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2020 World Road Cycling Championships

87th edition: Sept 24 - 27, 2020
Imola, Italy

World Road Cycling Championships podium history | 2019 edition | 2021 edition

Note: Only professionals will compete in the 2020 World Road Championships. Please see the UCI's explanation posted here.

Road race: Elite Men | Elite Women

Individual Time Trial: Elite Men | Elite Women


Sunday 27 September: Men's Elite road race, 258.2 km

Map & profile | Men's Road race photos

Julian Alaphilippe

Julian Alaphilippe is Champion of the World. Sirotti photo

Weather at the start/finish city of Imola at 1:40 PM, local time: 15C (59F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the east at 11 km/hr (7 mph). There is a 65% chance of rain/thunderstorms during the afternoon.

Cycling's World Championships

The race: Here is the UCI's race summary.

Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe claimed the gold medal in the Elite Men road race of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Imola. The Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider attacked on the last Cima Gallisterna climb and pushed full gas until the finish line in the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Wout van Aert (Belgium) dominated the sprint for the silver medal – just two days after his second place in the ITT behind Italy’s Filippo Ganna – in front of Marc Hirschi (Switzerland). The last rainbow jersey for France in men road race came in 1997 with Laurent Brochard in San Sebastián.

The 2019 Milan-Sanremo, La Flèche Wallonne (2018, 2019), Clásica de San Sebastián (2018), and 2019 Strade Bianche winner said: “For this moment it’s really hard to say something. I want to say ‘thank-you’ to all my teammates who really believed in me today. Everybody did a great job. It was a dream of my career. Sometimes, I was so close, and I was never on the podium. I came here with a lot of ambition and it’s just a dream day for me.”

A seven-man breakaway from the start
Six years after Ponferrada 2014, the UCI World Championship road race took place entirely on a circuit. 174 riders from 43 countries started the race at 10am from the Autodromo. Three athletes weren’t able to take part: the German Nikias Arndt, Eritrea’s Natnael Berhane and one of the possible outsiders, Aleksej Lutsenko from Kazakhstan.

It had already been demonstrated by Thursday’s women's race, won by the Dutch Anna van der Breggen, that the route was demanding, with little opportunity for recovery between the two climbs of Mazzolano (2.8km at an average gradient of 5.9%, with a maximum of 13%) and the Cima Gallisterna (2.7km at 6.4%, 14% max.) whose summit is placed 12km from the finish line, and providing 550 metres of altitude gain for each of the nine 28.8km laps, totalling more than 5000 meters.

A tough course, too much for the Dane Mads Pedersen who decided to not defend his rainbow jersey: “Whoever takes over from me, I wish them the best of luck and a year of happiness”, he said. The track was largely inspired by the previous UCI World Championship held in Imola, the 1968 edition won by Keetie van Oosten-Hage and Vittorio Adorni.

The first breakaway started just a few kilometers from the start with seven riders: Jonas Koch (Germany), Torstein Traeen (Norway), Marco Friedrich (Austria), Daniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan), Yukiya Arashiro (Japan), Eduard-Michael Grosu (Romania) and Alfredo Ulises Castillo Soto (Mexico); of which Arashiro, Grosu and Castillo Soto were the sole representative participants for their countries. After one lap they gained 5’54’’ on the main group led by the Slovenian, Swiss and Belgium national teams. The gap between attackers and peloton fluctuated during the first part of the race: 6’34’’ after the second lap, 5’07’’ after lap three, 7’07’’ at the end of the fourth and 5’41’’ after lap five, with Friedrich and Grosu having lost contact with the breakaway group.

Pogačar’s attack and the thrilling last lap
Under the eyes of President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and UCI President, David Lappartient, who were both following the race in Imola, the pace increased considerably on the sixth lap. Only Jonas Koch and Torstein Traeen remained on the front with Arashiro in no-man's-land and the main group stretched in a long line at a gap of just 2’37’’, being propelled by Denmark national team. The breakaway ended at 68km to go, just after the seventh passage on Cima Gallisterna thanks to a powerful acceleration by the French national team and shortly after the 2020 Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar from Slovenia had to change his bike but promptly got back in the Gruppo Compatto of around 50 riders.

Fast forward a lap later again on Cima Gallisterna, the Slovenian – who was also one of the youngest participants – attacked almost at the same distance to the finish that Anna van der Breggenwas when she made her move in the women's race. Chased by Belgium, Pogačar gained 10 seconds with 40km to go and then increased his advantage to 25 seconds with one lap remaining, but he was caught by the Dutchman Tom Dumoulin and then all the main group on the Mazzolano ascent. After being hidden for all the day, Italian national team attacked with Damiano Caruso and then with Vincenzo Nibali with 20km to go.

With 240km already in the legs, only the best riders were able to keep the front and everything was to be decided on the last Cima Gallisterna climb. Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet pushed hard on the first part of the ascent, then it was the turn of the Swiss Marc Hirschi and 2014 UCI World Champion Michał Kwiatkowski from Poland. But at the summit it was the moment of the Frenchman Alaphilippe, chased by Hirschi, Giro di Lombardia winner Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark), Van Aert, Primož Roglič (Slovenia) and Kwiatkowski. At 5km to go, Alaphilippe managed to take a 12-second advantage and pushed full gas until the end, claiming his first UCI World Championship in front of Van Aert and Hirschi, 23 years after Laurent Brochard in San Sebastián, Spain, and 26 years after another Frenchman found victory in Italy: Luc Leblanc in Agrigento 1994.

