Welcome to Australia for the 2010 UCI Road World Championships, held in Geelong, Victoria. This year's title race kicks off with the Under 23 men's time trial.
Frayre Moctezuma Eder (Mexico) is the first rider away in this year's race. The Mexican has set out in light rain conditions as the first rider in the first of three groups.
Arthur Van Overberghe is the second rider away in the colours of Belgium.
Jimmi Sorensen (Denmark) and Michael Vink (New Zealand) too have left the start ramp. These first four are part of an initial group of 11 riders that will tackle the 31.8km course.
Eder is facing mixed conditions as he travels along the course. The sun has come out, but there's still wet patches all over the course and more cloud threatening to drop more rain.
Nikita Novikov (Russian Federation) is the fifth rider to make his way out of the start gate as Eder hits the first climb.
One of the favourites for this morning’s race, American Taylor Phinney, highlighted that the weather will have a big impact on today’s outcome: “The weather could be a big factor. Just riding yesterday, one minute it was clear, the next it was pouring rain and then it was clear again.
Hugo Houle (Canada) is away as Luke Durbridge (Australia) gets ready for his race. Durbridge is another rider expected to be in the running for today's medals, however if the roads continue to dry for the later runners it could prove to make a big difference.
Matteo Mammini is the first Italian down the start ramp as Van Overberghe reaches his first climb.
Silvan Dillier (Switzerland) has powered away from the start house as we see the New Zealand rider also reach the first climb. We’re nearing the end of the first group of riders and should soon start to see some intermediate times coming through.
Daniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan) is away, leaving just Fábio Silvestre (Portugal) to start as the last rider in this first of four groups. There's a 30-32 minute gap between the groups in this morning's event.
Van Overberghe is our fastest rider at the first time check with a time of 10:06 for the first 6.6 kilometres.
Durbridge has shown his form at the same time check, lowering the best time by over 30 seconds with a 9:33.
Eder is making his way up the finish straight at the end of his first lap. The Belgian rider has closed in on the Mexican 15.8 kilometres into the event, sitting about 200 metres behind.
At the 15.8 kilometre mark Van Overberghe is the quickest with a time of 22:05. Denmark's Sorensen is second, five seconds behind.
Van Overberghe Has caught and passed the Mexican rider and looks comfortable a few kilometres into his second lap. Riders believe pacing will be the important part on today’s course, with the potential to lose a lot of time on the climb the second time around if they go out too hard on the first lap.
Novikov has crossed the line at 15.8 kilometres with the best time. His 21:58 is seven seconds quicker than that of the Belgian rider.
Showing how crazy the weather is at the moment, Durbridge is powering along the waterfront side of the course at the moment in sunshine while the early riders are over the back riding in overcast, light rain conditions.
Durbridge has made the turn up towards the start/finish line, we should soon have his time but he'll first catch the Canadian rider.
As expected Durbridge has lowered the bar with a 20:49 - eight seconds quicker than the Russian rider.
Today’s race will see trade teammates Taylor Phinney and Alex Dowsett go head-to head. The British rider told Cyclingnews that they both have different strengths on the Australian course. “I’ve got about an eight kilogram advantage over Phinney, and he probably has about 20watts, so we shall see.”
Durbridge is the fastest rider on the course at this point, with Italy's Mammini about 40 seconds behind on live time while Russia's Novikov is sitting in third place about 1:25 minutes down.
The section where Durbridge was minutes ago riding alone in sunshine is now under rainfall, as Swiss rider Dillier makes his way to the end of his first lap. These conditions could see an unexpected winner today, depending on what happens over the coming hours.
The sun is literally following Durbridge around this course as a GPS time comparison shows he's pulled out another eight seconds on the Italian rider. Can Australia secure back-to-back time trial world titles?
Durbridge has crossed the third time check at 22.4 kilometres with the fastest time to date, in 31:38 minutes. The Belgian is the second fastest to have crossed it but we're still waiting on the Italian rider, who is likely to bump Van Overberghe down to third quickest.
Eder has crossed the finish line for the final time of 48:19.04. Van Overberghe slipped through without us seeing him nearly three minutes quicker and is currently the race leader with a time of 45:03.81.
