The British teenager Tom Pidcock won his second world title of the year after taking the junior time trial world championship title in Bergen with a dominant performance.
Pidcock, who also took the world cyclo-cross crown this year, won the 21.1km event at the UCI road world championships in Norway in a time of 28min 02.15sec, pushing Italy’s Antonio Puppio into second by 12 seconds.
After finishing, the 18-year-old had to wait on the results of several riders including the home favourite Andreas Leknessund, who finished 23rd last year. The Norwegian led through the first two time checks but lost time towards the end.
“Hopefully I’ll feel like I’ve won another world title later, I mean, I need to enjoy it but I’m pretty pleased with that,” Pidcock said. “I heard on the radio I had two seconds or something like that at the top of the climb but I was just riding flat out. I knew I was up but I knew there were some fast riders behind me.”
Pidcock is the world, European and British national champion in cyclo-cross and the British national criterium champion. He also won junior Paris-Roubaix this year and will start as favourite in the world championship road race on Friday.
Annemiek van Vleuten won the women’s individual time trial in a Dutch one-two. Van Vleuten clocked 28min 50.35sec, 12.16sec quicker than Anna van der Breggen. The Australian Katrin Garfoot was third, almost 19 seconds slower.
The British pair Hannah Barnes and Elinor Barker were ninth and 19th respectively, while the 2016 champion Amber Neben, of the United States, could manage only 11th.
It will be four-times Tour de France champion and La Vuelta winner Chris Froome’s chance on Wednesday in the men’s time trial.
“With the Tour de France and the Vuelta it’s not something I’ve been able to train specifically for,” Froome told BBC Sport. “I’m here with whatever form I’ve got on the back of the Tour and the Vuelta. I still feel good, still feel fresh, feel up for it. I’m going to get on that start line, give it everything I’ve got. I’d rather be here and give it my best than be at home and wonder where I’d have finished. I’m certainly not banking on any result. Anything would be a bonus from here.”
