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World Championships - CM
Stuttgart, Germany, September 26-30, 2007
Main Page Results & report Race Details Next Race
Race 1 - September 26: Under 23 men's time trial - 2 laps, 38.1km
Complete live report
Live commentary by Susan Westemeyer
Live coverage starts: 11:30 CEST
Estimated finish: 13:00 CEST
Welcome to the Cyclingnews' live coverage of the 2007 Road World Championships in Germany, Stuttgart. The first will already bring two decisions and Cyclingnews will bring you the live action from the U23 time trial now, followed by the women's race against the clock. The course is challenging as Stuttgart is surrounded by hills, so don't necessarily expect a pure time trial specialist to be at the front..
11:32 CEST
Welcome to Stuttgart, German, the
home of fast car and fast cyclists! This morning the “kiddies” are underway
– or to put it another way, now we will take a look at the future of cycling.
We will follow the U23 men on the time trial circuit in our first live report
of the 2007 World Championships.
11:39 CEST
Our leader right now is Tanel Kangert
of Estonia, with a time of 50'11". The first rider started this morning at 9
a.m., and the last will take off at 11:55.
11:42 CEST
Marcel Kittel of Germany has just
passed two rider who started in front of him. We have lots of riders who are
here for the experience rather than for the win. For example, Mohd Fauzan Ahmad
Lutfi of Malaysia, who was passed by Lars Boom of the Netherlands, who started
a whole five minutes later.
11:45 CEST
The 70 riders in the race were divided
into 4 groups, with a good half hour break between each group. The last group
of 16 just started at 11:40, and we can probably expect our winner to come out
of this final "sweet sixteen".
11:50 CEST
There could be a complicating factor
today, and that is the weather. The forecast is anything but “cycling friendly”.
The predicted high is 12° with anything from “partly cloudy” to “heavy showers”
predicted. We hope it stays dry, as this course could be right nasty in the
rain. The humidity is high, 8%, but the wind shouldn't be a factor at only 6
km/hour.
The good news, though, is that the clouds and rain seem
to be holding off! We even see some sunshine out there on the course.
11:52 CEST
Boom had the fastest intermediate
times and the last check he clocked 39.29, giving him the lead by a staggering
1'16"
Lars Boom of the Netherlands has just come in with the best
time, 48'57". He also set the best intermediate times along the way, 39'29"
and 40'45". Will this be the fastest time of the day? WE think he has a good
chance.
11:54 CEST
It's going hot and heavy now. Ignatas
Konovalovas of Lithuania has just left the start house. Before him, we had Mikhail
Ignatiev, Malori, Hagen...... and here goes Coppel of France!
11:55 CEST
Maxim Belkov is underway, the last
to hit the course.
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11:56 CEST
One of those on the course right
now is Edvald Boasson Hagen. The Norwegian is the new young hope and has had
good results this year, which netted him a contract with T-Mobile. You can find
more about the young rider at our in-depth
interview..
11:59 CEST
Kristjan Koren of Norway just went
through the first intermediate time check as fourth fastest, at 14'50".
12:03 CEST
Young Francis de Greef of Belgium
just crossed the finish line for the first time with the fifth fastest time.
12:04 CEST
Did someone mention fast cars? Since
we are here in Stuttgart, the home of Mercedes-Benz, we went over to the factory
and picked out a pretty little toy for the next few days. That's us buzzing
around in the snappy little SLK 55 AMG sports car. In light of the weather forecast
we decided against the convertible, unfortunately. But we don't want the leather
interior to get wet, now do we?
12:05 CEST
Van Emden of the Netherlands was
second fastest as he crossed the finish line for the first time. Boasson Hagen
was second fastest at the first intermediate time check.
12:06 CEST
Ignatiev of Russia just set a new
best at the first time check, 14'10".
12:09 CEST
Coppel is fourth fastest at the first
time check, with 14'33".
12:15 CEST
This just may be Ignatiev's day.
His countryman Belkov came through the first time check 44 seconds down.
