Starting off last in the field, Australian rider Jessica Allen put her country on top of the leaderboard at the world road race championships when she edged to victory in today’s junior women’s time trial.
British rider Elinor Barker had previously set the best time on the 13.9 kilometre course, going off three places before the end, but Allen’s 19 minutes 18 seconds was two seconds quicker. The German rider Mieke Kroger was a further second back in the bronze medal position.
Allen’s win is a morale boost for one of the most ambitious teams in the championships. She enthused about the race afterwards. “I really liked the course…the technical aspect of the course really benefited me as I am not really a flat course rider,” she said. “It was great to have the race radio with my coach Donna (Rae-Szalinski - ed.) in the car behind assisting me through the course, telling me what corners were up ahead, and that really helped me maintain a high speed throughout the whole course. I got the time check halfway through the course and knowing that I was ahead really lifted me.
“I am really excited going into the road race, we have a great team and we’ve been working really well together this year, so we’ll see on Friday. [Then] next year I will be moving up to the senior ranks…I can’t wait for that!”
[note: Allen’s quote is confusing in its reference to race radios. These are banned at the worlds, and clarification has been sought]
Barker admitted her silver medal was a little surprising, and that she had no expectations of winning the race. “I met Jessica a while back and I expected her to beat me,” the Briton said. “I was a bit in shock to be taken to the hot seat area when I came in. I am really, really happy with my silver medal, as I was hoping for a top-10 placing before the race. I am only a first-year junior, so it is looking good for next year.”
She said she was surprised to be only seconds back. “Did Jessica beat me by 3 seconds (actually 1.84 seconds – ed.)? Wow, that’s amazing, I did not know it was that close!”
Germany’s Mieke Kröger was just one second further back, the battle for the different medals being a very close one. She was the early leader until Barker finished, and said the suspense was hard to handle.
“My trainer told me that I went stronger in the second half of the course, so I must be stronger against the wind,” she said.
“I was really nervous sitting in the hot seat after the race, it was probably much harder than the race itself. I was a bit afraid that we would get the same bad weather as yesterday, when we checked out the course, as it is a very technical course. But this morning it was just a bit wet and the conditions were fine.”
There was a bigger gap back to fourth place, with Dutch rider Thalita de Jong being 15 seconds off the winning pace of Allen. Georgia Williams (New Zealand) and Annie Ewart (Canada) completed the top six places.
The next event in the world championships programme is the two lap 35.2 kilometre Under 23 men’s TT. It also takes place today; stay tuned for a report and results.