perfectly positioned on the Spaniard’s wheel for the final kilometre.
“I was confident in my sprint, but unfortunately I got cramped up with only 50 metres to go and couldn’t keep the momentum up. There was a bit of disappointment; I wanted to win and I think I could have won if I didn’t cramp up,” Woods said after. The sprint had Canadians holding their collective breaths and his podium will surely be inspiration to many young Canadians to go out and ride their bikes a little harder.
It’s been a career year for Woods. The extremely emotional stage win in Spain came after second place at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. “Certainly, this has been the best season of my career; these late results are a product of me losing my son … having Hunter pass away this summer really motivated me to train my butt off and do something big for him and my wife,” Woods said.
Woods has one more shot at glory in 2018. The course at the fith Monument of the season, Il Lombardia, is tailor made for Woods with steep climbs on a long day in the saddle. He goes into the race as a favourite having proven this season he is one of the best in the world on steep climbs.