Our second group has started with Siarhei Papok (Belarus) and Andrew Talansky (United States Of America) both setting out on the course.
Durbridge has taken the race lead with a time of 42:52.19. The Australian rider looked very pleased with his efforts as he crossed the line.
Durbridge has the lead from Belgium's Van Overberghe, but the Italian rider is likely to move into second position once he finishes his race according to our numbers.
As we expected Italy's Mammini has moved into second place after crossing the line. He managed to limit the damage to 48 seconds - the same gap Durbridge had on him halfway through the second lap.
Five riders from the second group are now away. There's 10 riders in this group and Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) was the latest down the ramp.
Javier Eduardo Gomez Pineda (Colombia) and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Belgium) from the second group are now away too, leaving just three more riders including Aussie hope Rohan Dennis.
Talansky should be one of the quicker riders in the second group. He's the current Under 23 national champion in the United States of America and has been picked up by the Garmin-Cervelo squad for next season.
As Dennis leaves the start ramp Diller has crossed the finish line way down. The rider lost more than six minutes after crashing on the second lap - looks like he could be the first to have been caught out by the tricky wet roads.
Jakub Novak (Czech Republic) is away, meaning we've got 32 minutes to focus on this second group of riders.
Belgian Guillaume Van Keirsbulck has reached the first of the climbs, meaning we should start to see some times from the second group at the 6.6 kilometre mark very soon.
Johan Le Bon (France) is the quickest at the first time check so far, but he's more than 30 seconds down on Durbridge's time at the same point.
Talansky has crossed the start finish line to commence his second lap. His time at that 15.6 kilometre mark puts him in fourth place, about 1:12 minutes down on Durbridge.
While the weather certainly hasn't made up its mind yet, the course has been much more dry for this second group than the first. So far we're yet to see a rider riding in the rain, while most of the tarmac has dried.
Dennis has crossed the 6.6 kilometre mark with the third quickest time, 27 seconds slower than his fellow Australian and race leader Durbridge.
Dennis, who will ride at the Commonwealth Games after the world championships, looked relaxed when he spoke to Cyclingnews yesterday. "It's going to be a tough course - it's going to be all about pacing - everything's pacing for the first lap," Dennis told Cyclingnews. "Obviously you've got to go hard, just not go into the red zone.
France's Le Bon is the quickest from the second group at the end of lap one, so far. His time puts him in third at that point, but still slightly over a minute slower than Durbridge.
At the 22.4 kilometre check point Talansky is the quickest rider out of this second group so far, but he's 1:52 minutes down on Durbridge's time in sixth. It's not looking good for the USA champion.
As Jakub Novak (Czech Republic), the last rider from group two, starts his second lap we're starting to see images of the first rider from group three, David Boily (Canada), warming up for his run.
Le Bon looks to be the best of the second group at this point. He's tracking well in third place at km 22.4, 1:18 minutes down on Durbridge's time. Durbridge is enjoying a chat with the Italian and Belgian riders waiting at the finish line - both of which seem to be colder than Durbridge.
Talansky has crossed the line for the final time, moving in to fifth place after fighting back over the final lap.
Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania) is about to cross the finish line - the third rider from the second group to do so. He's just managed to sneak into the current top 10, taking ninth place.
France's Le Bon has continued his strong run all the way to the finish line, where he's moved into third place. Le Bon was 1:37 minutes slower than Durbridge over the course.
Martijn Keizer (Netherlands) - the second rider from group three - has rolled onto the course. All eyes in this group will likely be on Taylor Phinney, who is the final rider of the 10 in this group to leave the start house.
Javier Eduardo Gomez Pineda (Colombia) has had a strong final sector to move into seventh place. At the third sector he was sitting back down in 10th place.
The host nation has put itself in a strong spot, with Dennis moving into second place behind Durbridge. Denis had an up and down run, but it obviously came together over the final sector.
We're all the way through the second group now, meaning our attention can be focused on group three alone for a little while. Canada's Boily, the first out of this group, was way down the order after the first time check at kilometre 6.6, down in 21st place.
