Barker wins junior women's time trial

Silver medallist in Copenhagen twelve months ago, Elinor Barker (Great Britain) returned to the junior women’s time trial at the world championships and came away with the rainbow jersey thanks to an assured performance on a damp, grey morning in Valkenburg.

Barker bore the burden of pre-race favourite lightly and she hurtled around the rolling, 15.6km course all of 35 seconds quicker than second-placed Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark), while home rider Demi De Jong (Netherlands) surpassed her own expectations by claiming bronze, 1:03 down on Barker.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic about winning today,” Barker said afterwards. “Winning silver last year put a lot of pressure on me today and I put a lot of pressure on myself to win this race.”

The course’s primary difficulty came right at the beginning, and the Cardiff native set an impressive tempo up the climb to Bukel to reach the first intermediate time check after 4.5km with a lead of 12 seconds over the early pace-setter Ludwig.

“The first hill was pretty much straightaway which I think suited me as I’m a bit of a climber and then it was sort of downhill to the finish and not too technical the rest of the way,” said Barker. She would maintain her lead over Ludwig into the second time check (10.2km) before opening the throttle on the run-in towards the finish.

After surprising herself by taking silver on the flat circuit in Copenhagen a year ago, Barker knew that the Limburg course would provide a real opportunity to go one better, and she prepared carefully under the supervision of the British Cycling’s coaching staff.

“Last year was pretty flat and technical so I was actually pretty shocked to get silver, but this year suited my strengths,” she said. “I’ve pretty much dedicated the last year to this. I’ve been on my time trial bike at least twice a week, doing hill efforts, watching my diet, going to bed early. Absolutely everything for the last year has been focused on this race.”

Barker’s winning ride knocked Cecile Uttrup Ludwig off the top spot after the Dane had spent most of the morning in the hot seat. By far the quickest of the early starters, Ludwig watched with growing expectation as rider after rider failed to better her time.

“I found a good rhythm early on and even when it began to rain halfway through, I took it calm and steady,” Ludwig said. “It was very nice to sit in the hot seat for so long. I was very nervous, but it went well in the end.

“It’s a huge dream come true for me, I’m so happy with the result. I didn’t know my level before this because I hadn’t done a lot of international races.”

Third-placed De Jong admitted that she was surprised by her own medal-winning ride, but said that she had expected Barker to prove to be the woman to beat. “I know her very well, so I’m not surprised that she was the winner,” De Jong said. “My goal was to finish in the top ten. Although I didn’t feel good at the beginning and I couldn’t find the right rhythm, I felt better and better after that.”