Complete Results:

Photos

258.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.869 km/hr

1 ALAPHILIPPE Julian France 6hr 38min 34sec
2 VAN AERT Wout Belgium @ 24sec
3 HIRSCHI Marc Switzerland s.t.
4 KWIATKOWSKI Michal Poland s.t.
5 FUGLSANG Jakob Denmark s.t.
6 ROGLIC Primoz Slovenia s.t.
7 MATTHEWS Michael Australia 0:53
8 VALVERDE Alejandro Spain s.t.
9 SCHACHMANN Maximilian Germany s.t.
10 CARUSO Damiano Italy s.t.
11 VALGREN Michael Denmark s.t.
12 WOODS Michael Canada s.t.
13 MARTIN Guillaume France s.t.
14 DUMOULIN Tom Netherlands s.t.
15 NIBALI Vincenzo Italy 0:57
16 LANDA Mikel Spain s.t.
17 GESCHKE Simon Germany 1:34
18 BETTIOL Alberto Italy s.t.
19 MOLARD Rudy France s.t.
20 BILBAO Pello Spain s.t.
21 VAN AVERMAET Greg Belgium s.t.
22 CARAPAZ Richard Ecuador s.t.
23 MASNADA Fausto Italy s.t.
24 URAN Rigoberto Colombia s.t.
25 PORTE Richie Australia s.t.
26 COSTA Rui Portugal 2:03
27 POLANC Jan Slovenia s.t.
28 HERRADA Jesus Spain s.t.
29 SKUJINS Toms Latvia 3:40
30 BENOOT Tiesj Belgium 3:44
31 MARTINEZ Daniel Felipe Colombia s.t.
32 CHAVES Esteban Colombia s.t.
33 POGACAR Tadej Slovenia s.t.
34 MADOUAS Valentin France 5:15
35 VAN BAARLE Dylan Netherlands 5:48
36 HOELGAARD Markus Norway 5:54
37 ELISSONDE Kenny France 8:30
38 OLIVEIRA Nelson Portugal 8:49
39 WELLENS Tim Belgium 9:24
40 VLIEGEN Loic Belgium s.t.
41 LOPEZ Miguel Angel Colombia s.t.
42 PIDCOCK Thomas Great Britain s.t.
43 VISCONTI Giovanni Italy 10:32
44 CLARKE Simon Australia s.t.
45 OOMEN Sam Netherlands s.t.
46 GASPAROTTO Enrico Switzerland s.t.
47 ULISSI Diego Italy s.t.
48 HIGUITA Sergio Colombia s.t.
49 PRONSKIY Vadim Kazakhstan s.t.
50 HENAO Sergio Colombia s.t.
51 ROCHE Nicolas Ireland s.t.
52 SANCHEZ Luis Leon Spain s.t.
53 KUSS Sepp United States 12:35
54 SCHONBERGER Sebastian Austria 15:25
55 ZIMMERMANN Georg Germany s.t.
56 LEKNESSUND Andreas Norway 15:27
57 BAGIOLI Andrea Italy s.t.
58 NEILANDS Krists Latvia 16:20
59 HIRT Jan Czech Republic 19:42
60 GREGAARD Jonas Denmark s.t.
61 HOULE Hugo Canada s.t.
62 STRAKHOV Dmitry Russia 20:13
63 DENZ Nico Germany 21:59
64 OTRUBA Jakub Czech Republic s.t.
65 PEDERSEN Casper Denmark s.t.
66 MARTENS Paul Germany s.t.
67 KUDUS Merhawi Eritrea s.t.
68 TUSVELD Martijn Netherlands s.t.
69 GHEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel Eritrea s.t.
70 OWSIAN Lukasz Poland s.t.
71 TOUPALIK Adam Czech Republic s.t.
72 PATERSKI Maciej Poland s.t.
73 HAGEN Carl Fredrik Norway s.t.
74 NATAROV Yuriy Kazakhstan s.t.
75 CHERNETSKI Sergei Russia s.t.
76 VALTER Attila Hungary s.t.
77 JUUL-JENSEN Christopher Denmark s.t.
78 MEINTJES Louis South Africa s.t.
79 WEENING Pieter Netherlands s.t.
80 CAICEDO Jonathan Klever Ecuador s.t.
81 SHAW James Great Britain s.t.
82 ROVNY Ivan Russia s.t.
83 GOLAS Michal Poland s.t.
84 TRÆEN Torstein Norway s.t.
85 ERIKSSON Lucas Sweden s.t.
86 HAYTER Ethan Great Britain 22:03
87 BUDYAK Anatoliy Ukraine 28:05
88 OLIVEIRA Ivo Portugal 32:08

Elite Men's World Championship road race map & profile

Men's road race map

The men will do nine laps.

2020 Road Race profile

The bumpy road race profile

Elite men's world championship road race photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Thomas Voeckler

One of cycling's greats, Thomas Voeckler, was at the race.

Panorama

A strung-out peloton

Peloton

Narrow roads in beautiful wine country.

Imola Autodrome

On the Imola Autodrome

Breakaway

I think that's Jonas Koch leading the break.

Michael Schar

Big Michael Schar leads the pack with several of his fellow Swiss right with him.

