Durbridge takes gold for Australia

Top favourite Luke Durbridge of Australia lived up to his pre-race status and stormed his way to victory in the under 23 men's time trial world championship.

"Durbo the turbo" was fastest at all the time splits and won the world title with a time of 42:47 for the 35.2km two-lap course in central Copenhagen. He was the only rider to break the 43-minute barrier.

Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark) finished second with a time of 43:22, while Michael Hepburn (Australia) took the bronze medal with a time of 43:33, despite crashing on a corner.

"It's hard to explain. I'm so happy that I'm struggling to put a sentence together," Durbridge said before climbing on the podium to pull on the rainbow jersey.

"Congratulations to Quaade and Hepburn. It's fantastic to have two Australians on the podium. We planned this out for the last six months and for it to come together is the tricky part. I had good form and knew could do it but everything had to go right."

"About a lap in, I was 20 seconds up and then 25 seconds. James (from the team car) told me to keep concentrating and I had little bit of blurred vision because I started fast. But the course suited me and it was just about grinding it out on the flat. In the last 10km, I started to enjoy it. I knew I was up and only had to stay up and bring it home."

Bumps and a crash along the way

The course presented some unexpected difficulties. There were numerous speed bumps along the way. A cobblestoned passage through a courtyard bumped not only the riders but caused a number of gear chains to bobble off as well. Transponders went flying as well on various obstacles. A more serious problem was the that the entire course was not blocked off, and at least Dutch rider had a near collision with a "civilian" cyclist on the course.

Damien Howson of Australia was one of the first riders off, and he set a blistering time of 44:53.09 This time held only until Russian Anton Vorobev, one of the favourites but also an early starter, came in at 43:46.12.

Michael Hepburn of Australia was also favoured for a medal, and set a new best time halfway time. But he appeared to be pushing too hard, one time going up on a pavement after a turn. The final blow came when he took a left hand turn too fast, had his front wheel slip away and down he went. A ripped kit was not the least of his worries, as he had to change bikes as well.

He looked to have lost confidence as he went on his way, taking the corners with more care. Still, he was fast enough to take over the lead at the finish with a time of 43:33.60, or 12 seconds faster than Vorobev. And in the end it proved enough to provide him with a bronze medal.

The field was divided into five groups, with Hepburn being an early starter and the other favourites in the final group. Quaade, the first rider in the final group was cheered on by the homeland fans as he set good times at the intermediate checks. He appeared to have gone out too fast though, as he soon fell back. He was able to take advantage of Hepburn's time loss through his crash, though, and set a new best time at the finish.

It was nowhere enough, though, as Durbridge rolled smoothly along, topping all the intermediate times and passing one rival after another. The 20-year-old raised a fist as he crossed the finish line to easily claim his second world title, having won the junior time trial in 2009.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Luke Durbridge (Australia)0:42:47
2Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark)0:00:36
3Michael Hepburn (Australia)0:00:46
4Anton Vorobev (Russian Federation)0:00:59
5Jasper Hamelink (Netherlands)0:01:53
6Jason Christie (New Zealand)0:02:00
7Luis Mas Bonet (Spain)0:02:04
8Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands)0:02:05
9Damien Howson (Australia)0:02:06
10Rudy Molard (France)0:02:10
11Jakub Novak (Czech Republic)0:02:13
12Matthias Brandle (Austria)0:02:15
13Yoann Paillot (France)0:02:15
14Andreas Hofer (Austria)0:02:17
15Artur Ershov (Russian Federation)0:02:27
16Bob Jungels (Luxembourg)0:02:29
17Jasha Sütterlin (Germany)0:02:32
18Louis Meintjes (South Africa)0:02:34
19Johan Le Bon (France)0:02:43
20Gabriel Chavanne (Switzerland)0:02:43
21Matteo Mammini (Italy)0:02:43
22Daniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan)0:02:46
23Michel Koch (Germany)0:02:50
24Kevin De Jonghe (Belgium)0:02:52
25Sean Patrick Downey (Ireland)0:02:52
26Hugo Houle (Canada)0:02:54
27Andersen Valgreen (Denmark)0:02:55
28Klemen Stimulak (Slovenia)0:02:57
29Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)0:03:00
30Mark Christian (Great Britain)Row 29 - Cell 2
31R C Brayan Stiven (Colombia)0:03:01
32Tobias Ludvigsson (Sweden)0:03:07
33Arthur Van Overberghe (Belgium)0:03:16
34Carter Jones (United States Of America)0:03:23
35Yelko Gomez (Panama)0:03:23
36Jan Polanc (Slovenia)0:03:30
37Andzs Flaksis (Latvia)0:03:32
38Silvan Dillier (Switzerland)0:03:35
39Stian Saugstad (Norway)0:03:40
40M N Sakellaridis (Greece)0:03:51
41Massimo Coledan (Italy)0:03:52
42Edvin Wilson (Sweden)0:03:52
43Artem Topchanyuk (Ukraine)0:04:05
44Kamil Gradek (Poland)0:04:05
45José Gonçalves (Portugal)0:04:13
46Gabor Fejes (Hungary)0:04:13
47Quintana Rojas (Colombia)0:04:18
48Andris Vosekalns (Latvia)0:04:20
49Fabio Silvestre (Portugal)0:04:31
50Lawson Craddock (United States Of America)0:04:31
51Johann Van Zyl (South Africa)0:04:31
52Felix English (Ireland)0:04:36
53Siarhei Novikau (Belarus)0:04:36
54Hamed Jannat (Islamic Republic of Iran)0:04:37
55Ramon Carretero (Panama)0:04:42
56Evgen Filin (Ukraine)0:04:44
57Zhupa Eugert (Albania)0:05:15
58Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)0:05:16
59Ylber Sefa (Albania)0:05:28
60Mario Gonzalez Salas (Spain)0:05:33
61Stuart Wight (Canada)0:05:56
62Johann Schwabik (Slovakia)0:06:47
63Issak Okubamariam (Eritrea)0:07:39
64Tomás Koudela (Czech Republic)0:07:51
65Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus)0:08:28

 

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