Sicard wins world Under 23 road title

It is one thing to start a road race as favourite and quite another to overcome the attendant pressure and back it up with a win as convincing as the one that Romain Sicard (France) pulled off in the Under 23 World Championship road race on Saturday.

Supported by a strong French team, Sicard, the recent winner of the Tour de L'Avenir, played a patient game, waiting until the penultimate lap to make his move, and taking a win he described as a "dream" and "unbelievable".

"It's unbelievable to be sitting here with the rainbow jersey," said Sicard. "It's not often you get the chance to win it in your career. I played a little bit of a bluff. There were still a lot of riders in the final (lap), and I could tell people were really suffering.

"I made a big attack on the last lap and just poured it on all the way to the finish," said the new world champion. "I felt strong at the key moments in the race, and now I am very happy."

Sicard had appeared at the front earlier in the race, but only briefly. That was in stark contrast to his teammates, who were tasked with marking the most dangerous moves. They proved France a constant presence at the front, whether chasing down attacks or infiltrating them.

The Italians and Australians - with time trial World Champion Jack Bobridge particularly active - were also key animators throughout, though both nations left empty-handed. The first Italian - and one of the pre-race favourites, Damiano Caruso - only managed 10th, while the top Australian, Mark O'Brien, was 25th.

The French strategy was clearly designed to ensure that Sicard arrived at the decisive point as fresh and ready as possible, and it was obvious, when that moment came late in the race, that his team's confidence was entirely justified.

Joining Holland's Michel Kreder, who jumped clear early on the penultimate lap, Sicard's timing was also impeccable. The only brief dilemma for him and the French came over the next two kilometres, when a teammate, Nicolas Edet, escaped the chase group to launch his own pursuit of the leading duo. On the one hand, Sicard could wait for Edet and, with two men in the front three, dramatically increase the odds of a French win.

On the other, with a still-large group behind - 50-strong as they started that penultimate lap, but virtually halved by the pressure caused by a string of attacks, including Sicard and Kreder's - that would be a gamble. Sicard, in any case, didn't seem to need extra assistance.

With Kreder, he pressed on as his teammate Edet faded, until, on the same climb that started the final lap, the pre-race favourite dropped his Dutch companion, riding alone for the final 10km to win by 27 seconds ahead of two riders who'd escaped on the final climb to the finish.

It seemed that Sicard's winning move, on the steepest part of of Acqua Fresca, climbing out of the town of Mendrisio, was more a case of Kreder being dropped than the Frenchman attacking, though Sicard suggested not. "I could see Kreder was suffering a bit," he said, "so I decided to attack."

Kreder bravely held on to second place for most of the final lap, but the Duthcman paid for his efforts on Novazzano, the second of the two climbs on the 13.8km circuit, where he was caught and dropped. He eventually finished 33rd.

Behind the triumphant Sicard, one of the chasing pair that formed on that final climb was, inevitably, a Colombian, Carlos Alberto Betancur, who out-sprinted Egor Silin (Russia) for silver. It was inevitable because the Colombians had been even more visible than the French throughout the race - "adding the salt to the soup" as one observer put it later.

Rather than play the patient game, the South Americans were on the attack all day, in what proved to be a more than respectable defence of Fabio Andrés Duarte's world title, achieved with his victory in Varese 12 months ago.

"We came here very prepared," said Betancur. "We wanted to play an important role, and to defend the gold medal won by Duarte. During the whole race, our strategy was to be very proactive."

There was also a courageous late-race effort behind Betancur and Silin by Peter Kennaugh of Great Britain, who launched a one-man counter-attack on the final climb, holding on for fourth to emulate his countryman Ben Swift's performance in Varese, Italy, last year. It completes a trio of strong British performances in the Under 23 race, after Jonny Bellis's bronze medal in Stuttgart in 2007.

"I stuck to the plan," said Kennaugh, a lively presence on the final lap. "Being young, it's sometimes quite hard to hold back in races. You just want to attack all the time, so we've been working on staying patient. It's all about discipline. That's what I did today. [But] I lost a lot of energy on the first climb on the last lap to get across."