Lawson Craddock

Lawson Craddock on a climb

Tadej Pogacar

Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar on a nearly successful late escape attempt.

Julian Alaphilippe

Julian Alaphilippe enjoys his victory

Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert is second, as he leads in the first groups of chasers.

Michael Matthews

Michael Matthews beats Alejandro Valverde for 7th.

World Road Race Cahmpionships podium

The podium, from left: Wout Van Aert (2nd), Julian Alaphilippe (1st) & Marc Hirschi (3rd).

Julian Alaphilippe

Alaphilippe will get to wear the Rainbow Jersey in road races for a year.


Saturday 26 September: Women Elite road race, 143 km

Map & profile | Women's road race photos

Anna van der Breggen

Anna van der Breggen has left everyone behind. Sirotti photo

Weather at the start/finish city of Imola at 1:40 PM, local time: 21C (69F), sunny, with the wind from the northwest at 18 km/hr (11 mph). No rain is forecast.

The Race: Here's the UCI's race report:

Story of the Tour de France Volume 2

Imola was once again a land of success for Dutch cycling on Saturday as Anna van der Breggen dominated the Elite Women road race of the 2020 UCI World Championships. The oranje star took her third gold medal at the Worlds, after claiming victory in the 2018 road race in Innsbruck and in the individual time-trial this Thursday in Imola. She's only the second rider to win both events the same year, 25 years after France’s Jeannie Longo's double triumph in Duitama (Colombia).

Half a century after her Dutch compatriot Keetie van Oosten-Hage powered to victory in the same place, the 2016 Olympic Champion claimed her historic victory with an impressive performance in front of the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, who attended the race in Imola. Van der Breggen’s teammates controlled the first challenges of the day and she went solo with 42km to go, eventually winning the race with a gap of 1’20’’.

Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) outsprinted Elisa Longo Borghini to take the silver medal and Marianne Vos finished 4th (+2’01’’) to complete the Dutch domination. Riders from the Netherlands have now claimed seven of the eight gold medals awarded in individual Elite Women events in the UCI Road World Championships since 2017.

“It’s incredible”, Anna van der Breggen rejoiced after her victory. “It was a really hard race, we were fighting from the beginning. The climbs were really tough. In the fourth lap, I felt strong. We made the race hard and I just went for it. I felt good but it was really hard. The circuit had some flat parts but it was very hard. I never expected this. This season is pretty good for me so far.”

Early scare for Van der Breggen
A 145-rider peloton started from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari with a beautiful sun shining along their first pedal strokes. They immediately tackled the circuit that would later crown the 2020 UCI World Champion: a 28.8km loop with two climbs to be faced five times, for a total of 143km of racing and 2,800m of elevation.

The climbs up Mazzolano (2.8km at an average of 5.9%, with 13% slopes at the bottom) and Cima Gallisterna (2.7km at 6.4% and a maximum of 14%) wore down a peloton which was quickly reduced to around 100 riders.

The pack stretched in a fast downhill towards the return to the Imola racetrack and Van der Breggen suffered a mechanical. Two of her Dutch teammates, including the 2017 gold medallist Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, waited to pace her back to the group.

Belgium’s Valerie Demey and Canada’s Alison Jackson successively led the way in the second lap but neither of them couldn’t open much of a gap. The race opened up in the third lap, with a move from the Australian Grace Brown (5th in the ITT) followed again by Jackson.

Netherlands put the hammer down
A group of nine riders eventually got away with Jackson accompanied by Amy Pieters (Netherlands), Katia Ragusa (Italy), Lisa Brennauer (Germany), Christine Majerus (Luxembourg), Tayler Wiles (USA), Hannah Barnes (Great Britain), Mavi Garcia (Spain) and Juliette Labous (France). Italy started pacing behind them with 63km to go and a gap up to 2’. Meanwhile, Eugenia Bujak (Slovenia) bridged the gap to the front group on her own.

The oranje train increased the tension in the penultimate lap. First, Anna van der Breggen seriously upped the tempo in the Mazolano climb. Over the top, the gap was down to 10'' and some 30 riders were still in the bunch. The attackers were caught in the next climb, with Marianne Vos (UCI Road World Champion in 2006, 2012, 2013) and Annemiek van Vleuten (winner in 2019) accelerating.

Then Van der Breggen attacked with 42km to go; only Elisa Longo Borghini and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) managed to stay with Annemiek van Vleuten in a small chasing group. The gap was up to 35’’ when Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain) joined them in pursuit, 39km away from the finish.

The chase group were caught by the bunch just ahead of the last lap, started by Van der Breggen with a 1’43’’ gap to a 35-rider group. Anna van der Breggen pushed her advantage with a steady pace in the final lap, riding to her third rainbow jersey. Elisa Longo Borghini and Annemiek van Vleuten proved to be the strongest when the chasers battled it out on the last climb, with Van Vleuten taking the silver medal 10 days after abandoning the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile with a wrist injury.

