Round up of UCI World Road Championships 2011 - Part 2
The second event of the race was the 35.2 kilometre Under-23 Men time trial on the same day of September 19. Luke Durbridge of Australia was the favourite before the race as he managed to live up to his reputation and secured the first place at the event.
Championships started off perfectly for the Australians as they secured two gold medals at the two starting events. Durbridge managed to finish the race in 42 minutes and 47 seconds as he secured a 36 seconds lead over Rasmus Christian of the host nation.
Yet another medal for Australia as Michael Hepburn finished third and won the bronze as he was 46 seconds behind his compatriot Luke Durbridge.
Luke was overwhelmed by the victory as he mentioned, “It's hard to explain. I'm so happy that I'm struggling to put a sentence together.” He also congratulated Quaade and his countryman Hepburn on winning the medals. “Congratulations to Quaade and Hepburn.
We planned this out for the last six months and for it to come together is the tricky part. I had good form and knew could do it but everything had to go right.”
After a second position by Quaade in the Under-23 Men time trial, the host nation was filled with joy as Mads Wurtz Schmidt won the 27.8 kilometre Junior Men time trial. He was quickest amongst all the Under-23 riders at the event as he finished the race
in 35:07:68. Victory was not easy for the Dane as yet another Australian David Edwards almost upset the home crowd. David was looking good to win gold for his country but he fainted towards the end of the race.
New Zealand’s James Oram took full advantage as he saw the Australian slowing down. James finished the race at second position and secured the silver for New Zealand. He mentioned that it was the biggest moment of his life and he will always remember that
memorable day. Markus Faglum-Karlsson of Sweden, Juriy Vasyliv of Germany and Casper Von Folsach of Denmark secured the fourth, fifth and sixth positions during the 27.8 kilometre Junior Men time trials race held on September 20.
The second race on the same day was the Elite Women time trial which was a 27.8 kilometre race and 51 cyclists took part in this event. German rider Judith Arndt managed to win the first gold medal for her country as she cruised her way to victory with a
lead of 21:73 over Linda Melanie Villumsen of New Zealand. It seemed that the rain had no affect over the German cyclist as she continued her dominance at the Copenhagen track during the second lap.
Emma Pooley of Great Britain was riding as the defending Champion as she finished two seconds behind Linda Melanie and received the bronze. Arndt mentioned that she won her first gold medal in 1997 but had failed to win it again for so many years. She stated
that it was an unbelievable feeling for her when she realised that her pursuit was over as she secured the top podium position. Tara Whitten and Clara Hughes both were looking good throughout the race but could not claim the medals as they finish at fourth
and fifth positions respectively.
Continued in Part 3
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: