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2002 Road World Championships - CM
Hasselt-Zolder, Belgium, October 8-13, 2002
Main Page Start list Course Map Results Latest live report
Day 2 - October 9: Junior Men's Time Trial, 23 km
Complete Live Report
Start time: 12:00 CEST
Estimated finish time: 13:21 CEST
12:01 CEST
Welome to Hasselt for the third event of the World Road Championships, the junior men's time trial. First man on the road is Saudi Arabia's Badr Al-Yassien; conditions are sunny and a little warmer than yesterday after a chilly start to the day (a few touches of hoar frost this morning).
The course is supposedly 23.2 km, but after yesterday's slight discrepancy in the junior women's event, we will wait and see how long it takes them before taking that for granted. There are two intermediate checkpoints after 10.8 and 20.8 km.
12:21 CEST
The wind has got up a little since yesterday, but will mostly be helping the riders. Both of today's events use the same course; it does not (fortunately) go through the tricky early corner that brought three of the junior women to grief.
Fastest of the early competitors at the first checkpoint at Slachthuiskaai (Abattoir Wharf to you) is Portugal's José Mendes, with a time of 13.53.
12:33 CEST
Ireland's Theo Hardwick shows that he's not just a kid with a neat paint job when he sets a new mark for the first checkpoint, as Al-Yassien (30.40) and then Mendes (30.27) reach the finish. Mendes will be the time to beat for a while.
12:40 CEST
Another improvement at the first checkpoint, as Denmark's Michael Mortensen comes through in 13.34, 16 seconds faster than Hardwick.
Australia's Mark Jamieson is on the way and looking good.
12:45 CEST
The Norwegian Harald Moen is fractionally ahead of Mendes at the second checkpoint and finishes just over one second ahead for a new best time of 30.26.
Moen's virtual rainbow jersey doesn't last for long though, as Theo Hardwick comes in in 30.21.
12:50 CEST
South Africa's Darly Impey is going well, beating Hardwick at each checkpoint, but behind, Mortensen is 11 seconds up on him at checkpoint 2.
Impey finishes in 30.00 to set the mark to beat.
Marten Mortensen is the first rider to finish inside 30 minutes at 29.54. But behind, Mark Jamieson goes through checkpoint 1 15 seconds faster than the Dane.
13:00 CEST
France's Guillaune Ledihanet goes through checkpoint 1 just a few seconds down on Jamieson, who is coming up to the finish.
13:07 CEST
Jamieson comes in, having picked up time all the way, with 28.40, a minute and a quarter faster than Mortensen - clearly the time to beat now.
13:09 CEST
Jamieson says he felt sluggish over the first half but picked it up on the second half. He reckons he's earnt himself a top five place.
13:14 CEST
Russia's Mikhail Ignatiev knocks Jamieson off top place at the first checkpoint by 19 seconds.
Also on the road now is Ireland's Nicolas Roche, son of Stephen.
Guillaume Ledinahet finishes with a second best time for the moment of 29.34
13:16 CEST
Colombia's Rafael Infantino comes through the first checkpoint less than a second down on Jamieson in third place.
13:22 CEST
Poland's Patryk Bonda sets an interim third best time, 29.47.
Ignatiev is still 18 seconds up on Jamieson at checkpoint 2 - Jamieson was clearly right when he said he was going better in the second half.
13:25 CEST
First-year junior Ignatiev comes in - he has struggled a bit over the closing couple of kilometres, but still going well enough to set a new best time of 28.30.
13:27 CEST
Roche's time at 10 km is a bit disappointing, 52 seconds down on Ignatiev.
13:32 CEST
Infantino has fallen back at the second checkpoint, 30 seconds down on Ignatiev, but still in third place.
13:35 CEST
Heinrich Haussler of Germany, whose family are following us from Inverell NSW, is on the road now ...
13:38 CEST
One of the favourites, Jukka Vastaranta of Finland, is on the road.
Michal Kollart of the Czech Republic slides out on a tricky small roundabout and has to change to a standard road bike.
13:43 CEST
Nicolas Roche comes into the finish in a modest 17th place, a few seconds slower than his countryman Hardwick. On the podium now we have the last starter and the favourite for the gold today, Thomas Dekker, who has won 10 of the 11 time trials he has ridden this year.
13:48 CEST
Another disappointing time at 10 km for Belgian TT champion Mario Ickx, more than a minute down.
Italy's Ricardo Traficante finishes with a provisional fourth best time, having made up some ground in the later stages after a mdoest start.
Haussler is in 30th place at the first checkpoint, another one starting a bit too steadily perhaps.
13:52 CEST
Vastaranta is only in fourth place at the Slachthuiskaai check, 22 seconds down on Ignatiev. Slovak Matej Jurco is a fraction of a second faster, while Thomas Lövkvist is a second slower.
The USA's Tyler Farrar is a bit slower.
13:58 CEST
Dekker too is nearly 21 seconds down on Ignatiev at the first check - he, Jurco, Vastaranta, and Lökvist are practically neck and neck, and slightly slower than Jamieson at this point (after his slow start).
14:05 CEST
Vastaranta has lost ground over the second section and is only in fifth place - 40 seconds behind Ignatiev - at the second checkpoint at the top of the Sterrewacht climb (-let) that overlooks the Zolder circuit.
He finishes still in provisional fifth place.
In third place at present is Vicenzo Nibali of Italy, who has crept through unnoticed.
14:10 CEST
Jurco and Lökvist too have lost ground, slower than Vastaranta at the Sterrewacht.
Farrar has weakened more, only in 14th place at the Sterrewacht check; only Dekker now seems to have any chance of making it onto the podium.
14:12 CEST
Lökvist comes in having picked up enough seconds to overtake Vastaranta, but only just. Dekker might make a medal, but it will only be bronze.
14:14 CEST
Dekker, the pre-race favourite, can only make it into fourth place, and Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia is the new junior time trial champion, with Mark Jamieson and Vicenzo Nibali alongside him on the podium.
1. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) 28:30.37 2. Mark Jamieson (Aus) 10.36 3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) 25.98 4. Thomas Dekker 30.17 5. Rafael Infantino Abreau (Col) 39.92 6. Thomas Lökvist (Swe) 44.18 7. Jukka Västäräntä (Fin) 45.03 8. Dmitri Kozontchouk (Rus) 50.92