Complete Results:

Photos

143 kilometers raced at an average speed of 34.327 km/hr

1 VAN DER BREGGEN Anna Netherlands 4hr 9min 57sec
2 VAN VLEUTEN Annemiek Netherlands @ 1min 20sec
3 LONGO BORGHINI Elisa Italy s.t.
4 VOS Marianne Netherlands 2:01
5 LIPPERT Liane Germany s.t.
6 DEIGNAN Elizabeth Great Britain s.t.
7 NIEWIADOMA Katarzyna Poland s.t.
8 LUDWIG Cecilie Denmark 2:41
9 BRENNAUER Lisa Germany 3:08
10 REUSSER Marlen Switzerland s.t.
11 STEPHENS Lauren United States s.t.
12 VAN DEN BROEK-BLAAK Chantal Netherlands s.t.
13 CORDON-RAGOT Audrey France s.t.
14 BUJAK Eugenia Slovenia s.t.
15 FISHER-BLACK Niamh New Zealand s.t.
16 LELEIVYTE Rasa Lithuania s.t.
17 PINTAR Ursa Slovenia s.t.
18 GARCIA Mavi Spain s.t.
19 VAN DIJK Ellen Netherlands s.t.
20 MUZIC Evita France s.t.
21 YONAMINE Eri Japan s.t.
22 HARVEY Mikayla New Zealand s.t.
23 SANTESTEBAN Ane Spain s.t.
24 AALERUD Katrine Norway s.t.
25 SHACKLEY Anna Great Britain s.t.
26 WILES Tayler United States s.t.
27 LEVENEZ Sandra France s.t.
28 KENNEDY Lucy Australia s.t.
29 DOEBEL-HICKOK Kristabel United States s.t.
30 JACKSON Alison Canada 4:49
31 RAGUSA Katia Italy 4:51
32 CHAPMAN Brodie Australia 5:50
33 CAVALLI Marta Italy 7:25
34 PIETERS Amy Netherlands 9:29
35 VOLLERING Demi Netherlands s.t.
36 BARNES Hannah Great Britain s.t.
37 RIVERA Coryn United States 10:16
38 KERN Spela Slovenia s.t.
39 SIERRA Arlenis Cuba s.t.
40 SHAPIRA Omer Israel s.t.
41 LABOUS Juliette France s.t.
42 POIDEVIN Sara Canada s.t.
43 GAREEVA Aigul Russia 11:50
44 KIESENHOFER Anna Austria 11:53
45 GUDERZO Tatiana Italy 12:57
46 WILLIAMS Georgia New Zealand 14:01
47 CAMPBELL Teniel Trinidad and Tobago s.t.
48 LACH Marta Poland s.t.
49 NOVOLODSKAIA Mariia Russia s.t.
50 DEMEY Valerie Belgium s.t.
51 NEYLAN Rachel Australia s.t.
52 NILSSON Hanna Sweden s.t.
53 VANDENBULCKE Jesse Belgium s.t.
54 VAS Kata Hungary s.t.
55 PATINO Paula Colombia s.t.
56 MOOLMAN Ashleigh South Africa s.t.
57 VYSOTSKA Ievgeniia Ukraine s.t.
58 CHABBEY Elise Switzerland s.t.
59 KIRCHMANN Leah Canada s.t.
60 HENDERSON Anna Great Britain s.t.
61 NORSGAARD Emma Denmark s.t.
62 MAJERUS Christine Luxembourg s.t.
63 BANKS Elizabeth Great Britain s.t.
64 NOSKOVA Nikola Czech Republic s.t.
65 MAGNALDI Erica Italy s.t.
66 CANUEL Karol-Ann Canada s.t.
67 PALADIN Soraya Italy s.t.
68 ROY Sarah Australia 14:43
69 NEBEN Amber United States 15:08
70 ANDERSEN Susanne Norway 15:13
71 BORGLI Stine Norway s.t.
72 GUILMAN Victorie France s.t.
73 MAURER Melanie Switzerland 15:53
74 NEUMANOVA Tereza Czech Republic 18:03
75 KOCH Franziska Germany 20:08
76 MACHACOVA Jarmila Czech Republic 21:12
77 KLIMOVA Diana Russia 21:18
78 BIRYUKOVA Julia Ukraine 21:20
79 MARTIN Sara Spain s.t.
80 JASINSKA Malgorzata Poland 21:22
81 GUTIERREZ Ariadna Mexico 22:57
82 LAIZANE Lija Latvia s.t.
83 UPEGUI Carolina Colombia s.t.
84 KOLESAVA Anastasiya Belarus 23:42
85 KUMIEGA Karolina Poland s.t.
86 RIJKES Sarah Austria s.t.
87 RUEGG Noemi Switzerland s.t.
88 GEBRU Eyeru Ethiopia 26:47
89 LORVIK Ingrid Norway s.t.
90 DIDERIKSEN Amalie Denmark s.t.
91 BROWN Grace Australia s.t.
92 MACKAIJ Floortje Netherlands s.t.
93 LETH Julie Denmark s.t.
94 MEERTENS Lone Belgium s.t.
95 MEDVEDOVA Tereza Slovakia s.t.
96 SOTO Catalina Anais Chile s.t.
97 GONZALEZ Alicia Spain s.t.
98 ALONSO Sandra Spain s.t.
99 KROGER Mieke Germany 27:47
100 VAN EYNDE Fien Belgium s.t.
101 HAMMES Kathrin Germany s.t.
102 DOCX Mieke Belgium s.t.
103 BALEISYTE Olivija Lithuania 29:24
104 BORGSTROM Julia Sweden 30:06
105 ZIGART Urska Slovenia 33:33

Elite Women's World Championship road race map & profile

2020 World Championships road race map

Women's world championship road race map. The women will do five laps.

Women's road race profile

Profile of the women's road race. My apologies for the small graphic, but that is what the UCI posted.

