Worlds: Elinor Barker Wins Junior Women’s World TT Title

Welsh rider, Elinor Barker, has won the Junior Women’s Time Trial title in Holland today (Tuesday)

After Lucy Garner’s Junior Women’s RR title last year, Welsh rider Elinor Barker has added another rainbow jersey to the GB collection with the first win in this event since Nicole Cooke won the same title in 2001 (Lisbon). Barker never looked like being beaten going through all the time checks fastest to average over 41kph for the near 10 mile course.

Photo: PhotoSport International. uk usa asia.

She beat pre-race favourite Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) by 36 seconds to move up a spot from the Silver medal she won last year. The win was all the more remarkable as Elinor, and several others in the junior squad, had only just returned from New Zealand and the Junior Track Worlds where she won two silver medals and a bronze medal.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic about winning … it’s huge,” Barker said afterwards to walesonline.co.uk. “Winning silver last year put a lot of pressure on me and I put a lot of pressure on myself to win this race. I’m just so glad it’s over and its gone well. It was just so hard. This is all I’ve wanted since this day last year. It’s all I’ve thought about.”

“I only lost out by about a second and a half last year and you think how many corners there are and how much I could have made up. I didn’t leave anything unturned. I’ve pretty much dedicated the last year to this. I’ve been on my time trial bike at least twice a week, doing hill efforts, watching my diet, going to bed early. I have come second so many times so it feels really good to finally get a rainbow jersey.”

Photo: PhotoSport International. uk usa asia.

“The course here in Limburg really suited me with a few climbs. The rain had eased off by the time I had got on the course, with it being windy in some sections. Usually I struggle on the technical side, things like corners and descents, but I’ve really improved on that lately and it just went really well. Looking at the start sheet there were a lot of names on there that I recognised and who I knew were good at time trialling and for whom this would be their kind of event. I spent a lot of time worrying!”

“I didn’t feel great at the start but after the first couple of kilometres I just got into a rhythm and just stuck with it,” she explained. “I seemed to be going well and was leading by 13 seconds at the first checkpoint. After that it was a case of just keeping it going. I can hardly believe it – I have been aiming for this title for a long time. It was inspiring being at home to watch the Olympics and then it went well in New Zealand at the track worlds.”

Photo: PhotoSport International. uk usa asia.

“The first hill was pretty much straight away, which I think suited me as I’m a bit of a climber, and then it was sort of downhill to the finish and not too technical the rest of the way. Last year was pretty flat and technical so I was actually pretty shocked to get silver, but this year suited my strengths.”

Photo: PhotoSport International. uk usa asia.

RESULT

1 BARKER Elinor GBR 22:26.29
2 LUDWIG Cecilie Uttrup DEN @ 35.87
3 DE JONG Demi NED +1:03.13
4 ROPER Emily AUS +1:08.18
5 FORCHINI Ramona SUI +1:10.42
6 MOTTET Eva FRA +1:11.59
7 SIGGAARD Christina DEN +1:13.26
8 LECHNER Corinna GER +1:13.35
9 ZIJLAARD Nicky NED +1:14.84
10 OYARBIDE JIMENEZ Lourdes ESP +1:15.26

Pooley Fourth – Germany’s Judith Arndt Wins Back-to-Back Rainbow Jerseys

In the penultimate race of her 18-year career, Judith Arndt successfully defended the rainbow jersey to earn back-to-back individual time trial world titles while Emma Pooley was fourth and Wendy Houvenaghel 14th. Arndt covered the 24.1 kilometer course in 32:26, setting a blistering pace of 45 kilometers per hour to win by a commanding 34 seconds.

“I am very proud of today’s race,” said Arndt. “I tried to do a perfect race, and it pretty much worked out as planned. I wanted to start fast as that has been a weakness of mine in the past. Today’s race was quite short and had a tailwind, so a fast start was critical.”

“I also went full on in the section before the descent into Valkenburg,” Ardnt added. “With the Cauberg only two kilometers from the finish, we neded to go flat out after the climb, too. Mentally, you have to deal with that to win on a course like today’s.”

It is the third gold medal at Road World Championships for Arndt who won time trial gold last year and the road title in 2004. She ends her career on Saturday with the road race in Valkenburg. “I am very grateful to everyone who has supported me this year,” said Arndt. “And I’m grateful for the support I’ve received throughout my whole career.”

Arndt stood on the podium with her ORICA-AIS teammate Linda Villumsen. The New Zealand national claimed the final step of the podium. Villumsen’s bronze medal represents her fourth consecutive medal in the individual time trial at Road World Championships. American Evelyn Stevens took silver with a time seven seconds faster than Villumsen. “I’m very happy for Linda,” noted Arndt. “She’s a little superstar and a good teammate.”

Elite Women’s Individual Time Trial
1 Judith Arndt (Germany) 0:32:26.46
2 Evelyn Stevens (United States) 0:00:33.77
3 Linda Melanie Villumsen (New Zealand) 0:00:40.57
4 Emma Pooley (Great Britain) 0:00:49.33
5 Eleonora Van Dijk (Netherlands) 0:00:54.01
6 Ina Teutenberg (Germany) 0:01:33.74
7 Amber Neben (United States) 0:01:43.42
8 Trixi Worrack (Germany) 0:01:44.56
9 Martina Sablikova (Czech Republic) 0:01:59.44
10 Shara Gillow (Australia) 0:01:59.75
11 Anna Van Der Breggen (Netherlands) 0:02:08.05
12 Emma Johansson (Sweden) 0:02:13.39
13 Tatiana Antoshina (Russian Federation) 0:02:16.07
14 Wendy Houvenaghel (Great Britain) 0:02:17.51
15 Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) 0:02:20.52
16 Carmen Small (United States) 0:02:29.07
17 Natalya Boyarskaya (Russian Federation) 0:02:31.84
18 Audrey Cordon (France) 0:02:47.20
19 Edwige Pitel (France) 0:02:51.65
20 Patricia Schwager (Switzerland) 0:02:52.57
21 Joelle Numainville (Canada) 0:02:54.72
22 Rhae-Christie Shaw (Canada) 0:03:03.04
23 Martina Ritter (Austria) 0:03:04.78
24 Tjasa Rutar (Slovenia) 0:03:15.50
25 Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen (Norway) 0:03:19.76
26 Clemilda Fernandes Silva (Brazil) 0:03:19.78
27 Eugenia Bujak (Poland) 0:03:20.92
28 Rossella Ratto (Italy) 0:03:29.24
29 Sari Saarelainen (Finland) 0:03:29.62
30 Serika Guluma Ortiz (Colombia) 0:03:39.10
31 Anna Sanchis Chafer (Spain) 0:03:39.24
32 Olena Pavlukhina (Ukraine) 0:03:45.10
33 Olivia Dillon (Ireland) 0:03:46.87
34 Katarzyna Sosna (Lithuania) 0:03:54.13
35 Anna Nagirna (Ukraine) 0:03:55.76
36 Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 0:04:08.18
37 Martyna Klekot (Poland) 0:04:18.81
38 Veronica Leal Balderas (Mexico) 0:04:26.21
39 Aleksandra Sosenko (Lithuania) 0:04:33.76
40 Kathryn Bertine (St Kitts & Nevis) 0:04:34.95
41 Mia Radotic (Croatia) 0:05:06.63
42 Semra Yetis (Turkey) 0:08:10.33