Worlds: Pirrone doubles up with junior road race title

Elena Pirrone completed a remarkable double at the 2017 World Championships, winning the junior women’s road race to add to the individual time trial gold medal she won earlier in the week.

The 18-year-old Italian forged clear of the already-reduced peloton on the penultimate descent of Salmon Hill, with some 30 kilometres remaining, and was never seen again.

Emma Norsgaard Jorgensen (Denmark) took second place, leading home a 13-rider chase group that lacked the collaboration and firepower to catch Pirrone in the closing kilometres, while Letizia Paternoster claimed the bronze medal to make it a near-perfect race for Italy.

The 76.4km route for the junior women’s race was based on four laps of a 19.1km circuit in Bergen, with the climb of Salmon Hill – 1.4km long with an average gradient of 6.5 per cent – central in terms of its positioning on the course and its importance to the outcome.

Norsgaard Jorgensen enjoyed some time off the front on the opening lap, and the bunch started to thin on the second, but it was the third lap where the race-defining moves were made.

The Australian Madeleine Fasnacht produced the most promising of a flurry of attacks, but she fell away on the descent, while Pirrone did just the opposite. With two teammates in what was now a chasing group of 16 riders, it was the perfect situation for the Italians, as Pirrone hit the flat with a lead of 15 seconds and kept it as she took the bell for the final lap.

In the first chase group were: Letizia Paternoster, Nicole D’Agostini (Italy), Sophie Wright, Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain), Alena Petchenko, Maria Novolodskaya (Russia), Madeleine Fasnacht (Australia), Hannah Ludwig (Germany), Anne-Sophie Harsch (Luxembourg), Simone Boilard (Canada), Olha Kulynych (Ukraine), Evita Muzic, Jade Wiel, Clara Copponi (France), Caroline Bohe, Emma Norsgaard Jorgensen (Denmark).

The gap was as low as 12 seconds at one point, but on the approach to the final ascent it grew out to 40 seconds as the group looked at each other. Ludwig waved her hand sarcastically, and she was right – they were saying goodbye to Pirrone and the gold medal.

Pirrone’s lead had halved by the top of the climb but once again she descended better than anyone, and had enough left in the tank for the flat 5km run to the line in Bergen. Norsgaard Jorgensen once again accelerated in pursuit, but otherwise there wasn’t a coordinated chase, with the French conspicuous by their absence from the front of the group despite having three riders there.

Pirrone, though, was worth every carat of her gold medal, and had enough time in the home straight to sit up and revel in what has been a magical week. 

