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World championships - CM

Madrid, Spain, September 21-25, 2005

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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

 

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