Cycling World Championships 2019: men's elite road race – live!

14km: The bell rings to mark the last lap of the Harrogate Circuit. The front five of Trentin, Van Der Poel, Moscon, Pedersen and Küng hold a 48-second lead over the peloton, many of whom are grimacing as they chug along the streets of Harrogate behind them.

15km: There is concern about whether some of the riders at the front will be able to take their rain jackets off in time for the finish. I believe they are required to display their number as they cross the line. At the pace they are riding they may not be able to take them off safely. I believe Trentin and Van Der Poel still have theirs on.

19km: The trio of riders who attempted to launch a counter-attack have been absorbed by the slimmed down peloton. Meanwhile, Moscon cracked and dropped out of the leading group but then somehow found a second wind and tagged back on to the front five. His teammate, Trentin, could do with him sticking around. They lead by 46 seconds.

21km: The peloton has let the leading group get 53 seconds clear. They will have to work as hard as they can to haul them back in as they climb up Oak Beck. They have shed so many riders that the main group has only 20 or so riders remaining, many of them Belgian or French. I think this may be a Trentin v Van Der Poel race for the prize. Cue music:

25km: The five at the front have 35 seconds on the main field and 18 seconds over the counter-attack. Trentin is looking cool in that leading group, too. Could it be the Italian’s year? He’s had success in Britain before. In 2018 he won the European Road Race Championships in Glasgow. And he won stage two of the Tour of Britain just three weeks ago, also in Scotland.

27km: There are two laps of the Harrogate Circuit to go and Van Der Poel leads the five-strong leading group over the line 23 seconds clear of the peloton, which is being pulled along by Nils Politt. There is a trio of riders, Insausti, Betancur and Skujins, who are trying to bridge the gap to the front, but they’re flagging and trail by around 12 seconds. Their efforts may be doomed.

30km: Van Der Poel and Trentin have joined Moscon, Pedersen and Küng in a five-strong group who have a 20-second lead at the front. Will any of the French or Belgian riders make a move? The wind is picking up as the rain abates.

31km: We now have a small group of riders attempting to bridge the gap from the peloton to the leaders. It looks as though Van Der Poel and Trentin are among them. Could this be a winning move? They’re just nine seconds behind the leading trio, Moscon, Küng and Pedersen. Teunisson has been dropped at the front.

33km: With the gap extending to 27 seconds, Germany’s Nils Politt breaks off from the peloton and is followed by one of the Belgian riders (Dylan Teuns, I think, who won stage six of the Tour de France).

35km: “It’s a smart move from Italy and the Dutch team to put men in the break … forcing Belgium and France to chase now,” writes Philip Malcolm. “Greg Van Arvermaert and Van Der Poel watching each other really closely in the proton also.” One of those French riders, Alaphilippe, is still up at the front. Italy’s Trentin looks strong, too. There may well be just the 50 or so riders who finish today. The race began with 197. Yorkshire in September will do that to you.

38km: The Belgians are bossing the front of the peloton. It looks like they’re going to make a concerted effort to push on. As they leave Harrogate there’s an exposed part of the course where they may use the crosswind to open up a gap and chase down the leading four. Just behind them Sagan is lurking. He’s hidden away for most of the day. I’m sure he’ll have a say in this race at some point.

39km: With three laps of the Harrogate Circuit to go it looks like the rain is easing a little. The leading four riders have a 20-second lead but they are struggling to extend it. The quartet are in a discussion about what they do now. Pedersen wants to increase the pace but the other three look happy to stay at the same pace.

42km: Pedersen is doing all the work at the front as he tries to extend the gap over the peloton. But there a couple of riders behind who are trying to latch onto the leading duo. Mike Teunissen (who won the first stage of the 2019 Tour de France) is going to make it – and Italy’s Gianni Moscon is in hot pursuit too.

These riders have seen enough of the rain to last them a lifetime.

46km: Geraint Thomas has abandoned, while up at the front Lawson Craddock has cracked and Mads Pedersen has replaced him in the leading group having bridged the gap with a huge effort. The leaders still hold around 20 seconds over the peloton. The 23-year-old Dane Pedersen is a one-day specialist so the peloton will be wary of his move. The pace will kick on from hereonin, I imagine.