Women's World Championship Road Race photos by Fotreporter Sirotti:

Imola race course

Racing on the Imola race course.

Road race countryside

Beautiful, hilly countryside.

Peloton

And a tightly packed peloton.

Julie Van de velde

Belgian rider Jule Van de Velde

Valerie Demey

Another Belgian, Valerie Demey

anna van der breggen

It's over. Anna van der Breggen has attacked and the other racers won't see her until they finish.

Anna van der Breggen

Anna van der Breggen has every reason to smile. She is World Road Champion again.

Annemiek van Vleuten & Elisa Longo Borghini

Annemiek van Vleuten (left) just beats Elisa Longo Borghini for the silver medal.

Marianne Vos

Marianne Vos (on left, in orange) beats Liane Lippert for fourth.

Lisa Brennauer

Lisa Brennauer wins the sprint for ninth.

Anna van der Breggen

Winner Anna van der Breggen just after the race ended

World road Race Championships podium

The podium, from left: Annemiek van Vleuten (2nd), Anna van der Breggen (1st) & Elisa Longo Borghini (3rd)

Anna van der Breggen

World Champion Anna van der Breggen.


Friday 25 September: Men Elite individual time trial, 31.7 km

Map & profile | Men's time trial photos

Filippo Ganna

New World Time Trial Champion Filippo Ganna. Sirotti photo

Weather at the start/finish city of Imola at 1:30 PM, local time: 25C (77F), sunny, with the wind from the southwest at 31 km/hr (19 mph). Between 2PM and 3PM there is a 35% chance of rain. By 4 PM it is down to 10%.

TDF volume 1

The race: Here's the UCI's report.

At only 24 years old, Italian star Filippo Ganna isn’t done writing cycling history, on the track and now on the road, in front of his Italian tifosi. The four-time individual pursuit UCI World Champion, who, in February, smashed the World Record for the specialty, won the Men Elite individual time trial at the 2020 UCI Road World Championships on Friday.

Half a century after Vittorio Adorni’s legendary road race success, the Autodoromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola has witnessed another historic day for Italian cycling as Ganna gives his country its first individual time trial (ITT) gold in the event’s history. The Belgian Wout van Aert took the silver medal and the Swiss Stefan Küng finished third.

“It’s incredible, I’m really happy,” Ganna rejoiced after his victory. “I had an amazing support from the car in the final kilometres. I wasn’t feeling too much pressure. I stayed with friends these last days, to just talk and think about anything but the Worlds. It’s a dream, I don’t have words. I already wore the rainbow jersey on the track but never on the road, so this will be a new experience for me.”

Due to a late forfeit from the Canadian rouleur Hugo Houle, the Autodoromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari saw 56 riders from 38 countries chase the rainbow under Imola’s cloudy sky. They started every minute and a half after Syria’s Ahmad Badreddin Wais went first and clocked a time of 42’19’’.

As the Syrian completed his 31.7km effort on the same route that saw Anna van der Breggen claim gold on Thursday in the Women Elite ITT, 27 riders were on the road. Among them, Edoardo Affini delighted the Italian spectators, recording the fastest time through the intermediate split (km 14.9): with 19’06’’, he was about half a minute ahead of the Dutchman Jos van Emden (19’32’’) and the Frenchman Benjamin Thomas (19’36’’).

In the starting area, the main favourites were gearing, including the Belgian time trial experts Victor Campenaerts and Wout van Aert, European Champion and four-time Swiss Champion Stefan Küng, the Italian specialist Filippo Ganna and the Australian star Rohan Dennis, winner of the past two editions in Innsbruck (Austria) and Harrogate (Great Britain).

Luke Durbridge, who has dominated Dennis in the ITT at the Australian Championships in 2013, 2019 and 2020, also got in the mix with a time of 19'06'' at the intermediate point, only a few hundredths of a second behind Affini. The Italian pushed all the way to the line to claim the best time: 37’25’’, at an average speed of 50.819km/h. Durbridge was very slightly off the pace: 37’30’’, only 0.108km/h slower than Affini.

As the last ten riders were launching themselves down the start ramp and Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) clocked an impressive time of 18’41’’ after 14.9km, it was clear that much was still to happen on the Autodromo this afternoon. The Dane Mikkel Bjerg, three-time ITT U23 UCI World Champion (2017, 2018, 2019) showed he was already up to the big occasion: 37’41’’ on the line, the third best time in the provisional standings.

Germany’s Jasha Sutterlin also put in a strong second half to finish ahead of Bjerg and only 6’’ behind Affini. But all these performances were outshone by the Welshman Thomas, who flew towards the top position: 36’31’’, almost a minute better than Affini. Another young talent, the 21-year-old Norwegian Andreas Leknessund claimed the provisional 2nd best time, 52’’ behind Thomas, while many of the biggest favourites were still on the road.

Most of them couldn’t keep up with Thomas’ pace after 14.9km. Campenaerts was already trailing by 17’’, and he finished with a similar gap: +15’’. Küng was even closer at the intermediate point (+6’’), and he finished stronger than Thomas, edging him by 7’’… but Van Aert had already done better: 36’20’’ (average speed: 52.329km/h).

