Germany comes out tops after UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships spectacular

Germany went out today with guns blazing and a clear determination to stay atop the medal leader board on the last day of the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday 3 September. They collected a total of 20 medals throughout the four-day competition, made up of 10 gold medals, four silver medals and six bronze medals – a National Record for Team Germany! Italy clawed their way back to move into second place on the medal leader board with a total of 14 medals – seven gold, four silvers, three bronzes – while The Netherlands were the third highest with 15 medals, made up of six gold, five silvers and four bronze medals.

The Women’s C5 Road Race on Day 4 of the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships held at Alexandra Park Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on Sunday 3 September 2017. Photo credit: Andrew Mc Fadden

Kerstin Brachtendorf added yet another gold medal to the nation’s tally when she completed the 60.7-kilometre Women’s C5 race in a time of 1:41:58 in a sprint finish against Argentinian Mariela Analia Delgado, with Crystal Lane-Wright from Great Britain rounding out the podium. Brachtendorf bettered her bronze medal performance from Friday’s Time Trial.

Brachtendorf said that she had to play it cool in many instances during the race, where she felt that the pace was a bit slow at some places. “I didn’t know that I was the fastest girl on the downhill and I was always in the front, but it was too long to go to the finish line. On the last lap, I decided that it was not a good idea to attack there and stayed behind and tried to keep it cool and calm and sat on the back wheel of Colombia. At 200 metres to go I passed her and Mariela and then we sprinted to the finish line. It was very close, and I did not know that I had won, so I still cannot believe it.”

American Shawn Morelli claimed her second gold medal of the event in the Women’s C4 Road Race. Photo credit: Andrew Mc Fadden

American Shawn Morelli claimed her second gold medal of the UCI World Championships event in the Women’s C4 Road Race, also covering a distance of 60.7km. She was followed home by Italian Jenny Narcisi, who had a 03:34 time deficit, with Australian Meg Lemon finishing third and earning her second bronze medal of the weekend.

“My race went well. I came into the weekend feeling strong. I knew before the race started that I needed to hang on to the C5 group, and I wanted to be the strongest C4 rider at the end of that group. There was very tough competition out there today and I’m glad that I outlasted them to take the win,” said Morelli.

The Men’s C1-3 classes also completed the 10-lap course, totalling 60.7km. In the C1 class, it was Pierre Senska from Germany who added another gold medal to the German Team’s accolades. Ricardo Ten Argiles (ESP) and fellow German Michael Teuber finished in the silver and bronze medal places respectively.

Canadian Tristen Chernove also made it the double with his road race performance today in the C2 class, adding to his Friday Time Trial gold medal, beating Australian Darren Hicks and Frenchman Francois Lecroise in the sprint finish. They completed the race in a time of 1:33:47. It was Hicks’ second silver medal of the tournament.

Team Sweden’s Henrik Marvig was also the victor in a sprint finish in the Men’s C3 class, pipping his competitors Steffen Warias (GER) and Fabio Anobile (ITA) to the post to secure the gold medal in a time of 1:33:46. “What a day, it was totally unbelievable,” said Marvig. “I’m always around the seventh spot and I didn’t want to finish seventh again today. It was a strange day with a really nice finish. I was involved in a crash on lap four and my saddle came off, and my steering went completely the wrong way, and my rear brake was binding the whole lap and I had to stop to fix it. I had to work really hard to catch up and I was toast. But I managed to work with the second peloton and on the last lap we closed the gap because the front group stopped pushing. I got the perfect exit on the fast double left corner and with 300 metres to go, I launched it and gave everything that I could and looked back and nobody was there, and I was surprised. I can’t believe it.”

Brazilian Lauro Cesar was elated with his first career gold medal in the Men’s C5 Road Race. Photo credit: Andrew Mc Fadden

Brazilian Lauro Cesar was elated with his first career gold medal at a UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in the Men’s C5 Road Race, where he soloed to victory in a time of 2:04:04 along the 85km course. Austrian Wolfgang Eibeck and Dorian Foulon finished second and third respectively.

“I hadn’t planned to attack on the first lap, but I decided to see how I felt and was lucky to make a break with the Italian guy. The Time Trial is not my specialty but I felt very strong on this course on my own. I managed very well with the heat. I’ve never won a UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, and I have been dreaming about becoming a UCI World Champion,” said Cesar.

German Tobias Vetter won another gold medal for Germany when he trumped the C4 Road Race in 2:06:47. Kyle Bridgwood from Australia, and Sergei Pudov from Russia claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Women’s C3 Road Race winner Anna Beck from Sweden nudged her bike just ahead of Germany’s Denise Schindler and Keiko Noguchi to claim the victory in a sprint finish in a time of 1:31:33 over 48.6km. Beck said: “I positioned myself perfectly for the last bend in the race for the first place, because I’m not too good at speed. Keiko was coming from the left and the wind was blowing and I wanted to be on the right side of the track, so I was perfectly placed. With 200 metres left to go, I knew there was no turning back and that I was going to get the old medal. And it worked!”

American Allison Jones also had a close race in the Women’s C2 event, pipping Colombian Daniela Carolina Munevar Florez to the post in 1:30:44. Alyda Norbruis from The Netherlands finished in third place.

Colombia celebrated in style when Nelson Javier Serna Moreno and Marlon Perez Arango piloted their tandem to victory after a gruelling 18 laps of the 6.07-km course in the Men’s Visually Impaired race to complete the 109.3km distance in a time of 2:29:45. The Colombians made a break and led the race most of the way from the eighth lap and held the gap for a few laps before the peloton started to reel them in slowly but surely, with about four laps to go. Courageously, they soldiered on and held the lead to take the victory, with the Dutch pairing of Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos, and Marcin Polak and Michal Ladosz of Poland dicing for the silver medal 27 seconds adrift.

The Irish duo of Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal timed their attack to perfection to take the victory in the Women’s Visually Impaired race, covering a distance of 85km in a time of 2:05:54. For 14 laps, the peloton remained intact and the UCI Time Trial World Champions added another medal to their tally for the weekend. Polish team Iwona Podkoscielna and Aleksandra Teclaw and Team Greece’s Eleni Kalatzi and Argyro Milaki finished in second and third places respectively.

The Handcycle Team Relay brought the curtain down on what has been a superb weekend of racing. Photo credit: Andrew Mc Fadden

The Handcycle Team Relay brought the curtain down on what has been a superb weekend of racing. Italy’s powerhouse trio of Paolo Cecchetto (H3), Luca Mazzone (H2) and Alessandro Zanardi (H5) stopped the clock on the short circuit in a time of 16 minutes 31 seconds. Team USA, only six seconds adrift, claimed the silver medals for Matthew Updike (H3), William Groulx (H2) and Alfredo de los Santos (H5), while Team Germany’s Bernd Jeffre (H4), Mariusz Frankowski (H2) and Andrea Eskau (H5) rounded out the final podium of the day in a time of 0:17:22.

The early morning start for the Men C1-3 classes during the Road Race on Day 4 of the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. Photo credit: Andrew Mc Fadden

The 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships took place in Pietermaritzburg from 31 August to 3 September, and Pietermaritzburg pulled out all the stops for the world’s best athletes! Well done on your performances and may you have a safe return to your homes. For more information and all the results, go to: https://www.cyclingsa.com/2017-uci-para-road-world-champs/

For more information about Para-cycling, please visit http://www.uci.ch/para-cycling/.