The allocations for the men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Florence are anxiously anticipated and eagerly contested as the August 15 deadline for countries to be awarded their spots is rapidly approaching. 

Under current UCI regulations, the top 10 countries in the WorldTour rankings will be able to field 9 riders, provided that they have at least that many riders in the individual rankings.

Only a handful of countries have accomplished results which permit them to field full strength teams: Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and France. You can see the current nations’ rankings here.

After the Tour of Poland one of cycling’s traditional powerhouses, Belgium, faced the unthinkable mortification as the country dropped to 11th in the nations’ rankings.

The United States finds itself in a comparable situation, having just achieved 12th overall in the rankings for nations. The Americans fell 18 points short of making it into the top 10, while Belgium missed the mark by a mere 8 points margin. There is some quantum of solace for the Belgians, however, as Belgium will be allocated an additional spot for defending world champion Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team), while the USA will have to settle for six starters.

WorldTour leader Christopher Froome (Sky) helped Great Britain achieve third in the nations’ rankings, but with eight riders in the individual standings they will only be able to start eight, while Colombia, with just four riders included in the rankings, may start six under the UCI's rules. Correspondingly, Slovakia is scheduled to field six riders even though only Peter Sagan and Peter Velits earned WorldTour points. You can watch the individual rankings here.

The Belgian disappointment did not go down well with federation President, Tom Van Damme, who was swift in venting his dissatisfaction.

"Bad luck is a major cause," Van Damme told Sporza. "We lost a lot of points due to the Tom Boonen’s crash in the spring and the fall of Jurgen Van den Broeck in the Tour. They could have steered us to the sixth or seventh."

However, Van Damme was also adamant that better structures needed to be implemented in Belgian cycling to make sure that Belgium would avoid a similar limitation being placed upon their prospects at future world championships.

"Everything starts with good performance," he said. "At the youth level we get it right, but results often falter in the pros. This is due to poor supervision and lack of ambition."