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Full Results
1Elinor Barker (Great Britain)0:22:26.29
2Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark)0:00:35.87
3Demi De Jong (Netherlands)0:01:03.13
4Emily Roper (Australia)0:01:08.18
5Ramona Forchini (Switzerland)0:01:10.42
6Eva Mottet (France)0:01:11.59
7Christina Siggaard (Denmark)0:01:13.26
8Corinna Lechner (Germany)0:01:13.35
9Nicky Zijlaard (Netherlands)0:01:14.84
10Lourdes Oyarbide Jimenez (Spain)0:01:15.26
11Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)0:01:19.07
12Corine Van Der Zijden (Netherlands)0:01:22.74
13Stella Riverditi (Italy)0:01:23.16
14Alicja Ratajczak (Poland)0:01:26.56
15Anastasiia Iakovenko (Russian Federation)0:01:26.80
16Dana Lodewyks (Belgium)0:01:27.46
17Georgia Baker (Australia)0:01:28.47
18Addyson Albershardt (United States of America)0:01:29.23
19Allison Rice (Australia)0:01:32.00
20Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)0:01:32.71
21Grace Alexander (United States of America)0:01:36.64
22Gulnaz Badykova (Russian Federation)0:01:38.99
23Hanna Helamb (Sweden)0:01:39.13
24Anna Knauer (Germany)0:01:39.49
25Milda Jankauskaite (Lithuania)0:01:41.15
26Simona Bortolotti (Italy)0:01:43.73
27Alexandra Nessmar (Sweden)0:01:47.07
28Yao Pang (Hong Kong, China)0:01:55.35
29Manon Bourdiaux (France)0:01:56.35
30Zavinta Titenyte (Lithuania)0:01:57.71
31Heidi Dalton (South Africa)0:02:07.04
32Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spain)0:02:08.26
33Claudia Buitrago Calderon (Colombia)0:02:13.16
34Katsiaryna Piatrouskaya (Belarus)0:02:21.25
35Erika Varela Huerta (Mexico)0:02:22.63
36Antonela Ferencic (Croatia)0:02:34.07
37Allyson Gillard (Canada)0:03:06.37
38Aliaksandra Kazlova (Belarus)0:03:22.49
39Olga Shekel (Ukraine)0:03:36.91
40Saskia Kowalchuk (Canada)0:04:47.56
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Split 1 - 4.5km
1Elinor Barker (Great Britain)0:06:56.66
2Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark)0:00:12.01
3Emily Roper (Australia)0:00:29.03
4Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)0:00:29.46
5Alicja Ratajczak (Poland)0:00:31.29
6Ramona Forchini (Switzerland)0:00:32.12
7Nicky Zijlaard (Netherlands)0:00:34.25
8Grace Alexander (United States of America)0:00:34.75
9Yao Pang (Hong Kong, China)0:00:34.83
10Demi De Jong (Netherlands)0:00:37.12
11Corinna Lechner (Germany)0:00:37.58
12Corine Van Der Zijden (Netherlands)0:00:37.66
13Anastasiia Iakovenko (Russian Federation)0:00:38.36
14Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)0:00:39.66
15Eva Mottet (France)0:00:39.84
16Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spain)0:00:39.99
17Lourdes Oyarbide Jimenez (Spain)0:00:40.23
18Addyson Albershardt (United States of America)0:00:41.64
19Alexandra Nessmar (Sweden)0:00:42.74
20Katsiaryna Piatrouskaya (Belarus)0:00:42.91
21Allison Rice (Australia)0:00:43.58
22Zavinta Titenyte (Lithuania)0:00:44.26
23Stella Riverditi (Italy)0:00:44.54
24Georgia Baker (Australia)0:00:44.90
25Hanna Helamb (Sweden)0:00:46.80
26Milda Jankauskaite (Lithuania)0:00:47.00
27Heidi Dalton (South Africa)0:00:47.48
28Manon Bourdiaux (France)0:00:48.43
29Anna Knauer (Germany)0:00:48.93
30Dana Lodewyks (Belgium)0:00:50.70
31Antonela Ferencic (Croatia)0:00:51.74
32Christina Siggaard (Denmark)0:00:53.00
33Simona Bortolotti (Italy)0:00:56.10
34Claudia Buitrago Calderon (Colombia)0:00:59.92
35Erika Varela Huerta (Mexico)0:01:04.09
36Gulnaz Badykova (Russian Federation)0:01:07.65
37Allyson Gillard (Canada)0:01:14.00
38Aliaksandra Kazlova (Belarus)0:01:23.84
39Olga Shekel (Ukraine)0:01:53.87
40Saskia Kowalchuk (Canada)0:02:16.09
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Split 2 - 10.2km
1Elinor Barker (Great Britain)0:15:07.31
2Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark)0:00:13.31
3Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)0:00:45.70
4Demi De Jong (Netherlands)0:00:47.94
5Emily Roper (Australia)0:00:48.17
6Eva Mottet (France)0:00:50.06
7Addyson Albershardt (United States of America)0:00:51.46
8Ramona Forchini (Switzerland)0:00:53.52
9Nicky Zijlaard (Netherlands)0:00:54.10
10Anastasiia Iakovenko (Russian Federation)0:00:54.16
11Lourdes Oyarbide Jimenez (Spain)0:00:54.53
12Corinna Lechner (Germany)0:00:56.06
13Lotte Kopecky (Belgium)0:00:59.37
14Yao Pang (Hong Kong, China)0:01:01.68
15Alicja Ratajczak (Poland)0:01:03.69
16Christina Siggaard (Denmark)0:01:04.27
17Corine Van Der Zijden (Netherlands)0:01:04.44
18Grace Alexander (United States of America)0:01:04.63
19Stella Riverditi (Italy)0:01:05.75
20Georgia Baker (Australia)0:01:06.94
21Allison Rice (Australia)0:01:08.28
22Hanna Helamb (Sweden)0:01:09.72
23Zavinta Titenyte (Lithuania)0:01:10.61
24Katsiaryna Piatrouskaya (Belarus)0:01:11.91
25Dana Lodewyks (Belgium)0:01:14.94
26Milda Jankauskaite (Lithuania)0:01:17.08
27Alexandra Nessmar (Sweden)0:01:19.84
28Anna Knauer (Germany)0:01:22.92
29Heidi Dalton (South Africa)0:01:22.94
30Claudia Buitrago Calderon (Colombia)0:01:24.59
31Simona Bortolotti (Italy)0:01:24.77
32Gulnaz Badykova (Russian Federation)0:01:29.31
33Manon Bourdiaux (France)0:01:29.51
34Antonela Ferencic (Croatia)0:01:30.72
35Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz (Spain)0:01:35.17
36Erika Varela Huerta (Mexico)0:01:42.27
37Allyson Gillard (Canada)0:02:11.66
38Aliaksandra Kazlova (Belarus)0:02:35.26
39Olga Shekel (Ukraine)0:02:54.64
40Saskia Kowalchuk (Canada)0:03:39.25

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Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.

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