Phinney is lined up in the gate, as the sun has really come out now and the cloud is clearing.
Phinney is away - the last rider from group three. It will be interesting to see in 6.6 kilometres time where he stands against Durbridge. The riders had very different conditions for their rides, so we can't help but wonder how big a factor that will be.
One of Phinney's main rivals - Alex Dowsett - told Cyclingnews how he'd approach today's race: "Strategy: Flat out the whole way to be honest, maybe not go too deep up the first rise but otherwise its too short to gain or lose much
Both David Boily (Canada) and Martijn Keizer (Netherlands) - the first two riders from this third group - are not matching the pace of the riders from the first two groups. Both are outside of the top 10 after 15.6 kilometres as they start their second lap of the course.
Rasmus Christian Quaade (Denmark) has just crossed the 6.6 kilometre time check in third place. He's doing very well!
Oh no, it looks like the Dane has run off into the barriers. On a slightly damp corner it seems Christian Quaade hasn't managed to make it around, resulting in a low-impact nudge of the barrier and a frustrated bike throw by the rider.
Phinney has crossed the 6.6km mark now and the news is good...if you're an Aussie! The USA rider is down in sixth, 32 seconds behind the time of Durbridge at that point. He's only five seconds off the time of Dennis at the same point, which means there's still a long way - including the main climb - to go.
Boily has found his groove, picking up some places by the third time check. He's sitting about 14th with around nine kilometres remaining.
Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus) is having a good running, posting the fourth fastest time at kilometre 15.8. Lets see if he can pick up some time - and a spot or two - on his second lap.
Clearly it's the last sector where Phinney is in form on this course. He's just completed his first lap and at 15.8 kilometres he's in second place. He's just 17 seconds slower than Durbridge at that point and five quicker than Dennis. Providing he hasn't gone out too hard, too soon, Phinney's about to show why he was a pre-race favourite.
Gianluca Leonardi (Italy) is another riding well from this third group of cyclists. He's in sixth place after check point three at 22.4 kilometres.
Boily held his place in the low teens over his last lap to finish with the 13th quickest time thus far. He's the first rider to finish from group three and the fourth - and final - group is just eight minutes away from starting.
Phinney shouldn't be far away from check point three now, which should start to give us an indication of how much danger Durbridge's lead is in.
Phinney is just 4.8 seconds down on Durbridge at the 22.4 kilometre mark, meaning he's made up just over 15 seconds. The USA rider was much stronger over the closing section of the course on his first lap, so if he's able to replicate that we could well have a new race leader!
This is how things look after the third time check, with three quarters of the field done:
Phinney is doing it, he's chewing into Durbridge's lead. So far he's pulled out eight unofficial seconds.
So far we have three riders out on course from the final group: King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong, China), Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spain) and Geoffrey Soupe (France).
Gianluca Leonardi (Italy) has crossed the finish line with the sixth fastest time - the rider not looking overly happy with his efforts.
Sebastian Balck (Sweden) has finished his race now, posting the 13th quickest time at that point.
Marcel Kittel (Germany) has just left the start ramp as one of the fourth group's riders. He's expected to be one of the strong riders on this course.
Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus) has posted the fourth fastest time overall as Phinney powers down towards the final corner.
Durbridge looks a little nervous as he watches Phinney climb up the final straight.
It was closer than expected, but Phinney has taken the leader's hot seat. His time was just 1.90 seconds quicker than that of the Australian.
With no more Australian riders left in the field, it looks like the host country won't be going back-to-back in the Under 23 individual time trial world title.
So Phinney's in the lead and now that we're down to our last group, we can go into a little more detail on times as these final 10 riders make their way around the course. Here's how it stands at each check point and overall:
Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spain) has snuck into the top 10 at the first check point - 6.6 kilometres into his run.
Geoffrey Soupe (France) has also moved into the top times, with the Frenchman claiming seventh after the first time check.
Nélson Oliveira (Portugal) - the last of today's riders - has set out onto the course.
Dowsett expects the Portuguese rider to be one of the quickest on today's course: "Theres a lot of good names there - to be honest I reckon Nelson Oliviera, he climbs really well.