Only two riders were able to set a faster intermediate time than Thomas: his Ineos Grenadier teammates Ganna, with an amazing time of 18’05’’ (35’’ faster than Thomas), and Dennis (18’26’’). The Italian, who had already claimed his fourth rainbow jersey in the individual pursuit in the Berlin velodrome at the beginning of the year, didn’t crack with the distance and put a massive gap between himself and Van Aert (+26’’) while Dennis had to settle for 5th (+39’’).

Complete results:

Photos

31.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 52.981 km/hr

1 GANNA Filippo Italy 35min 54sec
2 VAN AERT Wout Belgium @ 26sec
3 KUNG Stefan Switzerland 0:29
4 THOMAS Geraint Great Britain 0:37
5 DENNIS Rohan Australia 0:39
6 ASGREEN Kasper Denmark 0:47
7 CAVAGNA Remi France 0:48
8 CAMPENAERTS Victor Belgium 0:52
9 DOWSETT Alex Great Britain 1:06
10 DUMOULIN Tom Netherlands 1:14
11 OLIVEIRA Nelson Portugal 1:15
12 BEVIN Patrick New Zealand 1:19
13 LEKNESSUND Andreas Norway 1:30
14 AFFINI Edoardo Italy 1:31
15 DURBRIDGE Luke Australia 1:36
16 SUTTERLIN Jasha Germany 1:38
17 BJERG Mikkel Denmark 1:47
18 MARTINEZ Daniel Colombia 1:52
19 WALSCHEID Max Germany 1:56
20 GRADEK Kamil Poland 2:05
21 VAN EMDEN Jos Netherlands 2:14
22 THOMAS Benjamin France s.t.
23 CERNY Josef Czech Republic 2:15
24 TRATNIK Jan Slovenia 2:24
25 MULLEN Ryan Ireland 2:31
26 BILBAO Pello Spain 2:33
27 BRANDLE Matthias Austria 2:34
28 BODNAR Maciej Poland 2:37
29 MCNULTY Brandon United States 2:51
30 CRADDOCK Lawson United States 2:54
31 ROCHE Nicolas Ireland 3:02
32 GRUZDEV Dmitriy Kazakhstan 3:11
33 KONONENKO Mykhaylo Ukraine 3:21
34 OLIVEIRA Ivo Portugal 3:23
35 RIKUNOV Petr Russia 3:29
36 SISKEVICIUS Evaldas Lithuania s.t.
37 OTRUBA Jakub Czech Republic 3:31
38 PEAK Barnabas Hungary 3:32
39 OYARZUN Carlos Chile 3:46
40 CASTILLO Ulises Mexico 3:48
41 CATAFORD Alexander Canada 3:49
42 TZORTZAKIS Polychronis Greece 3:51
43 FOMINYKH Daniil Kazakhstan s.t.
44 LUDVIGSSON Tobias Sweden 3:56
45 KARPENKO Gleb Estonia 4:23
46 RITZINGER Felix Austria 4:26
47 ILIC Ognjen Serbia 4:33
48 CULLY Jan Slovakia 4:48
49 STEPANOV Andrei Russia 4:52
50 FISHER-BLACK Finn New Zealand 4:57
51 FILUTAS Viktor Hungary 5:23
52 KARALIOK Yauheni Belarus 5:41
53 GYUROV Spas Bulgaria 5:42
54 ASADOV Elchin Azerbaijan 5:57
55 WAIS Ahmad Syria 6:25
56 OMARSSON Ingvar Iceland s.t.

Elite Men's time trial map & profile:

Elite Men's time trial map

Elite men's time trial map

Elite men's time trail profile

Elite men's time trial profile

Photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti: More coming...

Imola autodrome

On the Imola Autodrome

Benjamin Thomas

The other Thomas, France's Benjamin Thomas

Lawson Craddock

Lawson Craddock was 30th.

Max Walscheid

Max Walscheid

Tom Dumoulin

Tom Dumoulin

Jasha Sutterlin

Jasha Sutterlin

Alex Dowsett

Alex Dowsett racing to 9th place

Victor Campenaerts

Victor Campenaerts was 8th.

Rohan Dennis

5th placed Rohan Dennis

Geraint Thomas

4th place Geraint Thomas

Stefan Kung

Stefan Kung was third.

Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert racing to second place.

Filippo Ganna

This is how it is done. Filippo Ganna is racing to a rainbow jersey.

Time trial championships podium

The podium, from left: Wout Van aert (2nd), Filippo Ganna (1st) & Stefan Kung (3rd)

Filippo Ganna

Champion of the World, Filippo Ganna


Thursday 24 September: Women Elite individual time trial, 31.7 km

Map & profile | Photos

Weather at the start/finish city of Imola at 1:40 PM, local time: 26C (79F), fair, with the wind from the southwest at 16 km/hr (10 mph). There is a 45% chance of rain/thunderstorms during the afternoon.

Sticky Buns Across America

The race: Here is the UCI's report:

With gold in the 2020 UCI Road World Championships Women Elite individual time trial, the Netherlands’ Anna van der Breggen has achieved the only honour missing from her incredibly sparkling palmares. The recent winner of the Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile had already planned to retire at the end of the 2021 season and with this gold medal she stands out in cycling history with victories that also span from the Classics to the Grand Tours, to the European Championships and the Olympic Games.

Switzerland's Marlen Reusser - who last year represented the UCI World Cycling Centre on its women's WCC Team - , was second and the other Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk third. Defending champion Chloé Dygert crashed after setting the best intermediate time. “Getting second for many years, I cannot really believe it yet. I said to my director ‘Don’t tell me split times, I just want to go as fast as possible to the finish line’,” Van der Breggen said just after becoming the new UCI World Champion.

