Home team wins in U23 road race
Michael Matthews won the World Championships Under-23 road race on home soil. The Australian crossed the finish line at the head of a 45-man bunch sprint, but his victory was overshadowed by another first. For the first time ever, four riders stood on the
podium at the end of the race. Twenty-year-old Matthews overtook the German runner-up in the final 100 metres and crossed the line four bike lengths ahead of his three podium companions.
"I am speechless,” said Matthews. “There was a lot of pressure today, but I got a lot of support from my team-mates. It started off really well and finished better. I don’t think this will ever sink in as it is a dream, and dreams usually don’t come true.”
In the photo finish, American Taylor Phinney and Canadian Guillaume Boivin finished “to the pixel,” as one official put it, to take a tie for the bronze medal behind Germany’s John Degenkolb.
"It was a perfect sprint for me, I think," said Boivin. "That is what I am good at. To get a bronze medal is good but it is a bit of a bittersweet feeling, because I knew once I got to the sprint I could win. But I kinda got boxed in and I wasn't able to
sprint until 100 metres to go. I gave it my best from there and passed a couple of guys and threw my bike on the line."
Phinney’s team mate, US national champion Ben King, led a breakaway through most of the day, but it was absorbed before the final lap, when Phinney was promoted as the sprinter.
"I just tried to find an opening and tried to get out there, and then there was this white, yellow and green flash that went by me,” said Phinney. “But I just focused on that line and gave it the biggest lunge that I could."
Degenkolb’s silver medal continued Germany’s successful World Championships so far. The national team has won a medal in every category yet, with the U23 road race being the fourth of six events. With two silvers and two bronzes, Germany can only hope to
take a gold, a distinct possibility with Judith Arndt and Andre Greipel leading the nation as favourites in the Elite women’s and men’s road races this weekend, respectively.
The bunch sprint finish should have an effect on the betting for the two Elite road races, with most commentators categorizing the favourites according to whether the race finished with a breakaway or a bunch sprint. Both German favourites have better odds
in a bunch sprint then in a breakaway, so there’s a good chance this will be the year for the Germans.
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