And Boasson Hagen hit the 18.8 km time check in second place, at 24.14
12:17 CEST
Oh is Ignatiev slowing down? At the
second time check he came in at 23'34", in second place, 5.74 seconds behind
Boom. Is he just looking to save some strength for later or.........?
12:18 CEST
Frenchman Tony Gallopin goes over
the finish line for the first time as third, in 24'10", ahead of Boasson Hagen.
12:19 CEST
Ignatiev has just passed the Italian
Malori who started a minute earlier than the Russian.
12:21 CEST
Ignatiev, who finished second in
this race last year, has some pretty impressive palmarès. He won two world time
trial title as a junior before finishing second last year. He also won a gold
medal in the points race at the 2004 Olympics in Athens – as an 18-year-old!
12:23 CEST
Ignatiev is riding for the Professional
Continental Team Tinkoff this year, and that sure hasn't stopped Ignatiev from
his winning ways. What has he done this season? Well, let's see ... he won a
stage in the Tour Mediterranean and the Trofeo Laigueglia, as well as time trials
in Ster Elektrotoer and the Regio Tour. Not bad.......
12:24 CEST
Ignatiev is riding just ahead of
Malori -- or should we say that Malori is riding perhaps a bit too closely behind
the Russian? He had better watch out.
12:25 CEST
And now Malori has passed Ignatiev
and is taking off!
12:26 CEST
Malori, who just turned 20 years
old, is the Italian U23 time trial champion and surely isn't going to give up
here without a fight.
12:26 CEST
Our secret favourite, though, is
Rafai Chtioui, even if we have absolutely no idea how his name is properly announced.
There even seems to be some confusion as to how his first name is spelled with
many references giving it as “Rafaa”.
The 21-year-old Tunisian won
the silver medal in the Juniors World race in 2004. Earlier this month he won
the 24 km time trial in the Tour de l'Avenir, an U23 stage race open to national
teams.
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12:28 CEST
And now Ignatiev is in front again
-- quite a game of leapfrog he and Malori are playing!
12:30 CEST
Alexandr Pliuschin of Moldavia has
passed Schäfer, who started just before him. He is also second-fastest through
the second intermediate time check.
Belkov is not living up to his
start number one, as he was 20th through the last time check he went through.
12:31 CEST
Boom may take a medal today, but
his countryman won't. Van Emden just crossed the finish line in 50'40, in fifth
place, 1'42"50 behind Boom.
12:33 CEST
Ignatiev is definitely slowing down.
He was 10 seconds down at the intermediate time check, behind Boasson Hagen.
12:38 CEST
Frenchman Coppel has just crossed
the 31 km time check in third place at 40.18.
Meanwhile, back at
the ranch, at the finish line, Pliuschin was 4th at 50.15. De Greef of Belgium
comes in as sixth fastest, practically together with our favourite Tunisian,
who started one minute before the Belgian.
12:39 CEST
One km to go and we have three rides
virtually together. Hagen, Gallopin and Smukulis.
12:40 CEST
Hagen pulls away and crosses the
line in 3d place, at 50'11.
12:42 CEST
Ignatiev nears the finish line and
won't take the title. He is nine seconds slower that boom, at
12:42 CEST
And Frenchman Coppel passes under
the 1 km mark. Will he take the gold?
12:43 CEST
This has to be the longest km in
Coppel's life.
12:44 CEST
No! He is only third, crossing the
line at 49'4", nearly 46 seconds behind Boom.
12:45 CEST
It's a Boom Boom day for the Netherlands!
Belkov is still on the course, but he has no chance.
12:46 CEST
It's a world title for the 189 cm
tall Dutchman, who rides for the Baby Rabo team. Will he be able to repeat his
success in the road race Saturday?
12:47 CEST
Belkov finally makes it across, a
disappointing 30th place, 2'52" down.
12:49 CEST
We have our final podium! Congratulations
to winner Lars Boom, second place winner Mikhail Ignatiev and third place finisher
Jerome Coppel!
We are going to find a protected place to park our
cute little Mercedes and grab a bite to eat before we head out to the women's
time trial race this afternoon. Join us then!
