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World championships - CM
Madrid, Spain, September 21-25, 2005
Main Page Results & report Race Details Next Race
Race 1 - September 21: Women's individual time trial, 22km
Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Hernan Alvarez and Shane Stokes
Live report
Live coverage starts: 10:00 CEST
Estimated finish: 11:20 CEST
10:04 CEST
We're baaaaack! This time, for the
2005 World Road Championships that are being staged this week in the non-UCI
city of Madrid. It's quite handy having all the races in one place, as we won't
have to move the Hindenburg IV around Spanish airspace. Just gotta watch
the parking police...
The first event on the six race program is
the Elite Women's Time Trial, which takes place on the Casa del Campo circuit
over a distance of 21.8 km. The course is not flat, even if the climbs aren't
major.
All riders leave at 1'30 minute intervals. The first rider
off is Agnes Kay Eppers Reynders (Bolivia), followed by Bogumila Matusiak (Poland).
The favourites will be topped off by Karin Thürig (Switzerland), who is starting
last at 10:57am.
10:06 CEST
Danish rider Trine Hansen is now
under way, getting up to speed on the first part of the course, which is all
uphill. Now Canadian Susan Palmer-Komar sets off, straight away into her rhythm.
10:08 CEST
US rider Amber Neben is on her way
now, starting fairly steadily as she exits the ramp.
The weather
today is quite pleasant, as usual: it's 18 degrees and sunny, with very little
wind.
10:11 CEST
Priska Doppmann (Switzerland) sets
off next, getting into her very low aero position immediately. Meanwhile, Susan
Palmer-Komar is grinding up the steeper part of the climb, maintaining her aero
position in the saddle.
Bernadette Schober (Austria) leaves next,
looking a bit wobbly.
10:12 CEST
Neben is pedaling smoothly as she
tackles the middle part of the climb.
Italian Anna Zugno is next
off, getting into a nice rhythm straight away.
10:14 CEST
Germany's Madeleine Sandig powers
off next, staying out of the saddle for longer than most as she gets up to speed.
She looks fast.
10:15 CEST
Priska Doppmann is riding well on
the climb, not letting her cadence drop too much.
Melissa Holt (New
Zealand) is off next, wearing the distinctive black and silver outfit of the
NZ team.
10:18 CEST
Iryna Shpylyova (Ukraine) is off
next, not looking entirely comfortable on her TT bike. Her right knee is doing
all sorts of strange things. Marina Jaunatre (France) follows her.
Agnes Reynders reaches the 10.5 km check in 17'53.
10:20 CEST
Australian Sara Carrigan gets her
countdown. She is a specialist at this discipline, but has been slow to find
form this year. "I guess I didn't really expect this," the chatty Australian
told Cyclingnews on Tuesday evening. "I had a two and a half to a three-month
break after the Olympics last year and it has taken a long time to build back
up. But at the moment this is actually the best form that I have felt all year,
so I feel confident with that. It was also good to ride around the course today."
10:21 CEST
Belgian Natasha Maes is off next,
as Treier reaches the intermediate check in 17'05, third fastest.
10:23 CEST
Russian Olga Slyusareva gets going
now, looking super smooth as she gets up to speed.
Holt, the New
Zealander, is riding with an SRM today. She looks rock solid.
10:24 CEST
The second Danish rider, Linda Serup,
is now going. She almost takes a right hand turn at the top of the ramp, but
corrects and is down safely.
10:26 CEST
Doppmann is the second best at 10.5
km in 15'55, but Amber Neben (USA) has gone through in the fastest time of 15'24!
That's impressive, given that it's uphill all the way.
10:27 CEST
Local hope Dori Ruano (Spain) is
now going. She's chased by the second of three Swiss riders, Nicole Brändli.
10:28 CEST
The second US competitor, Kristin
Armstrong (USA) is now going.
Schober comes through 10.5 km in 17'35
or thereabouts, not one of the quickest.
10:29 CEST
Carrigan is flying along, looking
very quick on her TT machine.
10:31 CEST
Joane Somarriba is warming up. She's
the 2002 TT champ. Can she repeat on home turf?
10:32 CEST
Holt goes through 10.5 km in 16'30,
the eighth best. Still Amber Neben leads at that point with 15'24.
