Delay to World Championships time trial called too late, says Simmonds

UCI Road World Championships
Rain dampened and delayed the UCI Road World Championships on Tuesday (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

The deluge that saw the UCI Road World Championships time trial course turned into a series of ‘swimming pools’ – as one rider put it – abated in time for the elite women’s race, which was run-off in conditions that were deemed safe by all involved. However, the event was not without controversy, as the decision to delay the start to clear surface water was made only after the early starters had begun their warm-ups.

Great Britain’s Hayley Simmonds, who was 10th off the start ramp, was already in the latter phases of her warm-up routine when she was informed by a UCI official that the start of the race had been pushed back by 40 minutes.

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.