Cycling Road World Championships 2015: Tuesday Results, Times, Updated Schedule
Linda Villumsen and Leo Appelt took the gold medals during Tuesday's 2015 Cycling Road World Championship action, winning the elite women's and junior men's time-trial events, respectively.
Villumsen finally won her first gold after a series of podium finishes, beating Anna van der Breggen by a little over two seconds. Veteran Kristin Armstrong spent most of the day on the hot seat but was pushed out of the medals altogether when the strongest riders all took to the course in the final wave.
Meanwhile, Appelt blew the competition out of the water in the junior men's event, putting together a ride that would have held its own in the under-23's race. Here are the results from Tuesday's races:
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| 1 | Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) | 0:40:29.87 |
| 2 | Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) | 0:00:02.54 |
| 3 | Lisa Brennauer (Germany) | 0:00:05.26 |
| 4 | Katrin Garfoot (Australia) | 0:00:09.32 |
| 5 | Kristin Armstrong (United States Of America) | 0:00:20.58 |
| 6 | Evelyn Stevens (United States Of America) | 0:00:26.58 |
| 7 | Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) | 0:00:54.89 |
| 8 | Alena Amialiusik (Belarus) | 0:01:06.03 |
| 9 | Ann-Sophie Duyck (Belgium) | 0:01:19.20 |
| 10 | Trixi Worrack (Germany) | 0:01:19.41 |
| 1 | Leo Appelt (Germany) | 0:37:45.01 |
| 2 | Adrien Costa (United States Of America) | 0:00:17.22 |
| 3 | Brandon McNulty (United States Of America) | 0:00:59.74 |
| 4 | Keagan Girdlestone (South Africa) | 0:01:07.73 |
| 5 | Gino Mader (Switzerland) | 0:01:11.38 |
| 6 | Jasper Philipsen (Belgium) | 0:01:22.48 |
| 7 | Niklas Larsen (Denmark) | 0:01:34.70 |
| 8 | Tobias Foss (Norway) | 0:01:35.73 |
| 9 | Ilya Gorbushin (Kazakhstan) | 0:01:52.67 |
| 10 | Alexys Brunel (France) | 0:01:52.82 |
The upcoming schedule:
| Sep 23 | Elite Men TT |
| Sep 25 | Junior Women |
| U23 Men | |
| Sep 26 | Junior Men |
| Elite Women | |
| Sep 27 | Elite Men |
Recap
Local favourite Armstrong seemed destined to add another gold medal to her tally, but a late flurry of solid times meant the American athletes landed out of the medals altogether in the women's event.
Armstrong only returned to riding full-time earlier this season, and the two-time Olympic champion was widely regarded as the favourite despite her lengthy absence from the peloton. The 42-year-old started in the first wave of riders, and after the first split, it was clear she's still a force to be reckoned with.
Beating Corinna Lechler's time by 32 seconds, she also went fastest at every other check to easily clock the fastest time of the first wave.
As shared by Mitch Carr of 8News WRIC Richmond, she didn't seem particularly confident on the hot seat, however:
Ellen van Dijk, the world champion in 2013, was seen as Armstrong's biggest competitor for the gold, but the Dutch athlete was already trailing the leader by nearly 20 seconds at the first split. With the wind becoming a bigger factor as the day went on, she couldn't close the gap in the final sectors, finishing over 30 seconds behind the specialist.
But some of the top contenders still had to start. Villumsen and Van der Breggen both beat Armstrong's time at the first check, and according to Prowomenscycling.com's Sarah Connolly, the former looked like she was only getting started:
In the end, the differences between the first four riders were minute: Fourth-placed Katrin Garfoot's time was less than 10 seconds slower than Villumsen's. According to Feminin Magazine, it's Villumsen's sixth finish on the podium but only her first gold medal.
Appelt was the favourite to win the men's junior time-trial gold and didn't disappoint on Tuesday, blowing his competitors out of the water. The teenager finished ahead of Adrian Costa and Brandon McNulty of the United States.
The German was the fastest at every split and simply destroyed the opposition. As noted by cycling writer Mikkel Conde, his time would have been the fourth fastest during Monday's under-23 race―a ridiculous achievement for an 18-year-old:
The UCI shared this footage of Appelt making his way round the course:
As shared by Mary Topping of ProVeloPassion, Appelt didn't start the race expecting to win at all:
The elite men's time trialists will have the opportunity to showcase their skills on Wednesday, and with pre-race favourite Tom Dumoulin spending tons of energy trying to win this year's Vuelta a Espana, this year's race could be one of the most unpredictable we've seen in some time.
On Friday, the first of the road races will take place, with the junior women and under-23 men racing for the gold.
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