10:33 CEST
Bogumila Matusiak (Poland) comes
into the finish in a time of 31'31.85. She has passed Agnes Kay Eppers Reynders
(Bolivia).
10:34 CEST
Reynders finishes in 34'37, somewhat
slower than Matusiak.
10:36 CEST
Carrigan goes through 10.5 km in
16'14, only seventh quickest to date. Trine Hansen finishes her ride in 32'01,
second fastest.
10:38 CEST
Amber Neben finishes in a great time
of 29'48, catching both Sue Palmer-Komar and Grete Treier (Estonia) just before
the finish. Impressive ride.
10:40 CEST
Doppmann finishes in 30'48, a minute
slower than Neben, but still good enough for second place.
10:41 CEST
Ruano makes it to the first check
at 10.5 km in 16'06, just a bit quicker than Hansen for third place.
10:43 CEST
Susanne Ljungskog is now on her way
- she's a favourite for both today and Saturday's road race, having just won
the Giro della Toscana.
Hansen's finishing time was 32'01, but she
crashed en route and looks very upset at the finish.
Kristin Armstrong
is powering along a flatter part of the course, as Anna Zugno finishes in 31'28
for fourth.
10:44 CEST
Armstrong has smashed Neben's time
after 10.5 km with 15'14! Great riding by the Americans so far today.
10:47 CEST
Sandig finishes her ride in 31'07,
for fourth best. Meanwhile, Dori Ruano is nearing the finish, really giving
it everything. Holt finishes in 31'57 for 8th so far.
Oenone Wood
(Australia) and Zoulfia Zabirova (Kazakhstan) are under way.
10:48 CEST
Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Netherlands)
is now on her way. She's been riding well of late, and should post a good time.
But she's not a specialist at this discipline.
10:50 CEST
Iryna Shpylyova (Ukraine) finishes
well over 33 minutes, just sneaking into the top 10.
Christine Thorburn,
the third US competitor, is off next.
10:52 CEST
Carrigan finishes her ride in 31'27,
well off the pace today.
The top five at km 10.5:
1 Kristin
Armstrong (United States Of America) 15.14
2 Amber Neben (United States
Of America) 0.10
3 Priska Doppmann (Switzerland) 0.41
4 Nicole Brändli
(Switzerland) 0.43
5 Dori Ruano Sanchon (Spain) 0.52
The top
five at the finish:
1 Amber Neben (United States Of America) 29.48
2 Priska Doppmann (Switzerland) 1.00
3 Madeleine Sandig (Germany) 1.19
4 Susan Palmer-Komar (Canada) 1.31
5 Sara Carrigan (Australia) 1.39
10:54 CEST
Natasha Maes finishes in 32'08, also
well off the pace. That puts her in 11th.
Krasova (Ukraine) is on
a twisty downhill section.
Joane Somarriba is in the house. She looks
very motivated. Supermotivated, even.
10:55 CEST
Somarriba is really motoring, pedaling
quickly and keeping her speed up.
Edita Pucinskaite (Lithuania) is
next off, the second last rider to start.
10:57 CEST
Serup comes to the finish in 32'02
for 12th.
Guderzo is looking quick, and has her disk wheel wound
right up.
Now it's the turn of defending champ Karin Thürig (Switzerland).
She gets the countdown in German, and drives off the start ramp. She is a superb
time trialist, having come from a duathlon background.
10:57 CEST
Ruano is home now in 31'22 for fifth
best.
11:00 CEST
Kristin Armstrong (USA) powers to
the finish in 29'30! That's 18 seconds better than her compatriot Neben. The
two Americans hold the top two times, with Doppmann well back in third. And
there's still Thorburn to come for the USA. Surely at least one medal is on
the cards for them today.
11:01 CEST
Oenone Wood comes to the 10.5 km
check in 16'00, for 8th best.
11:03 CEST
Zabirova comes to the 10.5 km check
in 15'25 for 3rd best. Austrian Christiane Soeder was through in 15'33 for fourth,
while Ljungskog clocked 15'50 for fifth.
11:03 CEST
Melchers is riding well, but not
good enough for gold. She comes through in 15'28.
11:05 CEST
Worrack is now near the top of the
climb, riding an enormous gear and really struggling with it.
Thorburn
is past the 10.5 km check in 15'34 for sixth.