Sicard, a 21-year old from the Basque village of Hasparren in the southwest of France, will turn professional with Euskaltel-Euskadi in 2010, doing so on the back of victories in arguably the two biggest races for Under 23 riders: the Tour de L'Avenir and now the world title race.

"It was a very difficult race," said Sicard. "But it's the racer that makes the race, not the course. The real race started in the second half, and the last lap was very tough. But I want to thank my teammates, who helped me a lot." It was a performance - both individually and collectively - that suggests a bright future for French cycling.

Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Romain Sicard (France)4:41:54
2Betancur Gomez Carlos Alberto (Colombia)0:00:27
3Egor Silin (Russian Federation)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Peter Kennaugh (Great Britain)0:00:49
5Jérôme Baugnies (Belgium)0:00:54
6Marko Kump (Slovenia)Row 5 - Cell 2
7Yevgeniy Nepomnyachshiy (Kazakhstan)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Sarmiento Tunarrosa Jose Cayetano (Colombia)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Matthias Brandle (Austria)0:01:00
10Damiano Caruso (Italy)0:01:33
11Alexandre Geniez (France)0:01:38
12Christer Rake (Norway)Row 11 - Cell 2
13Castroviejo Nicolas Jonathan (Spain)0:01:40
14Sander Maasing (Estonia)Row 13 - Cell 2
15Nicolas Schnyder (Switzerland)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Arnaud Courteille (France)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Nicolas Edet (France)Row 16 - Cell 2
18Adrian Honkisz (Poland)Row 17 - Cell 2
19Peter Stetina (United States Of America)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Dominik Nerz (Germany)Row 19 - Cell 2
21Anatoliy Kashtan (Ukraine)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Kanstantsin Klimiankou (Belarus)Row 21 - Cell 2
23Ben Gastauer (Luxembourg)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Mark O`Brien (Australia)Row 24 - Cell 2
26Darwin Atapuma Hurtado (Colombia)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Mirco Saggiorato (Switzerland)Row 26 - Cell 2
28José Alarcon (Venezuela)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)Row 28 - Cell 2
30Mathias Lisson (Denmark)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Gianluca Brambilla (Italy)Row 30 - Cell 2
32Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Colombia)0:01:44
33Michel Kreder (Netherlands)0:01:49
34Romain Zingle (Belgium)0:02:15
35Joel Zangerle (Luxembourg)0:02:22
36Arthur Vichot (France)Row 35 - Cell 2
37Alex Meenhorst (New Zealand)0:05:21
38Leopold Konig (Czech Republic)Row 37 - Cell 2
39Daniele Ratto (Italy)Row 38 - Cell 2
40Thibaut Pinot (France)0:07:23
41Alexandre Shushemoin (Kazakhstan)0:08:06
42Blaz Furdi (Slovenia)0:08:31
43Artem Topchanyuk (Ukraine)0:08:48
44Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukraine)Row 43 - Cell 2
45Martin Mahdar (Slovakia)0:09:00
46Nazar Jumabekov (Kazakhstan)Row 45 - Cell 2
47Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spain)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Silver Ao (Estonia)0:09:04
49Rafael Andriato (Brazil)0:09:08
50Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eritrea)0:09:29
51Carlos Alexandre Manarelli (Brazil)0:09:32
52Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus)Row 51 - Cell 2