The 51 riders from 39 countries competed in the 2020 UCI ITT World Championship race on a fast and flat 31.7km course around Imola. Compared to last year's hilly route, the 2020 edition has been a challenge between specialists against the clock. The course is the same for the Elite Men’s race on Friday 25th, starting and ending in the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, without any significant climbing – just 200 metres. The first part is very fast reaching Casalfiumanese and then Borgo Tossignano. After the only intermediate split time at 14.9km and passing through Codrignano, the riders faced a slightly more technical road and two short ascents before returning to the Autodrome, where, in 1968, Keetie van Oosten-Hage won the first of her two UCI World titles.

Fast-forward 52 years and one of the youngest athletes taking part in today’s race, the 20-year-old track specialist and double 2020 national Barbados champion (road and time trial) Amber Joseph was the first to start at 14h40. She was followed one minute and 30 seconds later by one of the oldest competitors, 42-year-old Margret Palsdottir from Iceland. The oldest participant was the two time ITT UCI World Champion (2008 and 2016) Amber Neben from the USA, at 45 years old.

The day’s big unknown was the form of the defending champion Chloé Dygert, who was the last to start. The American, who doesn’t compete in the UCI Women's WorldTour road racing circuit, became ITT UCI World Champion last year at her first attempt – and today was her first official race after competitive cycling’s restart. “It'll be interesting to see if Worlds can be won without any racing in my legs, but I'm grateful for the opportunity,” she said on the eve of the race. She certainly rode with no lack of pace.

One of the favourites was 2020 European Champion in the speciality and Giro Rosa winner Anna van der Breggen from the Netherlands – four times ITT silver medalist in the UCI World Championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and last year in Yorkshire, with a 1’32’’ deficit behind Dygert. The strong Dutch national team could count also on Ellen van Dijk, who won the 2013 edition, today taking the place of injured Annemiek van Vleuten. Germany counted on Lisa Brennauer who won gold in 2014 and another strong specialist Lisa Klein, while Switzerland's Marlen Reusser was third behind Van der Breggen and Van Dijk, at the European Championships. Canada brought two powerful specialists in Leah Kirchmann and Karol-Ann Canuel, with other outsiders including Great Britain’s Lizzy Banks and Italian Victoria Bussi, the former UCI Hour Record holder.

After the first hour, Emma Cecilie Norsgaard Jorgensen from Denmark had the best time with 41'42'' at an average of 45.607km/h, 9” quicker than Germany's Mieke Kroger and Audrey Cordon Ragot from France at 31”. All the favourites started their ITT in the final minutes with the defending champion Dygert who was the last to enter the course at 15.55, just after Van der Breggen.

Australian Grace Brown stopped the clock on 41’21’’ (45.991km/h average) becoming the new leader some minutes before Dygert destroyed the best time at the intermediate split time, establishing a 26-second lead over Reusser and 36 seconds over Van der Breggen. Unfortunately, the American fell shortly afterwards, managing to restart, but losing the chance to defend her rainbow jersey. Ellen van Dijk was the leader with 40’51’’ for a short time, then Reusser with 40’35’’ and ultimately Van der Breggen was best with 40’20’’. 

Ed: USA Cycling posted this short Tweet: "Dygert was on track to win her second ITT World Championship, but has abandoned the race after her crash over the guard rail. All we know is that she is conscious and talking. More updates to come."

Complete results:

Photos

31.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 47.157 km/hr

1 VAN DER BREGGEN Anna Netherlands 40min 20sec
2 REUSSER Marlen Switzerland @ 15sec
3 VAN DIJK Ellen Netherlands 0:31
4 BRENNAUER Lisa Germany 0:45
5 BROWN Grace Australia 1:01
6 NEBEN Amber United States 1:20
7 NORSGAARD Emma Denmark 1:22
8 KRÖGER Mieke Germany 1:31
9 STEPHENS Lauren United States 1:43
10 BUSSI Vittoria Italy 1:46
11 CORDON RAGOT Audrey France 1:53
12 WILLIAMS Georgia New Zealand 2:16
13 BUJAK Eugenia Slovenia 2:20
14 PLICHTA Anna Poland 2:21
15 BANKS Elizabeth Great Britain 2:23
16 AMIALIUSIK Alena Belarus 2:28
17 LABOUS Juliette France 2:30
18 KIESENHOFER Anna Austria s.t.
19 BARNES Alice Great Britain 2:33
20 HARVEY Mikayla New Zealand s.t.
21 KIRCHMANN Leah Canada 2:34
22 CANUEL Karol-Ann Canada 2:46
23 SIERRA Arlenis Cuba s.t.
24 NORDEN Lisa Sweden 2:52
25 GUAZZINI Vittoria Italy 2:56
26 KONONENKO Valeriya Ukraine 3:15
27 GAREEVA Aigul Russia 3:38
28 FABER Claire Luxembourg 3:45
29 ROZLAPA Dana Latvia 3:48
30 GAFINOVITZ Rotem Israel 3:51
31 YONAMINE Eri Japan 4:08
32 MATHIESEN Pernille Denmark 4:22
33 VAN DE VEL Sara Belgium 4:23
34 DUYCK Ann-Sophie Belgium 4:46
35 SHEKEL Olga Ukraine 4:53
36 CAMPBELL Teniel Trinidad & Tobago 5:32
37 OYARBIDE Lourdes Spain 5:44
38 SOTO Catalina Anais Chile 5:54
39 MARTIN Sara Spain 6:31
40 YAPURA Fernanda Argentina 6:34
41 KORVASOVA Tereza Czech Republic 7:23
42 BJORNSDOTTIR Agusta Iceland 7:24
43 MACHACOVA Jarmila Czech Republic 7:25
44 JONKER Kerry South Africa 7:49
45 GEDRAITYTE Akvile Lithuania 8:58
46 PALSDOTTIR Margret Iceland 9:39
47 JOSEPH Amber Barbados 10:15
48 GEBRU Eyeru Ethiopia 10:59
49 ES-SAD Siham Morocco 14:07