49km: There’s some movement in the peloton as the cross wind plays havoc and a small group peels off the front. Twenty seconds up the road, Küng and Craddock are still motoring but I expect they will last another 15 minutes at best. “How about Why Does It Always Rain On Me by Travis?” suggests Jon Preston. “I can imagine a few of the riders are churning that one round in their heads.”

51km: “I live in Belgium and their entire coverage for the last hour has been moaning about Gilbert stopping,” writes Philip Malcolm. “And an interview with Thor Hushovd in his wellies. Trentin is a good dark horse for today, by the way.” I imagine shoe shops in Harrogate have made a killing on wellies in the past week, Philip.

54km: Last year’s champion, Alejandro Valverde, has just spoken to Spanish media after abandoning. He had this to say:

It’s a world championship for mad men

Does Lawson Craddock have a look of Don Draper about him?

55km: There have been very few crashes considering the state of the weather. There has been some skilful riding out there. The leading duo cross the finish line 20 seconds ahead of the peloton, which has hared up Parliament Street. We have just three laps of the Harrogate Circuit to go.

56km: Nick Saberton adds to our bad-weather playlist. “Must include Riders On The Storm – surely!” Absolutely Nick. Keep them coming.

60km: Küng and Craddock, who sound like a bad Edinburgh festival comedy duo, are 28 seconds clear at the front. The peloton is being hauled along by the Dutch cyclist Mike Teunissen. Could it be a one-two for the Netherlands if a Teunissen – or more likely Mathieu Van der Poel – can follow Van Vleuten in winning the rainbow jersey?

64km: The plucky Craddock and Küng are around 22 seconds clear. If we’re having songs about rain can we shoehorn in Paranoid Android or is that not bad mood music rather than bad weather music? “Could I propose Carmel’s Storm,” asks Philament. You just have.

66km: A breakaway! Some excitement! Well, kind of. The USA’s Lawson Craddock has got his legs pumping and opened up a short lead of around 10 seconds. He’s joined by the Swiss rider Stefan Küng.

68km: The Italians are grouped together at the head of the peloton as they cross the line with five laps to go. Sagan is 15th and Mathieu Van der Poel is right up there as well. Geraint Thomas is still in the peloton, tucked in nicely towards the back.

70km: “Given we’re only guessing at what’s happening at the head of the course, how about a bad weather themed playlist?” suggests James Thomas. “Following from your (very good) Beatles track, I give you the Beta Band: Dry the Rain. Or Tupelow by Nick Cave.” I bloody love Dry The Rain, James. What a track.

72km: If Peter Sagan wins today he will be out there on his own in terms of world titles. He won the road race in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Nobody has won four world road race titles. He won’t be doing this on these sodden roads, though.

76km: Wahey! The aeroplane has refuelled and we have images again. Remi Cavana leads with 76km to go in a peloton that has shed riders considerably in the past hour. Sagan is still in close company but while we had no TV images it appears that the reigning champion Alejandro Valverde has abandoned. It’s not a good day to be a whippet on a bike. It’s way too cold. It’s becoming more apparent that the winner will likely have a bit of meat on their bones.

79km: I’m watching slow motion replayed images of rain falling. Oh Yorkshire! What have you done!

82km: The peloton has just crossed the line after a fourth lap of the Harrogate circuit. After four hours and 21 minutes of racing, Italy’s Giovanni Visconti is leading, followed by Pieter Weening of the Netherlands, Remi Cavagna of France, Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen (a survivor from the breakaway) and Matteo Trentin, who is perhaps sensing that today could be his day. Mind you, Sagan is not far behind.

89km: There are only a handful of static cameras covering the race at the moment due to the wet weather so I’m unable to update you fully as to what’s going on up at the front. Rémi Cavagna was leading as they climbed Oak Beck, which is good news for Julian Alaphilippe’s chances. Sagan was lurking nearby as well as Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet. It’s absolutely filthy in Harrogate. Cyclists are strung out all over the place at the back.

Here’s a Beatles B Side for you. A B side. God, they were good.