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Elena Pirrone (Italy)2:06:17
2Emma Cecilie Norsgaard Jorgensen (Denmark)0:00:12
3Letizia Paternoster (Italy)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Maria Novolodskaya (Russian Federation)Row 3 - Cell 2
5Jade Wiel (France)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Pfeiffer Georgi (Great Britain)Row 5 - Cell 2
7Clara Copponi (France)Row 6 - Cell 2
8Simone Boilard (Canada)Row 7 - Cell 2
9Anne-Sophie Harsch (Luxembourg)Row 8 - Cell 2
10Evita Muzic (France)Row 9 - Cell 2
11Caroline Bohe (Denmark)0:00:16
12Sophie Wright (Great Britain)Row 11 - Cell 2
13Olha Kulynych (Ukraine)0:00:40
14Madeleine Fasnacht (Australia)0:00:42
15Hannah Ludwig (Germany)0:01:40
16Nicole D'agostin (Italy)Row 15 - Cell 2
17Alena Petchenko (Russian Federation)0:02:02
18Marta Jaskulska (Poland)0:04:12
19Marie Le Net (France)Row 18 - Cell 2
20Gyunel Mekhtieva (Russian Federation)Row 19 - Cell 2
21Anastasiya Kolesava (Belarus)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands)Row 21 - Cell 2
23Sofia Rodriguez Revert (Spain)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Marit Raaijmakers (Netherlands)Row 23 - Cell 2
25Franziska Koch (Germany)Row 24 - Cell 2
26Misuzu Shimoyama (Japan)Row 25 - Cell 2
27Noa Jansen (Netherlands)Row 26 - Cell 2
28Viivi Puskala (Finland)Row 27 - Cell 2
29Lotte Rotman (Belgium)Row 28 - Cell 2
30Karin Penko (Slovenia)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Thale Kielland Bjerk (Norway)Row 30 - Cell 2
32Sara Martin Martin (Spain)Row 31 - Cell 2
33Hannah Gruber-Stadler (Austria)Row 32 - Cell 2
34Alana Castrique (Belgium)Row 33 - Cell 2
35Lara Krahemann (Switzerland)Row 34 - Cell 2
36Aleksandra Stepanova (Russian Federation)0:04:14
37Erin J Attwell (Canada)Row 36 - Cell 2
38Eva Jonkers (Netherlands)Row 37 - Cell 2
39Vittoria Guazzini (Italy)Row 38 - Cell 2
40Shari Bossuyt (Belgium)0:04:30
41Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (Netherlands)0:06:17
42Jessica Roberts (Great Britain)0:06:56
43Katharina Hechler (Germany)0:08:52
44Maria Martins (Portugal)Row 43 - Cell 2
45Maja Perinovic (Croatia)Row 44 - Cell 2
46Anhelina Krasko (Belarus)Row 45 - Cell 2
47Ricarda Bauernfeind (Germany)Row 46 - Cell 2
48Juste Juskeviciute (Lithuania)Row 47 - Cell 2
49Daniela Atehortua Hoyos (Colombia)Row 48 - Cell 2
50Emeline Eustache (France)Row 49 - Cell 2
51Abigail Youngwerth (United States Of America)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Megan Heath (United States Of America)Row 51 - Cell 2
53Petra Machalkova (Slovakia)Row 52 - Cell 2
54Amalie Lutro (Norway)0:09:59
55Clara Lundmark (Sweden)Row 54 - Cell 2
56Karolina Kumiega (Poland)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Greta Karasiovaite (Lithuania)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Alyssa Rowse (Bermuda)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Anne De Ruiter (Netherlands)Row 58 - Cell 2
60Joanna Golec (Poland)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Svetlana Pachshenko (Kazakhstan)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Martine Gjos (Norway)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Laurie Jussaume (Canada)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Lauren Murphy (Great Britain)0:10:01
65Ariana Gilabert Vilaplana (Spain)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Isabel Martin Martin (Spain)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Cinthya Teresita Covarrubias Rocha (Mexico)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Summer Moak (United States Of America)0:11:04
69Elne Owen (South Africa)0:13:56
70Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada)0:16:09
71Veronika Myrxina (Kazakhstan)0:17:34
72Emelie Roe Utvik (Norway)0:18:23
73Chaniporn Batriya (Thailand)0:18:25
74Aksana Salauyeva (Belarus)0:18:37
75Regina Stegvilaite (Lithuania)0:19:42
76Marib Aguirre Mangue (Argentina)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Marina Kurnossova (Kazakhstan)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Oliwia Majewska (Poland)0:20:43
79Alijah Beatty (United States Of America)0:22:18
80Johanna Johansson (Sweden)0:22:23
81Zayd Hailu (Ethiopia)0:28:16
DNFShira Biran (Israel)Row 81 - Cell 2
DNFGintare Kiupelyte (Lithuania)Row 82 - Cell 2
DNFAnzhela Solovyeva (Kazakhstan)Row 83 - Cell 2
DNFLiontin Evangelina Setiawan (Indonesia)Row 84 - Cell 2
DNFMartina Fidanza (Italy)Row 85 - Cell 2
DNFAshleigh Parsons (South Africa)Row 86 - Cell 2
DNFKanyarat Kesthonglang (Thailand)Row 87 - Cell 2
DNFChia Yi Lu (Chinese Taipei)Row 88 - Cell 2
DNFAndrea Ramirez Fregoso (Mexico)Row 89 - Cell 2
DNFRhona Callander (Great Britain)Row 90 - Cell 2
DNFTsadkan Kasahun (Ethiopia)Row 91 - Cell 2

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.


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