Podium (L-R): Matti Breschel (Denmark), Thor Hushovd (Norway), Allan Davis (Australia).(Image credit: Luca Bettini)
The medallists in 2010 - Marianne Vos (Netherlands), Giorgia Bronzini (Italy), Emma Johansson (Sweden) on the podium(Image credit: CJ Farquharson)
U23 podium (l-r): John Degenkolb (Germany), 2nd; Michael Matthews (Australia), 1st; Guillaume Boivin (Canada) and Taylor Phinney (USA), 3rd(Image credit: Riccardo Scanferla)
The elite men's podium (L-R): David Millar, Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The women's time trial podium - Judith Arndt (Germany), Emma Pooley (Great Britain) and Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) (Image credit: CJ Farquharson/WomensCycling.net)
Podium (L-R): Luke Durbridge (Australia), Taylor Phinney (USA) and Marcel Kittel (Germany)(Image credit: Luca Bettini)
Germany may not have won any of the six rainbow jerseys which were awarded at the UCI Road World Championships in Melbourne, Australia last week, but they came away with the biggest medal haul of any country.
Thanks to the efforts of John Degenkolb (U23 road race) and Judith Arndt (Women's time trial), who scored silver medals, and Tony Martin (time trial) and Marcel Kittel (U23 time trial), who both claimed bronze, Germany led the medal table with four.
The host country, Australia, was next best, with gold in the U23 men's road race by Michael Matthews, silver in the U23 time trial by Luke Durbridge and bronze in the elite men's road race from Allan Davis.
The USA took home a gold and bronze thanks solely to Taylor Phinney in the U23 races, while Great Britain netted gold and silver in the time trials thanks to Emma Pooley and David Millar.
The Nordic countries Norway, Sweden and Denmark put in remarkable performances, topped by Thor Hushovd's spectacular win in the elite men's road race and Matti Breschel's silver, and Emma Johansson's bronze in the women's road race.
Italy could score just one medal, but made it count with a fine gold by Giorgia Bronzini in the women's road race, as did Switzerland with Fabian Cancellara's repeat win in the men's time trial. The Netherlands (Marianne Vos - silver, road race), New Zealand (Linda Villumsen, bronze time trial) and Canada (Guillaume Boivin, bronze U23 road race) rounded out the medal tally.
Two of cycling's traditional powerhouses, Spain and Belgium, were shut out of the medal tally.
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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.