Elite Women's time trial map & profile:

Time trial map

Map of the 2020 elite women's time trial championship

Time trial profile

Profile of the elite women's time trial championship

Photos of the Elite Women's Time Trial by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Karol-Ann Canuel

Canadian rider Karol-Ann Canuel

Audrey Cordon

French rider Audrey Cordon was 11th

Chloe Dygert

American rider Chloe Dygert before her crash.

Chloe Dygert

Sadly, Chloe Dygert crashed.

Grace Brown

Aussie Grace Brown was fifth.

Ellen van Dijk

Bronze medalist Ellen van Dijk

Marlen Reusser

Swiss rider Marlen Reusser was the silver medalist.

Anna van der Breggen

This is how it's done. Anna Van der Breggen racing to a Rainbow Jersey.

Anna van der Breggen

Anna van der Breggen will get to wear her Rainbow Jersey for a year.

World Championship podium

And here's the podium, from left: Marlen Reusser (2nd), Anna van der Breggen (1st) & Ellen van Dijk (3rd).


UCI's explanation of the changed 2020 World Road Cyling championships:

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is pleased to announce that it has awarded the organisation of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships to Imola. The world-renowned Italian city and its region Emilia-Romagna will host the event from 24 to 27 September.

The awarding of this event follows the cancellation on 12 August of the Aigle-Martigny 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Switzerland, which meant the UCI needed to find a new organiser very quickly.

The competition programme for the UCI Worlds has been adapted in view of the current world health situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic: only the races (road race and time trial) in the Elite categories will be contested this year. Indeed, the majority of the top athletes in the Elite Men and Women categories are already in Europe, as opposed to their younger counterparts (Juniors and Under 23) whose national delegations, in a significant number of cases, will not be able to travel to Italy due to travel restrictions imposed in numerous countries. Limiting the programme to the Elite categories means a large majority of young athletes will not to be unfairly prevented from having the possibility to participate in the competitions.

Although the start and finish of all the events will take place on the Imola automobile racing circuit, the routes proposed by the organising committee stand out due to their extremely challenging character: the men’s road race will be 259.2km with a total of nearly 5000m of climbing, while the length of the women’s race will be 144km with a cumulated 2750m of ascension. The circuit (28.8km) will be the same for the men (9 laps) and women (5 laps) and will include two difficult climbs (3km in total with an average gradient of 10% and sections reaching 14%). These characteristics will offer the riders a profile comparable to that of Aigle-Martigny (Switzerland) which will suit the punchers and climbers and should produce exciting and lively races.

The time trial circuit (to be covered once by both men and women), fairly flat, will measure 32km with 200m altitude difference, suiting the strongest specialists of the race against the clock.

A city situated some 40 kilometres from Bologna, Imola hosted the UCI Road World Championships in 1968, the year that saw victories go to the Italian Vittorio Adorni and the Netherlands’ Keetie van Oosten-Hage. The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari has also been the theatre of several Giro d’Italia stage finishes. The organising committee of the Imola 2020 UCI Road World Championships can therefore benefit from extensive experience in the organisation of international events and world-class facilities.

2020 UCI Road World Championships Programme:

  • Thursday 24 September: Women Elite individual time trial
  • Friday 25 September: Men Elite individual time trial
  • Saturday 26 September: Women Elite road race
  • Sunday 27 September: Men Elite road race

UCI President David Lappartient declared: “I congratulate the Imola organising committee for the excellent quality of its bidding file which it succeeded in producing in a short lapse of time. I would also like to thank the three other candidates Peccioli (Italy), Alba Adriatica (Italy) and the Haute-Saône (France) who also sent solid files to the UCI. It was not an easy choice, but it goes to show that even in this difficult period that we are going through, the UCI World Championships are still very attractive for cities and their regions.

“Although the award of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships to Imola is excellent news, my thoughts also go to the Aigle-Martigny organising committee whom I sincerely thank for its commitment and the quality of our collaboration over the last two years.

“The award of the UCI Road World Championships in Italy this year is of great symbolic value for the UCI: in a country that suffered enormously from the Covid-19 pandemic but was able to confront it effectively and with courage, the staging of our leading annual event will, in its own way, be a sign of a return to normal in a region where the health situation is now under control.

“I am convinced that the 2020 UCI Road World Championships in Imola will allow us all, despite the difficult current situation, to witness a great sporting festival. I invite you all to follow this event in Italy, true cycling territory, on one of the most challenging circuits in the history of the UCI Road World Championships. I look forward to watching these races which promise to be magnificent.”