52Siarhei Papok (Belarus)Row 52 - Cell 2
54Viesturs Luksevics (Latvia)Row 53 - Cell 2
55Siarhei Novikau (Belarus)Row 54 - Cell 2
56Stefan Denifl (Austria)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Alexander Prishpetniy (Russian Federation)Row 56 - Cell 2
57Pit Schlechter (Luxembourg)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Sondre Gjerdevik Sörtveit (Norway)Row 58 - Cell 2
60Jan Tratnik (Slovenia)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Jahn Frederik Grue (Norway)Row 60 - Cell 2
62David Veilleux (Canada)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Andrey Solomennikov (Russian Federation)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Luke Rowe (Great Britain)Row 63 - Cell 2
65Vojtech Hacecky (Czech Republic)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Romain Beney (Switzerland)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Oleg Berdos (Republic of Moldova)Row 66 - Cell 2
68John Degenkolb (Germany)0:09:37
69Petr Ignatenko (Russian Federation)0:16:48
70Egidijus Juodvalkis (Lithuania)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Ryohei Komori (Japan)0:18:14
72Pedro Merino Criado (Spain)Row 71 - Cell 2
DNFDennis Van Winden (Netherlands)Row 72 - Cell 2
DNFLeigh Howard (Australia)Row 73 - Cell 2
DNFSteven Kruijswijk (Netherlands)Row 74 - Cell 2
DNFJens Keukeleire (Belgium)Row 75 - Cell 2
DNFAngelo Pagani (Italy)Row 76 - Cell 2
DNFDiego Ulissi (Italy)Row 77 - Cell 2
DNFJelle Wallays (Belgium)Row 78 - Cell 2
DNFJack Bobridge (Australia)Row 79 - Cell 2
DNFMichael Matthews (Australia)Row 80 - Cell 2
DNFJuan Villegas (Colombia)Row 81 - Cell 2
DNFThimothy Roe (Australia)Row 82 - Cell 2
DNFNiki Ostergaard (Denmark)Row 83 - Cell 2
DNFHiginio Fernandez Suarez (Spain)Row 84 - Cell 2
DNFBlaz Jarc (Slovenia)Row 85 - Cell 2
DNFJakub Novak (Slovakia)Row 86 - Cell 2
DNFKamil Zielinski (Poland)Row 87 - Cell 2
DNFKenji Itami (Japan)Row 88 - Cell 2
DNFSylwester Janiszewski (Poland)Row 89 - Cell 2
DNFNik Burjek (Slovenia)Row 90 - Cell 2
DNFYoshimitsu Hiratsuka (Japan)Row 91 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Reimer (Germany)Row 92 - Cell 2
DNFGregory Obando Brenes (Costa Rica)Row 93 - Cell 2
DNFNelson Oliveira (Portugal)Row 94 - Cell 2
DNFAlex Howes (United States Of America)Row 95 - Cell 2
DNFNairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Colombia)Row 96 - Cell 2
DNFMartijn Keizer (Netherlands)Row 97 - Cell 2
DNFTejay Van Garderen (United States Of America)Row 98 - Cell 2
DNFNico Keinath (Germany)Row 99 - Cell 2
DNFSergej Fuchs (Germany)Row 100 - Cell 2
DNFKris Boeckmans (Belgium)Row 101 - Cell 2
DNFTroels Ronning Vinther (Denmark)Row 102 - Cell 2
DNFPeter Sagan (Slovakia)Row 103 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Schöffmann (Austria)Row 104 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Schorn (Austria)Row 105 - Cell 2
DNFFabricio Quiros (Costa Rica)Row 106 - Cell 2
DNFAndrey Klyuev (Russian Federation)Row 107 - Cell 2
DNFMcevoy Jonathan (Great Britain)Row 108 - Cell 2
DNFRafael Valls Ferri (Spain)Row 109 - Cell 2
DNFMichal Kwiatkowski (Poland)Row 110 - Cell 2
DNFVegard Stake Laengen (Norway)Row 111 - Cell 2
DNFJure Zagar (Slovenia)Row 112 - Cell 2
DNFRasmus Guldhammer (Denmark)Row 113 - Cell 2
DNFChris Barton (United States Of America)Row 114 - Cell 2
DNFRamon Sinkeldam (Netherlands)Row 115 - Cell 2
