Cantele aiming for Worlds time trial gold

Italian Noemi Cantele is aiming for a gold medal in this afternoon’s elite women’s time trial in Geelong, Australia, after finishing second at last year’s event in Switzerland. Cantele faces some strong opposition at the Australian event with Germany’s Judith Arndt and Great Britain’s Emma Pooley among the favourites.

"That will be the dream, but you have to always be looking to racing," said Cantele. "I will start with this goal."

The rider admitted that the course’s difficulty has taken her by surprise. Cantele hadn’t expected it to be so difficult and expects the weather conditions may make victory even harder to accomplish.

"The weather tomorrow will be a key part for the performance," Cantele said. "It is a really tough course.

"We were thinking it was not so tough from before, but from when we rode it the first time, we understood it was hard for the world championships, especially in the time trial."

Cantele hopes a strong showing in today’s time trial will also take some of the pressure off ahead of the women’s road race on Saturday.

"It will be good to do another race to get the best condition for Saturday and it helps for me, especially the mental approach as the stress is gone and I have done one race already," said Cantele.