One rider was reduced to walking and Gianni Moscon seemed to crack at this exact location.
Video reveals how riders struggled up Höttinger Höll
The TV cameras stayed with the leading riders on the final climb at the World Championships, and even they had to fight to get up the steep ramp.
But this static camera shows the damage in their wake a little further down the field.
Greg van Avermaet, for one, seemed to be pushing as hard as he could to just keep moving forward.
And even Nairo Quintana (Colombia) looked to be fighting his bike to simply make it up the climb.
One of the Kazakh riders was reduced to walking, though most likely because of a mechanical rather than the climb forcing him off.
But the Höttinger Höll climb, which came after 6½ hours in the saddle, was 3.2km in length. And it featured ramps up to 28 per cent.
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Gianni Moscon (Italy) seems to have cracked at this exact moment; the gap growing between him and the others he was with.
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And Didi the Devil is caught in the act of making absolutely sure he gets on the TV. He runs up the climb behind one of the French riders before stopping and sitting on the grass verge.
But the moment he sees the TV moto coming, which is tracking van Avermaet at the time, he jumps to his feet.
Didi then waits until the TV moto passes and runs behind van Avermaet, ensuring he’s in the shot as the camera shoots back at the Belgian.
The quality of this clip is not great. But it’s worth a look as it really shows how those who were fighting to stay in contention suffered on the climb; something the TV footage missed.
#InnsbruckTirol2018 ? / Regardez moi ça... pic.twitter.com/9ca6xi7mB5
— Renaud Breban (@RenaudB31) September 30, 2018
The clip captures the moment Didi the Devil gets up the moment he sees the TV moto covering van Avermaet and runs behind the rider to get on the TV.
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