Brandon MCNULTY. 10 with honors. A year ago Tadej Pogacar gave him the gift, today it's his turn to give one to the Slovenian and to himself, conquering with full merit a world title that has settled on his shoulders after a spectacular race, in which he and his super team (4th Simmons; 8th Jorgenson) demonstrate clear strength and lucidity. Compactness and creativity. And it's with a stroke of genius that Brandon finds the space to leave everyone speechless, when his opponents think that at that moment the priority is to catch their breath. He takes off at full speed, without making calculations, without thinking about what will happen. Without thinking that what he's doing has already happened and will last at least twelve months. A year ago Tadej Pogacar gave him the gift...

Michael MATTHEWS. 9. At his 14th world championship he puts on a show. A race for tough men and he, when he's in form, is a real tough guy. He doesn't miss a beat, doesn't miss a train, doesn't let the opportunity to jump on the podium slip away. Silver!

Mathieu VAN DER POEL. 7. Good, but not great. The legs are there, but perhaps given how he was feeling he could have delayed his move a bit. He attacks 70 kilometers from the finish. In the end he pays the price, even though someone with his class always manages to collect something.

Quinn SIMMONS. 9. Sensational, as always, more than ever. The Americans are everywhere. He's worth three men.

Isaac DEL TORO. 5.5. The distance takes its toll, despite racing with great determination and willpower, but he's always chasing, always fixing situations. More of a chase than a race.

Mads PEDERSEN. 7. He may not be in condition, but he's a magician: when you least expect it, instead of disappearing, he appears.

Tom PIDCOCK. 6.5. He was counting on it, he believed in it, he fought, but in the end he's always at the mercy of the waves.

Matteo JORGENSON. 9. He's the other American who drives the whole world crazy.

Giulio CICCONE. 7.5. He races with attention, lucidity and courage in the final stretch. He's the classic earthenware pot among many iron pots, but he would deserve at least bronze for what he shows. He finishes 9th: he deserved better.

Ben HEALY. 7. What grit, what consistency, what temperament. He knows he's a lightweight, but he accepts the challenge and throws punches at everyone.

Remco EVENEPOEL. 4. At 56 kilometers from the finish, he's left watching the world pass in front of his nose, from that moment on it's a continuous chase. He can't manage to stay with the best on the climbs even once. Belgium chooses to apply race tactics on the water bottles lap after lap: messages in bottles. Remco sinks.

Paul SEIXAS. 5. He had great ambitions. He has great qualities and great temperament. His disappointment will be great too. At 5 kilometers from the finish the red light comes on: game over.

Juan AYUSO. 5. He doesn't sink, but he doesn't float either.

Primoz ROGLIC. 6. He tries, concretely, with his face open. And that's not nothing.

Christian SCARONI. 6.5. He does his part, with great generosity until the end.

Davide PIGANZOLI. 6.5. He gives his all to stay in the thick of the race to help Giulio Ciccone. He and Scaroni are the "little pages": and they do it brilliantly.

Wout VAN AERT. 5.5. He tries, it goes very badly for him. Then, being a loyal man, he gives Remco a hand, but perhaps he should have given him some legs too.

Mark Lorenzo FINN. 6. He finishes the race 55th, 10 minutes back, and takes home experience and fatigue, in a world championship as demanding as few others. It was a baptism, but he's ready for confirmation.

Felix GALL. 5.5. For him too a very long and exhausting season, but his world championship ends when it begins.

Ben O'CONNOR. 4. He fades at the first signs of trouble.

Bruno ARMIRAIL. 9. They tell him: go and close down the breakaway riders. When he gets to work the escapees have almost nine minutes advantage, he alone brings the group back together. A different class.

Matteo TRENTIN. 6. Like Cattaneo he brings the guys to 100 kilometers from the finish: from that moment on there's very little to do or say, there's only "grinding" and staying on the wheels of the best. The tactics are made by the road, which is treacherous.

Mattia CATTANEO. 6. He does the dirty work, keeps the guys close, gives what he can give after a very long and exhausting season: objectively you couldn't ask him for more.

Biniam GIRMAY. 7.5. The leading group thins out and six remain, with the Eritrean there are Leknessund, Engelhardt and Mulubrhan, Meehan and Liepiņš.

Guillaume BOIVIN. 7. The Canadian rider sets off shortly after the start in the company of fifteen other daredevils. They're the ones who give the first imprint to this world championship. With him Tilen Finkšt (Slovenia) and Andreas Leknessund (Norway), Felix Engelhardt (Germany) and Biniam Girmay with Henok Mulubrhan (Eritrea), Jamie Meehan (Ireland) and Guillaume Boivin (Canada), Emils Liepiņš (Latvia) and Herohii Antonenko (Ukraine), Mihajlo Stolić (Serbia) and Christopher Robin Jurado (Panama), Alexandre Mayer (Mauritius) and Iustin-Ioan Vaidian (Romania), Andreas Miltiadis (Cyprus) and Kaden Hopkins (Bermuda), finally Amir Arsalan Ansari (Refugees). A company of indomitable dreamers: they know their chances are less than zero, but in the end they race as if they were all number one.