By Jakob Duma

One of this year's main events on the international cycling calendar, the World Championships in Hamilton, is turning out to be quite a nightmare for the little Scandinavian country of Denmark. Ranked 10th in the World team rankings, Denmark is allowed to start with 12th riders in the World Championship road race, but that however, will be far from the case. Cancellations, injuries and doping bans are minimising the choices National Manager Brian Holm has to select from. And when the road race in Hamilton kicks off on the Sunday the 12th of October, only five riders will be representing Denmark in the hunt for the rainbow jersey.

Top Danish climber and hot out of the Vuelta a Espana Michael Rasmussen has decided not to take part in the Worlds and will instead focus on a top result in the last World Cup race of the season the, Tour of Lombardy. Injuries have struck both Jakob Piil and Jørgen Bo Petersen in the weeks leading up to the Worlds and will hold them both out of the race, while a old doping ban from years back still prevents Spanish legionary Claus Michael Møller from taking part and representing his home country in the World Championships, a race in which he always dreamed of representing Denmark.

Instead the Danish cycling union has taken Danish Bad Boy Bo Hamburger back under it wing, after a two year old long suspension, to create a little firepower along the roads in Hamilton. Another action being taking is undoubtedly the promotion of Nicky Sørensen to a protected rider, as he has the capacity to become the big Danish joker in Hamilton, and should he hit top form that day, anything is possible for the tall lanky Dane.

The Danish team for the World Championships in Hamilton will be as following:

Bo Hamburger
Undoubtedly the captain of the Danish team, and the former silver medallist winner from the World Championships in San Sebastian in 1997, has been showing some very good form lately in some of the late Italian semi classics -  2th in the GP Prato, 7th in the Coppa Agostoni, 9th in the Giro di Romagna, and 10th in the Milano - Vignola, shows that the 33rd Dane is in excellent conditions for the Worlds.

The route suits his characteristics and the expected Top-15 placing by the Danish cycling union seems to be a realistic goal for the experienced Dane. Now only time will tell if we have the old Bo Hamburger back, and how far his acual form and mental state will take him.

Nicki Sørensen
28 year reigning Danish Champion Nicki Sørensen has the potential to become the big Danish joker on the hilly course in Hamilton. The lanky Dane has had an average season for his level, with the absolute highlight being his Danish National Champion win in Nibe on the 29th of June.

Besides that, he was one of the major animators for teammate Tyler Hamilton's glorifying victory in this year's Liege Bastogne Liege, were the young Dane showed that he has what it takes to become a top professional at the very highest level. Just coming out of his second grand tour of the season, after doing, for his sake, a rather anonymous Vuelta, his form is reported to be good, and no doubt that the spark and the motivation will make the young Dane a very interesting figure to follow on the Danish team on the hilly roads in Hamilton.

Frank Høj
Denmark’s absolutely joy rider number one, Frank Høj, is being reported to be on up and coming form for the World Championships in Hamilton. Strong as an ox and always the big opportunist, Frank Høj will no doubt be very active in the beginning and looking for the chance to join one of the early breakaways that will be established on some of the first rounds on the hard circuit.

Høj has been showing very good form recently with 5th place in the GP Fourmies and a 6th place in the GP Jef Scherens, and will no doubt be very very motivated indeed to shown of the Danish national jersey in front of the very big crowd in Canada. So look out for the Danish powerhouse that will do all in his power to grab the spotlight and flaunt all his stuff during the very hard 260 kilometeres on the wide roads in Hamilton.

Bekim Christensen
The fairytale continues for the 30 year old Bekim Christensen from Team CSC. The sympathetic Dane left the chaotic Team Coast after a hectic spring and signed a one year contract with fellow countryman, team manager Bjarne Riis´ mighty Team CSC. The confidence from Manager Riis was shown immediately to the quiet Dane, the Tour of Switzerland, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a Espana has all been on the busy Dane's program so far this season, and he has repaid the confidence from his team bosses, by serving as a trusty and loyal domestique throughout the entire program set up for him.

In Hamilton, Christensen will be back is his usual role as a loyal helper, but the Dane has never been afraid to admit that he also has ambitions for himself. And there will be no better window to show himself off than the one that will be offered on October 12th.

Michael Skelde
The fifth and final place within the Danish National Team for the Worlds will go to the 30 year old Michael Skelde. Skelde, who has had a very good season so far, has shown some very good form recently with a 5th place in GP Jef Scherens and a 9th place in Luk Cup - Buhl, and is currently ranked as number 152th in the world with a total of 359 UCI points.

In Hamilton however, M. Skelde's primarily role will be to act as an early observer in the first part of the race, but also to be present when one of the earlier breakaways in the race gets established. While he also will have to serve as a loyal and trusty domestique for his designated Team Leaders, he still should be there in the later parts of the race, when the big guns start to play.

The Danish squad in Hamilton for the Road Race

Bo Hamburger
Nicki Sørensen
Frank Høj
Bekim Christensen
Michael Skelde

Denmark will not take part in the individual Time Trial on October 9th.