September 26/07 3:57 am - Road World Championships: Women & U23 Men's ITT Report & Photos and Results

Posted by Editoress on 09/26/07
 

Road World Championships Stuttgart, Germany

Coverage sponsored by Norco

Photos

U23 Men

Women

The road world championships of road cycling opened today with the Women's and Under-23 aged men's individual time trial events. Canada's top performance came from national champion Anne Samplonius, who finished 15th, two minutes and 2.92 seconds behind Hanka Kupfernagel of host Germany in the 25.1 kilometre event. Alexandra Wrubleski was 31st overall, three minutes and 13.84 seconds behind the winner.

Kupfernagel was only the tenth rider off in the event, and spent nearly three hours in the hot seat as rider after rider came rolling through, none of them able to even come close to the former cyclo-cross world champion's time. Kupfernagel was fastest through every checkpoint, and ended up beating defending champion Kristin Armstrong of the USA by an impressive 23.47 seconds, with Christiane Soeder (Austria) a full 41.53 seconds behind.

"It was a long wait in that chair," she agreed, "and it was very hard. The waiting was probably more exciting than the race. This course had a bit of everything - like cyclo-cross - with some hills, lots of corners and descents. I liked this course from the minute I saw it. I had a good ride and gave 100%, but I didn't expect to win, no."

Kupfernagel says that she will cut back on her cyclo-cross schedule this winter, since she sees this result as a stepping stone to Beijing.

Samplonius, who had spent over a month specifically preparing for the event, had hoped for a top-10 result, but was satisfied with her performance.

"I'm disappointed and not disappointed at the same time. I didn't get my top-10, but I wasn't too far down - only 25 seconds. I think I lost my time in the first seven or eight kilometres of the race; and I'm kicking myself for holding back a bit on the first lap. You definitely needed to go to full speed from the start, and that was my downfall. I had a good second lap (she was second for a while until Amber Neben (USA) bumped her down). I would have loved a top-10, but I'm not devastated."

Alex Wrubleski also struggled on portions of the course. "I felt solid and smooth during my ride, but I was slow on the climbs; my legs just didn't feel good there."

Wrubleski also admitted that talk prior to the race about her crash last year possibly had an impact. "Yeah, it was in my head for sure; everyone kept mentioning it! I think I could have gone faster through some of the corners, but I know that I still need more practice on picking the best lines."

Canada's top result for the Under-23 aged men came from national champion David Veilleux. Veilleux finished in 34th place, three minutes and 3.56 seconds behind winner Lars Boom of the Netherlands. Christian Meier was 48th, four minutes and 3.33 seconds behind Boom. Both Veilleux and Meier were riding on borrowed bikes after the theft of seven bicycles from the Canadian team van on Sunday night.

Boom was fastest for all but the opening split in the men's 38.1 kilometre event. Pre-race favourite Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia set the fastest time for the first 11.68 kilometres, but then slowed in the second half of the first lap. He picked up speed for the first half of the second lap before slowing even further for the final half lap of the race. Jerome Coppel of France took the bronze medal.

Like Kupfernagel, Boom comes from cyclo-cross: "Over the last few years I won big races in cyclo-cross, and I feel comfortable in the culture of cyclo-cross. When you are 19 or 20 and win a big race, its an easier decision to do cyclo-cross. Also, in the pro [road] races I need four or five more years to be a big rider. So I will combine road and cyclo-cross as I did in the last few years, which means I will race more cyclo-cross and less road, but bigger road races. In cyclo-cross, I want to be world champ in the elite category."

"My goal was the first half of the field, and I made that, so I'm pretty pleased with my ride," commented Veilleux. "It was a good result for me, because I had some trouble with the cold in the morning. On the flat sections it was fast and very cold, so my legs were affected and I couldn't push as hard on the climbs. I still have two years left in this category, so I can see lots of ways to improve."

Meier's main goal is the road race on Saturday so, given that he was racing on an unfamiliar bike, he didn't push it in his ride. "I didn't go into the time trial with any big expectations; it was really just to open the legs up for Saturday. My coach and I talked, and decided that with so little time on the new bike it would be better not to go 100%. I didn't want to jeopardize anything for Saturday, because that is the big goal."

Race Notes

- The racing is almost becoming overshadowed by the constant anti-doping news that keeps coming out. the following is a list of the latest updates, including information from a press conference hastily called by UCI President Pat McQuaid after the women's race.

1. Valverde is in. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde will be allowed to race after the UCI lost their appeal at the Court for Arbitration in Sport today. "The UCI agreed to go through the CAS, and we accept the decision. This is not an indication that Valverde is cleared to us, but we can't prevent him from starting. At this point I cannot comment further because we only have the decision, not the reasons."

As a further note, McQuaid agreed that this clears the way for Australian Allan davis to compete on Sunday as well.

2. Danilo Di Luca. The Italian rider's Giro doping info has now been sent to the Italian Olympic commission (CONI), and depending upon their decision, he will or will not be allowed to race.

3. Bettini has not signed the UCI Declaration. Bettini has still refused to sign the UCI declaration, which allows the use of his DNA, claiming it violates his human rights. According to McQuaid, this is a voluntary process, and while he is disappointed, Bettini can race. "He has not signed the Declaration. It is my position that it is incumbent on every rider and federation to take action to do everything that will help the sport. He has still refused to sign (note: he did submit a modified version through his lawyer, but it has been rejected by the UCI). We don't have the right to stop riders from starting the race. This is based on ethics, and it is not a legally binding document."

There have also today been media statements that Patrick Sinkewitz is claiming Bettini supplied him with testosterone. McQuaid said "I've just received that information now, this hour, so it is the first i've heard of it and we cannot comment."

4. Increased fight against doping. McQuaid listed a long series of initiatives that the UCI is taking at this worlds and for the future, including vastly increased testing and education. He also said that blood samples would be kept for a probably human growth hormone test which should be out next year. Much of the information on the new programs will be posted on the UCI website (www.uci.ch) .

5. Arguments with the Stuttgart organizers. McQuaid admitted that there have been a number of differences of opinion between the city and the UCI. For example, the organizers believe that riders who do not sign the Declaration can be excluded, as can Valverde and Davis despite the CAS ruling. There is talk that the city is planning legal action against the UCI, but "it is hypothetical at this stage, so I can't answer that question. But I am in discussions with the legal department of the city, yes. The organization has very strict views; I do not subscribe to their views."

Related to that, the mayor of Stuttgart said that legend Eddy Merckx is unwelcome at the Worlds! "Mr Merckx is not welcome at official functions; I have confirmed that with the mayor. I have also spoken to Mr Merckx and he is okay with that. He can attend the championships, but not in an official capacity."

"I do want to say that such actions are detrimental to the success of the event. I think that many thousands of Belgians who would have attended will probably not come now."

McQuaid concluded by making a plea for people to recognize the strides that the UCI is making to clean up the sport.

Tune in tomorrow for the next installment!