Worlds Report – Under 23 Road Race

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A jubilant Sven Erik Bystrøm of Norway won the gold in Friday’s U23 Men’s road race, whilst Owain Doull was best of the Brits in 19th

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Worlds Report – Under 23 Road Race

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Worlds – Under 23 Road Race
A jubilant Sven Erik Bystrøm (Norway) took the gold medal in Friday’s Under 23 Men’s road race, claiming top honors for Norway in the UCI World Championships currently taking place in Ponferrada.

“I am very happy, I can’t even explain how much”! he said afterwards. “It was an amazing race and I felt good the entire day. It was a hard race, but maybe not too hard. We have to understand that this is World Championships and the races could not be easy anyway. At the beginning I took it easy to save my legs and energy for the final”.

“There were a lot of attacks, but every time the peloton was able to neutralize the riders who had attacked. I saved my legs for the final lap and attacked, maybe at the last possible moment. On the final climb I gave 100% of everything I have and later on the descent I gave my all to stay in front and win this race. Finally, it worked well. It was a good final of the race and the entire season, – said Sven Erik Bystrøm.

Bystrøm will race for Team Katusha in 2015. “I am happy with my contract signing with Team Katusha and with the fact that I will be in the team together with Alexander Kristoff, who is my good friend. I already rode one race as a trainee with the Russian Team at the Arctic Race of Norway and I was really impressed with this experience”.

Owain Doull was Great Britain’s first rider home, finishing 19th. “I felt really good, placed well at the finish but on the wrong wheel at the wrong time,” he said to British Cycling. “I just hesitated for that second too long and that was the result. World champs is always a big race and you don’t get many chances to get a good course for you. This is probably my last under-23 worlds so would have been nice to come away with a good ride.”

First year senior Scott Davies finished 34th despite suffering from an illness that dogged his time trial performance earlier in the week. “Probably not the result we were after but it happens. To be honest I’ve been lucky with illness and stuff. This is the first time I’ve been ill in well over six months. I’ve had a good run and I can’t really complain but it happens. I’m just grateful for the chance. Not many first years get the chance of an under-23 world champs and I’m grateful for that chance and hopefully I can put it to good use in years to come.”

GB riders Tao Geoghegan Hart and Alex Peters lost contact with the peloton on lap nine, finishing 103rd and 105th respectively, 11 minutes and 48 seconds behind the winner. Dan McLay was dropped on the penultimate lap and eventually abandoned.

Junior Women
Melissa Lowther was Britain’s best-placed rider, 37th place in a race won by Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen who took her second consecutive world title. Bethany Hayward was 41st and and Megan Barker 51st. Lowther and Hayward were in the leading group over the final climb before being dropped on the final descent. Barker and Grace Garner lost contact earlier in the race. First to go was Garner on the first lap where crashes split the field and Garner, who had been ill in the lead up to the race, pulled into the GB pits at the end of lap three.

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