Jungels defends Luxembourg time trial title

Image 1 of 5

Etixx-QuickStep's Bob Jungels defended his title in the Luxembourg national time trial on Friday, beating BMC's Pierre "Jempy" Drucker and Stölting Service Group's Alex Kirsch. Tom Thill (Team Differdange - Losch) was fourth.

The 23-year-old covered the 15km course in Berbourg with a time of 17:44, half a minute faster than Drucker.

"I'm really happy about my race and this title," he said. "Wearing this jersey is always great and I can’t wait to show it off as soon as possible in a race. It was a hard course with a few small climbs and false flat sections where it was important to speed up. Actually, I’m quite surprised with the rhythm I managed to keep after a few weeks without competing, and this means I’ve recovered well from the Giro d’Italia."

Jungels, who won both the time trial and road race titles last year, is in the midst of his most productive season yet, starting things off with stage win at the Tour of Oman and then finishing third overall and as the best young rider at Tirreno-Adriatico. In May he finished sixth overall at the Giro d'Italia after spending three days in the maglia rosa.

Jungels took a break after the Giro before storming back for Friday's time trial win. He'll attempt to defend his road race title on Sunday in Berbourg, then race the Tour of Poland next month.

"So far, this season has been really special for me, and I hope to be able to keep this momentum going for as long as possible. On Sunday I will also ride in the road race at the Nationals. The course is harder than today and as always the race will be super fast, but I will try to do my best."