World Championships: Balsamo wins junior women road race
Schneider and Andersen complete the podium
Italy's Elisa Balsamo took a commanding victory in the junior women road race at the World Championships in Doha, beating her rivals by a clear margin.
Balsamo, who finished sixth in Richmond last year, capitalised on a strong lead-out from her Italian teammates to beat the USA's Skylar Schneider on the long drag to the finish line. Susanne Andersen made it another medal for Norway as she sprinted to third place.
The junior women had an early start to the day, setting off at 8:30 local time for four laps of the 15.2km circuit of the Pearl. A big crash in the opening kilometre caught out a lot of riders and set off a mad scramble for new bikes. After seven kilometres, a large group of 28 riders jumped clear but they couldn't hold it and the peloton came back together by the end of the first lap.
The fast pace made it difficult for anybody to make a successful breakaway bid, while riders were continuously dropped off the back. With two laps to go, what began as an 80-rider peloton was seriously reduced in numbers. More riders tried and failed to snap the elastic as the nations began gearing up for the bunch sprint. Germany and the United States of America did a lot of work on the front.
Going into the last lap, the Italians took to the front, causing the bunch to stretch out around the twisting course. Balsamo was brought into the perfect position on the front of the bunch by her teammates. She then kicked hard to move ahead of her rivals. Her advantage was sufficient that she could celebrate several metres before the line, thumping the air with delight.
The gold medal caps off a strong season for Balsamo, who finished second at the junior Gent-Wevelgem, won the junior national title and finished second to Liane Lippert at the European Championships. She is also the current Omnium and team pursuit world champion on the track.
"I've got to thank all my teammates, this world title is thanks to all their work, this win is ours, not only mine," she said after the Italian riders sung the national anthem together with pride. "The whole Italian team deserves this success and lets hope they other riders can do well tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."
Schneider, who had been a favourite going into the race, edged out Andersen for the silver medal.
"It was a very unique course. The technical aspect was a very big advantage for us," Schneider explained at the finish. "There were some very strong teams out there who were able to string it out and it was cool to look ahead and see the first rider all the way out there and look behind and see all the way back. In the finish, the Italians did a really great job of stringing it out, their lead-out was very impressive. They were able to deliver their rider first and I was happy to come in second. I gave it everything."
"I'm very happy with a silver medal. We came with a very strong team so we came with a lot of confidence. I tried to stay under the radar a little bit and tested my legs a bit in the time trial and really analysed the course. I think that played to my advantage today, especially in the last few kilometres. I'm really happy to win a medal for USA and silver is a nice colour."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Elisa Balsamo (Italy) | 1:53:04 |
2 | Skylar Schneider (United States Of America) | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Susanne Andersen (Norway) | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Karolina Perekitko (Poland) | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Letizia Paternoster (Italy) | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Emma Norsgaard (Denmark) | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Franziska Brauße (Germany) | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Sandra Alonso (Spain) | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Liane Lippert (Germany) | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Simone Eg (Denmark) | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Karlijn Swinkels (Netherlands) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Nikola Rózynska (Poland) | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Karin Penko (Slovenia) | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Maaike Boogaard (Netherlands) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Fleur Nagengast (Netherlands) | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Maja Perinovic (Croatia) | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Léna Mettraux (Switzerland) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Kristina Stolbova (Russian Federation) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Claire Faber (Luxembourg) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Clara Copponi (France) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Ingvild Gåskjenn (Norway) | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Andrea Ramírez (Mexico) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Devaney Collier (Canada) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Aurela Nerlo (Poland) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Typhaine Laurance (France) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Wiktoria Pikulik (Poland) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Mikayla Harvey (New Zealand) | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Nina Hruzevych (Ukraine) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Tatiana Dueñas (Colombia) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Erin Attwell (Canada) | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Julyn Aguila (Mexico) | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Lea Lin Teutenberg (Germany) | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Sara Martín (Spain) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Yumena Hosoya (Japan) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Pauline Roy (Switzerland) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Svenja Wüthrich (Switzerland) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Christa Riffel (Germany) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Laurie Jussaume (Canada) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Chiara Consonni (Italy) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Hannah Steffen (Germany) | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Lotte Rotman (Belgium) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Clara Lundmark (Sweden) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Jaime Gunning (Australia) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Febe Schokkaert (Belgium) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Miriam Gardachal (Spain) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Summer Moak (United States Of America) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Irina Ivanova (Russian Federation) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Nicolene Marais (South Africa) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Juliette Labous (France) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Kanyarat Kesthonglang (Thailand) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Johanne Marcher (Denmark) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Pauline Clouard (France) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Megan Heath (United States Of America) | 0:00:12 |
55 | Anastasiia Muzalevskaia (Russian Federation) | 0:00:18 |
56 | Lisa Morzenti (Italy) | 0:00:45 |
57 | Yin Yin Li (Hong Kong, China) | 0:07:59 |
58 | Madeleine Fasnacht (Australia) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Jiahuan Yang (People's Republic of China) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Josipa Šintic (Croatia) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Arianna Pruisscher (Netherlands) | 0:10:02 |
62 | Karina Kasenova (Russian Federation) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Katja Kerpan (Slovenia) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Hajdi Zajc (Slovenia) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Hannah Arensman (United States Of America) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Yin Zhang (People's Republic of China) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Adela Safarova (Czech Republic) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Martina Fidanza (Italy) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Cinthya Covarrubias (Mexico) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Misuzu Shimoyama (Japan) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Chaniporn Batriya (Thailand) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Maialen Aramendia (Spain) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Hoi Wah Leung (Hong Kong, China) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Madeleine Park (New Zealand) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Chloe Moran (Australia) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Maeva Paret Peintre (France) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Nicole Steigenga (Netherlands) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Lynette Benson (South Africa) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Yue Chang (People's Republic of China) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Ana Marina Herros (Mexico) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Anne-Sophie Harsch (Luxembourg) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.
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