11:06 CEST
Zabirova, a past World and Olympic
TT champ, is nearing the finish now.
11:06 CEST
Judith Arndt (Germany) is up to the
10.5 km check in a very decent 15'25 for third, just quicker than Zabirova.
11:09 CEST
Boubnenkova is at the 10.5 km check
in 15'58, only 12th quickest. But Somarriba is flying!! She's past in 14'54!!
That's 20 seconds better than Armstrong.
11:12 CEST
Soeder finishes in 30'36, third fastest
behind Armstrong and Neben. But it ain't going to be enough for a medal once
the big guns finish.
Arndt is not looking the best, even if she's
riding quickly.
Pucinskaite is through 10.5 km in 16'00, well off
the pace. But Thürig is not too far behind her in 14'53 - new best time! It'll
be between her and Somarriba.
11:13 CEST
Ljungskog rides to the finish now,
in 31'04, not a brilliant time but it'll put her into the top 10 for the time
being.
Somarriba is catching Boubnenkova!
11:14 CEST
Melchers is approaching the finish,
riding through the trees at high speed.
Thürig has now on the descent,
picking up speed and the rider in front of her: Edita Pucinskaite.
11:15 CEST
Thürig passes Pucinskaite like she
was standing still, and straight away pulls away from her. The Swiss specialist
is looking great, but can she beat the motivated Somarriba.
11:18 CEST
Oenone Wood is at the finish now,
the Australian clocking 30'51 for 6th best so far. It's not her specialty.
Zabirova is home in 29'52, a good ride but only enough for third place at the
moment. Melchers finishes strongly in 29'53, just slower than Zabirova.
Thürig loses speed on the next climb, and Pucinskaite pulls her back.
11:19 CEST
Thorburn looks a bit cooked as she
nears the finish, the American coming home in a still decent time of 30'04 for
fifth.
11:21 CEST
Somarriba is nearing the end of her
ride, still looking very powerful as she races towards the finish.
Arndt is home now, in 29'47 for second behind Armstrong, who still has the best
time.
11:23 CEST
Somarriba will be next in, as she
caught Boubnenkova. Now she's digging deep as she goes up the last hill, closely
followed by the Russian.
Somarriba finishes off the job and sets
the best time in 29'00!!
11:24 CEST
Boubnenkova is home in 30'39, approx.
A top 10.
Now Thürig is nearing the finish...
11:25 CEST
Somarriba's time is actually 28'56
- the clock stopped too late.
But Thürig looks to be better...
11:26 CEST
And indeed she is: 28:51.08 for Karin
Thürig wins her the World Championship for the second year in a row! A great
ride by the Swiss, who will disappoint the Spanish fans hoping for a home win
by Joane. Kristin Armstrong will take the bronze.
11:30 CEST
Armstrong congratulates Thürig on
her ride, looking very happy herself with the bronze medal. Somarriba might
not be so thrilled with silver, as she would have loved to get the gold in Spain.
But what can you do against a rider such as Karin Thürig? She rode a very strong
race, never overcooking it and looking very smooth the whole way.
That's all from the Casa del Campo this morning, but we'll be back here in a
few hours with the U23 men's TT. Until then!
Results
10.5 km (all riders through) 1 Karin Thürig (Switzerland) 14.53 2 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spain) 0.01 3 Kristin Armstrong (United States Of America) 0.21 4 Amber Neben (United States Of America) 0.31 5 Zoulfia Zabirova (Kazakhstan) 0.32 6 Judith Arndt (Germany) 7 Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Netherlands) 0.35 8 Christiane Soeder (Austria) 0.40 9 Christine Thorburn (United States Of America) 0.41 10 Susanne Ljungskog (Sweden) 0.57 Finish - 21.8 km 1 Karin Thürig (Switzerland) 28.51 2 Joane Somarriba Arrola (Spain) 0.05 3 Kristin Armstrong (United States Of America) 0.39 4 Judith Arndt (Germany) 0.56 5 Amber Neben (United States Of America) 0.57 6 Zoulfia Zabirova (Kazakhstan) 1.01 7 Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel (Netherlands) 1.02 8 Christine Thorburn (United States Of America) 1.13 9 Svetlana Bubnenkova (Russian Federation) 1.38 10 Edita Pucinskaite (Lithuania) 1.41
