Filippo Pozzato, Trixi Worrack win pre-Worlds race
The Italian men’s team and German women’s team have both proven they will be bringing favourites to the UCI Road World Championships by winning the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic in Ballarat, Australia
on Sunday.
"I was confident before this race because in the Vuelta, I felt I was very strong," said Filippo Pozzato. "This race was important for all the team to be together and to do a race together without radio
systems and find the right positions for the team."
The Championships begin on Wednesday and finish with the Men’s Elite race from Melbourne to Geelong, Australia next Sunday. The Italian team rode the 70km from their hotel to the start of the Herald Sun,
and Pozatto went on to finish the 130km men’s race ahead of Poland’s Maciej Bodnar and Chile’s Carlos Guinez. The winning trio was joined by Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara in a breakaway with the peloton less than a minute behind at all times.
“I didn't need this result to understand that I can do a good race next Sunday,” said Pozzato. “But Sunday will be different…still, I am confident."
Cancellara, who finished just off of the podium in fourth, said he is still feeling the jet lag but is confident he will be on form when he competes in both the road race and the time trial competitions
for the Swiss team.
"I still have jet lag, that's normal,” said Cancellara. “I need some more days, but that's okay. I'm pretty happy, I've done the first race in Australia, it's great."
Patrick Shaw was the first Australian to cross the finish line of the Herald Sun Cycling Classic, continuing his strong home-soil season which saw him emerge as the champion of the Scody Cup, the major
national road race series where he competed with Fly V Australia. Trixi Worrack added to the German team’s long list of victories by winning the women’s race at the Herald Sun.
“It was a pretty hard course because of the wind and it was pretty hilly,” said Worrack. “It was really good training, although we still have a little jet-lag.”
Worrack is a member of the heavily-favoured German women’s team which includes HTC-Columbia riders Judith Arndt and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg capping fantastic seasons with the World Championships.
“Anyone can win,” said Worrack. “But I hope it is someone from Germany.”
The German won the pre-Worlds race ahead of Belgium’s Liesilot Decroix and South Africa’s Carla Swart.
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