Greig Leach

Unlike NASCAR or other racing events, the UCI Road World Championships will pull racers who have been lapped by the leaders out of the race When this rather large group came onto The Pearl off the coast of Doha, the leaders and the chasers had already started their second lap. The commissares blew whistles and flag down the exhausted racers and let them know that their day was over. I imagine that they were more than happy to comply. It meant they could be out of the sun, showered and cooled off and still have time to watch the end of the race. Of the 199 men who started the final race of the Worlds, only 53 finished the race. Most of those who did not finish, were those who had been pulled out due to being lapped. However, quite a few crashed, or simply couldn't finish the 257 kilometers under the desert sky. That translates to a 87% attrition rate!