UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: USA, Germany and Australia populate the podium

Teams from the United States, Germany, and Australia filled their luggage with medals on day two (Thursday 30 July) of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland.

In the C class and B class time trials, the USA and Germany both finished the day with six medals each (two of each colour), while Australia claimed five (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze).

However, the Polish riders stole the show in the tandem racing, earning gold in both the men’s and women’s events. These duos were surely putting into practise what they learned from their participation in the first para-cycling training camp organised by the UCI in Aigle (Switzerland) at the UCI World Cycling Centre in March.

“It’s amazing. Straight after our training camp in Aigle we came to Nottwil to get to know the route,” commented tandem pilot Michal Ladosz at the end of the time trial event, where Spain’s Carlos Gonzalez Garcia and Noel Martin Infante (pilot) took the silver medal, and Italy’s duo of Emanuele Bersini and Riccardo Panizza (pilot) took the bronze.

First win of the season

“We knew we were in good physical shape, but we haven’t had a win all season so there was still some stress. Now we can breathe a little bit before the road race on Saturday. The time trial was just a warm-up!” continued Ladosz, who in 2013 earned the World Championship title in the road race with teammate Polak.

In the women’s event, Polish duo Iwona Podkoscielna and Aleksandra Wnuczek (pilot) were the fastest on two wheels. New Zealand’s Emma Foy and pilot Laura Thompson, and the Netherlands’ Odette Van Deudekom and Kim Van Dijk (pilot) earned second and third place, respectively.

In the C3 Class, no upsets occurred as the winner of five World Cup events this season – American Jamie Whitmore Cardenas – beat nearest rival, Germany’s Denise Schindler, by just over a minute. Australia’s Simone Kennedy came in for third place.

“I did everything I could in preparation and during the time trial I could see my power metre and I knew I was having a good day,” commented Whitmore Cardenas. “I knew that if I didn’t win, it wasn’t because I wasn’t riding well. My coach prepared me really well.”

Whitmore Cardenas’ teammate Shawn Morelli competed in the C4 Class, and finished in front of Alexandra Green (Australia) and Megan Fisher, also from the United States.

Convincing victory for Storey

Sarah Storey retained her world title and rainbow jersey in the C5 Category, flying over the 21 kilometre course. The British athlete earned two titles on the track this spring, and on Thursday defeated Poland’s Anna Harkowska by 2 minutes and 16 seconds. Germany’s Kerstin Brachtendorf (3 minutes 31 seconds) finished in third place.

Absent from the World Cup circuit all season, Storey nonetheless has been out in international peletons in the company of able-bodied athletes.

“All the training I did to prepare for my UCI Hour Record attempt (in February) enabled me to be strong from the start of this season,” said Storey.

Other winners of the day

China’s Sini Zeng (C2) and Jieli Li (C1) both earned gold for their country, while Canada’s Shelley Gautier (T1) and Australia’s Carol Cooke (T2) also won their respective races and also successfully defended their World titles from 2014.

Wins by Michael Teuber (C1) and Hans-Peter Durst (T2) helped put Germany in a very favourable position in terms of medal rankings.

Quentin Aubague (France, T1), Arslan Gilmutdinov (Russia, C2), 1- Eoghan Clifford (Ireland, C3), Kyle Bridgewood (Australia, C4) and Yehor Dementyez (Ukraine, C5) also earned themselves World Championship rainbow jerseys.

The time trial events for the handbikes will take place on Friday.

Start lists and results can be found here.