World time trial medallist Linda Villumsen received minor injuries after being caught in a crash near the finish of the elite women’s road race at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Copenhagen today.
The BikeNZ rider, who won the silver medal in the time trial earlier in the week, came down when a rider fell in front of her during a frantic final lap of the 140km race.
Villumsen joined with an Italian rider to chase down a late break from Canada’s Olympic speed skater Clara Hughes on the penultimate lap. It sparked activity in the peloton in an otherwise lack-lustre race, not wanting the classy kiwi pursuiter to join with the powerful Canadian.
The New Zealander was reeled shortly before Hughes was swept up by the big bunch, with Villumsen still poised for a solid finish. But she was left with nowhere to go when a rider fell in front of her. Villumsen suffered some slight injuries in the crash but managed to fix her bike sufficiently to finish more than two minutes behind the winner, Giorgia Bronzini. The Italian successfully defended her world title in a fierce sprint from five-time runner up Marianne Vos (NED) and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (GER).
“It was disappointing for Linda who had ridden well all day,” said BikeNZ Director Sportif, Andy Reid. “It is difficult for a break away to stick on this course which does not offer many opportunities and where the average speed is high.
“Linda had positioned herself well and went in pursuit of Hughes with one other rider after the Canadian had pushed out to a 40 second advantage going into the final lap.
“But the teams of the sprinters reacted and caught her just before she had bridged to the leader. Linda was still in reasonable position for a solid finish until the crash. She has a sore arm which needs some further medical attention and has a few bruises.”
Earlier the New Zealanders were swamped by the teams of the big sprinters in the junior men’s race over 128kms.
Te Awamutu’s Hayden McCormick and Auckland’s Dion Smith had been prominent in the chase of two riders in the break amid high speeds and a flurry of attacks. With the power of numbers, the strong French squad dominated with an eventual five strong break clearing away to decide the final sprint won by Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier.
Smith was the best of the BikeNZ riders in the peloton at 41st place with some riders affected by a crash near the end of a race when a German rider misjudged a corner and brought down more than 15 riders in the process.
Meanwhile New Zealand’s Julian Dean believes breakaways will be difficult in tomorrow’s elite men’s race over 266km.
“Jack (Bauer), Greg (Henderson) and myself road the course this morning and we were riding at 45kph ourselves just on a training lap. The speeds will be very high and there are not many chances to get away,” Dean said.
“Getting into a position near the finish will be the key but if we can do that, then I am in good shape and confident I can do well.”
Results:
Elite women, 140km: Giorgia Bronzini (ITA) 3:21.28, 1; Marianne Vos (NZED) same time, 2; Ina Teutenberg (GER) same time, 3; Nicole Cooke (GBR) same time, 4; Julia Martisova (RUS) same time, 5. Also: Linda Villumsen (NZL) at 2:37, 111.
Junior men, 126km: Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FRA) 2:48:58, 1; Martin Degreve (BEL) same time, 2; Steven Lammertink (NED) same time, 3; Florian Senechal (FRA) at 3 seconds, 4; Rick Zabel (GER) same time, 5. Also New Zealanders: Dion Smith, same time, 41; Fraser Gough at 26s, 95; Hayden McCormick at 8:38, 130; James Oram same time, 132; Alex Frame dnf
IAN HEPENSTALL
Media Liaison, BikeNZ High Performance
Sports Media NZ Ltd