91km: Gilbert looks to be close to tears as he gets his jacket on after abandoning. He looks in a lot of pain after that nasty crash on the turn to the first lap around Harrogate. It’s a sad scene but he gave it a go at least.

95km: The peloton is stretched out as riders take the sharp corners carefully as they finish the third of nine laps of the Harrogate circuit. Peter Sagan is right up there near the front and well in contention. Matteo Trentin and Pascal Ackermann are ticking along nicely too. Britain’s Adam Yates and Ben Swift appear to have been dropped by the peloton and Gilbert’s crash earlier looks to have done for his chances. He’s chugging along way off the pace with Nairo Quintana, who seems to have run out of gas after setting the pace in the breakaway. Both look like they will abandon very shortly.

101km: Dan Martin, who led the race earlier, has abandoned. It looks like Remco Evenepoel will do the same shortly. He’s dropped off the back of the peloton after using up every ounce of energy to get Gilbert back in contention. Up at the front, his Belgian teammate Greg Van Avermaet has worked his way into second place. Julian Alaphilippe is up there too. There are still over two hours of racing to go so it wouldn’t be too clever to start the attacks just yet.

Adrian Riley writes: “It’s only fair to say that yesterday a bright and sunny north Yorkshire was full of bunting and roadside artworks to welcome the race, we spent the day painting a massive design based on a local legend on a hillside. Not sure it’ll still be there now.” I expect you’re right, Adrian. Your artwork has probably gone the same way as the TV pictures.

105km: Here’s video of the Philippe Gilbert crash. TV coverage is still limited but I believe Gilbert has got back into the peloton having been paced back by the 19-year-old Remco Evenepoel.

109km: A group of 197 riders started this race. There are now only 157 left as more and more sodden cyclists call it a day. Primoz Roglic is among them. He led the breakaway earlier, but now he’s been reeled in he’s decided to put his feet up and have a warm drink in the team truck. He’s grinning as he gets off his bike.

111km: Limited images have just now returned. The breakaway group appears to have been absorbed by the peloton and Evenepoel has almost hauled a groggy Gilbert – and a chasing group of riders – back to the throng ahead.

117km: There are extremely limited TV pictures from the official race broadcaster now so following this race has become a little bit tricky. The plane that beams images to a satellite has run out of fuel. Yorkshire weather in September eh? What I can tell you, though, is that Rohan Dennis has abandoned having done his job of hauling the peloton along at a fair rate of knots earlier on.

120km: While Gilbert grimaces behind Evenepoel in an attempt to get back to the peloton, the riders at the front are being reeled in. The gap is down to just 57 seconds.

123km: Philipe Gilbert, one of the race favourites, has been caught up in a crash as the Belgian riders round the sharp corner before reaching what will be the finish line later on. Gilbert is hunched over as if he has hurt his chest. He gingerly gets back on his bike and is paced back towards the peloton by Evenepoel. That’s incredibly selfless riding. But Gilbert looks in considerable pain. I’m not sure he’ll last much longer.

125km: The breakaway’s lead is down to 1min46sec as they reach Harrogate. It consists of the same 11 men that battled out to the front some hours ago: Roglic, Polanc, Nielsen, Vakoc, Dillier, Bodnar, Kock, Houle, Howes, Quintana and Carapaz. They are cheered on to the circuit by a huge crowd in the grand old north Yorkshire town.

130km: And now the Rohan Dennis-powered peloton ups the tempo. It could be that they want to get back in touching distance by the time they get to the narrower streets of Harrogate. They’ve got the lead back down to 2min55sec. Dennis couldn’t do the double could he? Surely he’ll run out of gas at some point.

136km: They really could have done with pedalos to tackle some of the water today. The breakaway riders have done a fine job of keeping the pace up, despite the conditions. They’ve whizzed through Ripon on their way to Ripley. It won’t be long until they’re in Harrogate for nine laps of the final circuit, which will be tough and technical. I had hoped Ripley was the Yorkshire town namechecked in All The King’s Men by Wild Beasts, so I could link to it. It is in fact Shipley. But sod it, enjoy this fine little ditty anyway while the cyclists continue on their way to the home of Betty’s Tea Rooms.