WOLLONGONG, Australia –
Ellen van Dijk defended her title and claimed a third gold medal in the women’s time trial at the opening event of the Road Cycling World Championships on Sunday.
Van Dijk used a technical course in the seaside town of Wollongong, south of Sydney, and maintained a perfect cadence to beat Australia’s Grace Brown by 12.79 seconds to defend her time trial gold won last year. Swiss rival Marlen Reusser took bronze.
In the men’s race, unannounced Norwegian Tobias Foss celebrated a surprise victory for his first world title.
In the women’s race, Brown was one of the early starters, posting a breathtaking time of 44 minutes and 41.33 seconds over the 34.2-kilometer (21.3-mile) route, unmatched by any of the other 45 participants, right down to the last pair of vans Dijk and Reusser were both faster at the first time check.
Reusser then faded to finish more than 41 seconds behind Brown’s time, but van Dijk continued and claimed her third gold medal in a time of 44:28.60 over the two-lap distance.
“It was the perfect course for me. (But) I never thought I would win today,” said the 35-year-old, who won her first gold in 2013. “I had no idea how I was driving… I did my effort really well.
“It was nice to see Reusser a little ahead of me towards the end, so I knew it wasn’t a bad day for sure. But I was so surprised to finish.”
Olympic time trial champion and two-time world champion Annemiek van Vleuten finished seventh, more than 90 seconds behind her compatriot van Dijk.
Foss clocked the same course in 40:02.95 for the biggest win of his pro career, capping a notable upset at the end of the opening day of the World Road Championships.
Most were expecting a gold medal won between Italy’s two-time defending champion Filippo Ganna and rising star Remo Evenepoel, who became the first Belgian to win a Grand Tour in 44 years last week when he won the Vuelta a Espana.
But Evenepoel could only manage bronze, 9.16s off pace, while Switzerland’s Stefan Kung finished second, 2.95s behind Foss, who evidently shook his head in disbelief as the more coveted rivals failed to beat his time.
Ganna was seventh, 55.32 seconds behind Foss, and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar, the two-time Tour de France champion, was sixth.
Britain’s Ethan Hayter led at the first checkpoint but had to change bikes when he dropped his chain to finish fourth in 39.95s.
Foss’ only previous professional wins were two Norwegian time trial championships and the national road race title, but he showed his rising potential by winning the 2019 Tour de l’Avenir.