DNFAblay Shugaipov (Kazakhstan)Row 116 - Cell 2
DNFAlfredo Cruz Bernaldez (Mexico)Row 117 - Cell 2
DNFGuillaume Boivin (Canada)Row 118 - Cell 2
DNFDavid Boily (Canada)Row 119 - Cell 2
DNFPatrick Gretsch (Germany)Row 120 - Cell 2
DNFDementev Yehor (Ukraine)Row 121 - Cell 2
DNFClinton Robert Avery (New Zealand)Row 122 - Cell 2
DNFChristian Schneeberger (Switzerland)Row 123 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Kristoff (Norway)Row 124 - Cell 2
DNFJacobus Venter (South Africa)Row 125 - Cell 2
DNFGabor Kasa (Serbia)Row 126 - Cell 2
DNFMark Christian (Great Britain)Row 127 - Cell 2
DNFPhuchong Sai-Udomsin (Thailand)Row 128 - Cell 2
DNFMustafa Sayar (Turkey)Row 129 - Cell 2
DNFNiv Libner (Israel)Row 130 - Cell 2
DNFArmando Aguilar (Mexico)Row 131 - Cell 2
DNFUgur Marmara (Turkey)Row 132 - Cell 2
DNFRan Margaliot (Israel)Row 133 - Cell 2
DNFOlamaei Mahdi (Islamic Republic of Iran)Row 134 - Cell 2
DNFErick Rowsell (Great Britain)Row 135 - Cell 2
DNFGideoni Monteiro (Brazil)Row 136 - Cell 2
DNFEyup Karagobek (Turkey)Row 137 - Cell 2
DNFSilver Schultz (Estonia)Row 138 - Cell 2
DNFSam Bewley (New Zealand)Row 139 - Cell 2
DNFPatrik Tybor (Slovakia)Row 140 - Cell 2
DNFChristopher Juul Jensen (Denmark)Row 141 - Cell 2
DNFRicky Eno Jorgensen (Denmark)Row 142 - Cell 2
DNFEdgaras Kovaliovas (Lithuania)Row 143 - Cell 2
DNFKirk Carlsen (United States Of America)Row 144 - Cell 2
DNFRiccardo Zoidl (Austria)Row 145 - Cell 2
DNFJonathan Fumeaux (Switzerland)Row 146 - Cell 2
DNFPatrik Stenberg (Sweden)Row 147 - Cell 2
DNFRyan Anderson (Canada)Row 148 - Cell 2
DNFJuraj Sagan (Slovakia)Row 149 - Cell 2
DNFEvaldas Siskevicius (Lithuania)Row 150 - Cell 2
DNFJakub Novak (Czech Republic)Row 151 - Cell 2
DNFSebastian Balck (Sweden)Row 152 - Cell 2
DNFJonathan Monsalve (Venezuela)Row 153 - Cell 2
DNFBalazs Simon (Hungary)Row 154 - Cell 2
DNFBurry Stander (South Africa)Row 155 - Cell 2
DNFGert Joeaar (Estonia)Row 156 - Cell 2
DNFJaroslaw Marycz (Poland)Row 157 - Cell 2
DNFAllan Morales (Costa Rica)Row 158 - Cell 2
DNFMirac Kal (Turkey)Row 159 - Cell 2
DNFJakub Kratochvila (Czech Republic)Row 160 - Cell 2
DNFNatthapon Jeebthaworn (Thailand)Row 161 - Cell 2
DNFZoltan Vigh (Hungary)Row 162 - Cell 2
DNFKhakharman Merey (Kazakhstan)Row 163 - Cell 2
DNFTurakit Boonratanathanakorn (Thailand)Row 164 - Cell 2
DNFKrisztian Lovassy (Hungary)Row 165 - Cell 2

 

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Richard Moore is a freelance journalist and author. His first book, In Search of Robert Millar (HarperSport), won Best Biography at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards. His second book, Heroes, Villains & Velodromes (HarperSport), was long-listed for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

He writes on sport, specialising in cycling, and is a regular contributor to Cyclingnews, the Guardian, skyports.com, the Scotsman and Procycling magazine.

He is also a former racing cyclist who represented Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at the 1998 Tour de Langkawi

His next book, Slaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France, will be published by Yellow Jersey in May 2011.

Another book, Sky’s the Limit: British Cycling’s Quest to Conquer the Tour de France, will also be published by HarperSport in June 2011.

 


 

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