Today has been wet, biblically wet at times. Some of the riders, I’m sure, would have rather been on an arc than on their bikes today.
The U23 Men had the worse of the weather today while the Elite women’s start was delayed to allow the course to be cleared of water and the deeper puddles (read small lakes) were coned off.
The U23 men’s race was won by non other than Mikkel Bjerg, now a triple World Champion at U23 level in the Individual Time Trial. Mikkel powered to victory in a time of 40:20:23, mastering the conditions to beat the two Americans, Ian Garrison and Brandon McNulty in to second and third place.
Johan Price-Pejtersen went viral for all the wrong reasons when the Dane thought his bike had paddles on it. Johan ended up looking like a man all at sea as he sat in a puddle as deep as a bath.
Hungarian Attila Valter did his best impression of Superman before his bike hit the curb and sent him skidding on his bum ten yards further down the road.
Both men managed to recover to finish the race but their fate was sealed with Johan finishing 11 minutes down and Attila recovering to lose 5 minutes.
Best British rider was Charles Quaterman, with the 21 year old finishing 14th, 1 minute 52 down on the eventual winner. A fine performance.
The delayed start of the women race means that they were pulsed out in minute intervals. The first riders started so tentatively, that they were barely off the cobbled sections before the next rider was down the ramp.
Annemiek van Vleuten was the rider carrying previous in this event, carrying the number one jersey all eyes were on Annemiek to take the Rainbow Jersey today.
That, however, was not the case. Step up Chloe Dygert from the USA. The American blitzed the rest of the field and stormed the victory taking the Rainbow Jersey by over a minute and a half, beating another Dutch rider, Anna van der Breggen. Leaving Annemiek van Vleuten in third.
All the plaudits definitely belong to Chloe Dygert, her searing pace saw her fly past 2014 ITT World Champion, Lisa Brennauer. At the age of 22, had Chloe of been in the U23 Men’s Race, on the same course, she would have come home 21st, such was her power and speed over the undulating course.
home interest with Britains best rider Alice Barnes finishing in 14th place, 4:32:39 down on the overall winner.
Dygert is certainly a star for the future with her track credentials coming to the fore in the Time Trial discipline. I would say that she has added another dimension to Women’s Time Trialling, but she did so much to obliterate the field today, she reminds me of Tony Martin in his pomp… Unbeatable.
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