King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong, China) is the first rider to cross the start/finish line and start his final lap but he's way down on time, outside the top 20.
Ben King is out seeing if he can better teammate Taylor Phinney's time at the moment. He spoke to Cyclingnews before the race: "Still feeling a little upside down and inside out with the jet lag, early spring weather, driving on the left, but theTT is a good way to hit the reset button.
Alex Dowsett has crossed the first check point marginally faster than Taylor Phinney did. Less than six tenths of a second seperate the two. Looks like we're going to see a close battle of weight Vs. watts, as Dowsett expected!
Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin has also had a strong start to his first lap, landing the fifth quickest time at check point one - 6.6 km into the race.
Oliveira is quick! He was fourth after the first check point at 6.6 kilometres. He's still 21 seconds down on Durbridge at that point, but he's ahead of Phinney considerably. So it will all depend on whether he's come out too hard or can maintain this pace to the finish line.
Oh no: Dowsett's hopes have suffered a big hit. It seems he has roled a tyre from his rear wheel while cornering.
Dowsett went to remove the rear wheel but a British Cycling mechanic was quickly there with a spare bike.
The timing couldn't have been worse for Dowsett - it occured on the final turn at the base of the climb up to the finish line. He crossed the line about 1:19 minutes down on the quickest time at the 15.8 kilometre mark.
No such problem for Dowsett's main rival Oliveira, who crossed the line with the fourth fastest time at mid-race mark.
Marcel Kittel (Germany) is making his way around the course in a good time. He was just slower than the Portuguese rider at half distance.
Kittel is charging over the last half of the final lap. By timing point three he'd moved up to third place. There's still some margin between his and the times of both Phinney and Durbridge, but he could still get there.
Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spain) has finished his race with the fifth quickest time so far. That drops Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus) back to sixth place.
Dowsett's day just went from bad to worse, as he was overtaken by the man he hoped to beat today.
Kittel has crossed the line with the third fastest time so far. A clearly exhausted Kittel is currently in a podium position, but there's still a few quick riders out on course.
Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) has just crossed the line for the final time in fifth place. The Dutch rider doesn't look too pleased with it, either.
Oliveira is still yet to finish, but he needs to make up more than 20 seconds over the final sector if he's to take out today's title. Phinney and Durbridge's positions are looking safer.
Evgeny Kovalev (Russian Federation) has rounded the final corner, but he's tracking for a position well outside of the top 15 it seems.
With Ben King down the order and Dowsett's setback, the podium is nearly set. Phinney and Durbridge will medal - the remaining question is Nélson Oliveira (Portugal).
Nélson Oliveira (Portugal) is powering down the final straight towards the last corner. He'll turn right there and climb towards the finish line.
Nélson Oliveira (Portugal) is spending every last bit of energy he has, but Phinney's win looks assured.
Nélson Oliveira (Portugal) has dropped time over the final sector, moving back into fourth place.
That means Phinney is our winner from Durbridge and Kittel!
Dowsett has rolled across the finish line as the last rider, clearly disappointed with how his race turned out.
The final top 15 from the Under 23 men's time trial is listed below. Be sure to come back later this afternoon when the elite women's field will take on the same course.
Final results
1 Taylor Phinney (United States Of America) 0:42:50.29
2 Luke Durbridge (Australia) 0:42:52.19
3 Marcel Kittel (Germany) 0:43:14.30
4 Nélson Oliveira (Portugal) 0:43:18.25
5 Rohan Dennis (Australia) 0:43:37.16
6 Matteo Mammini (Italy) 0:43:40.17
7 Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) 0:43:56.84
8 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spain) 0:44:08.77
9 Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus) 0:44:25.91
10 Geoffrey Soupe (France) 0:44:28.50
11 Johan Le Bon (France) 0:44:29.91
12 Jakub Novak (Czech Republic) 0:44:42.00
13 Gianluca Leonardi (Italy) 0:44:54.62
14 Arthur Van Overberghe (Belgium) 0:45:03.81
15 Andrew Talansky (United States Of America) 0:45:11.88
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