The inherent paradox – and beauty – of the World Championships road race is that the prize only occasionally falls to the best rider on the planet, and every now and then, it even manages to escape the reach of the peloton's marquee names altogether.
Men such as Rudy Dhaenens, Romains Vainsteins and Laurent Brochard have upset the preordained script over the years, and for two breathless minutes in Doha on Sunday afternoon, Tom Leezer (Netherlands) looked set to join their number.
A professional since 2008, the 30-year-old has just one professional win to his name, a stage of the Tour de Langkawi in 2013. His career has spent entirely on one team – the Rabobank set-up now known as LottoNL-Jumbo – and predominantly in the service of others.
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Leezer attacked more in hope than expectation from the reduced front group, 2.7 kilometres from the finish of the UCI Road World Championships in Doha, but when he glanced under his arm a short time later, he saw only an empty stretch of tarmac. An earlier attack from teammate Niki Terpstra had been snuffed out instantly, but now there was an impasse behind, and Leezer stretched out his advantage.
Come the flamme rouge, a cohesive response had still not materialised, and all of a sudden, Leezer's looked like a winning gap. Cruelly, it was only when he began to believe in the improbable heist that the dream was snatched away from him. Jürgen Roelandts took up the chase for Belgium, and Leezer was overtaken within sight of the finish line.
"It's a little bit of a blur but I have a few memories," Leezer told Cyclingnews in the mixed zone afterwards. "First, I can't believe the gap was that big. I went all out because I didn't want to do a show attack or anything. It was all or nothing.
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