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World championships - CM

Madrid, Spain, September 21-25, 2005

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Race 3 - September 22: Elite men's individual time trial, 44.1 km

Three for Rogers

Gutierrez and Cancellara take silver and bronze

By Shane Stokes and Hernan Alvarez Macias in Madrid

Michael Rogers (Australia)
Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
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Australia's Michael Rogers made history this afternoon when he became the first rider to win three Elite world time trial championships. The 25 year old took his third successive title with a superbly measured ride on the Casa de Campo circuit in Madrid today, beating José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain) by 24 seconds and bronze medallist Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) by the same margin.

Rogers starting slowly, placing only fifth at the first check, but while early leader Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) faded, the Australian continued to build speed. By checkpoint two he was second, eight seconds off the pace set by Gutierrez, and then by the third point he had pulled seven seconds clear of the Spaniard.

Rogers' acceleration continued all the way to the line, his final winning margin rising to more than 20 seconds. Gutierrez and Cancellara were separated by fractions, while Ruben Plaza (Spain), Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) and his compatriot Andrew Kashechkin took fourth, fifth and sixth.

Pre-race favourites Victor Hugo Peña (Colombia), Bobby Julich (USA), Denis Menchov (Russia) and Thomas Dekker (Netherlands) all had disappointing rides, finishing outside the top nine. Comeback Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov and Christophe Moreau (France) were similarly off the pace, placing 28th and 44th respectively.

The big three
Photo ©: Sirotti
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"I expected to be in good condition," Rogers said. "I had an extra motivation as I had a chance of becoming the first person to win three in a row. This year has been a little bit up and down for me. But with this result, it is certainly a very good year. I'm really happy to be in first position again.

"This is my first victory of the season. I basically tried to ride it the same way as I did last year. I tried to really make the difference in the second half or the final third of the race. It seems to work out well that way. But it wasn't easy, as there were other strong riders here today. Winning this takes the pressure off my shoulders, it has been building for the last couple of months."

Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spain)
Photo ©: Sirotti
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12 hundredths of a second from silver?
Photo ©: Sirotti
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Runner up Ivan Gutierrez was relatively satisfied. "Taking second is not bad. I won't rest until I become world champion, though. I'm happy anyway because of my second place, although I'm also a bit sad at the same time because in being second, I am the first to lose."

Gutierrez had a scare during his test. "There was a moment when my handlebars dropped and I lost my concentration, because I thought about changing the bike. The time trial is a very mental discipline and you pay dearly for making the most minimal mistake. I won't retire from cycling without becoming world champion, though. I'm sure I will be battling with Michael [Rogers] many times in the future. We are part of the new generation of riders. I hope he wins some races and I win the other ones."

Cancellara had mixed feelings. "I'm disappointed because I didn't win the gold medal. That said, I am happy to get a medal, although it's hard because there was only a small gap between the three of us. I can take some satisfaction out of the fact that I gave it everything."

How it unfolded

Michael Rogers (Australia)
Photo ©: Sirotti
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A total of 48 riders lined up for the start of today's 44.1 kilometre elite men's time trial, taking in two laps of the Casa de Campo circuit in Madrid. Ivaïlo Gabrovski of Bulgaria had the dubious distinction of failing the UCI's medical check, being thrown out of the World Championships along with road race aspirant Bogdan Stoytchev, and thus reducing the TT field by one.

Argentinean rider Matias Medici was first to start, beginning his test at 1 pm. He proved to be the quickest of the first wave of riders, posting the best time at each of the checkpoints and at the finish. His time of 55 minutes 11.59 seconds put him ahead of Jan Hruska (Czech Republic) and Canada's Ryder Hesjedal in the provisional standings, but this pole position was bettered by the German Sebastian Lang an hour later. Next to take the lead was Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins, the 25 year old Olympic pursuit gold medallist showing that speed when he went just over three seconds quicker.

Matias Medici (Argentina)
Photo ©: Hernan Alvarez
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As the final rider in wave two, Wiggins had at least 40-odd minutes in the newly introduced 'hotseat' beside the line before the next batch started to finish. The promising 25 year old Kazakh Andrey Kashechkin was the third rider of this wave and he went two seconds faster than Wiggins. However his time at the top was short with José Ivan Gutierrez (Spain) quickly taking over in a scorching time of 53:58.26 for the distance. This proved to be the mark to beat, with rider after rider trying to go quicker but failing. Amongst those to fall short was 2000 Olympic time trial champion Viatcheslav Ekimov (Russia), Colombian Victor Hugo Peña, Christophe Moreau (France), Michael Blaudzun (Denmark) and Irish road race champion David O'Loughlin. Peña was quickest of these but his final time of 55:15.76 seconds would only be good enough for tenth, falling over a minute short of Gutierrez' standard and also being just outside that strong early mark set by Medici.

Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
Photo ©: Sirotti
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The final wave of riders featured many of the pre-race favourites. Thomas Dekker (Netherlands) started tenth from the end and had been tipped as a possible winner by the American Bobby Julich beforehand. However Dekker was immediately off the pace, the 14:19.76 time he posted for the first split showing that he would not be challenging this time round. Julich too was found wanting, the Olympic bronze medallist recording a time 19 seconds adrift of Gutierrez at the first checkpoint. He tried to recover but was unable to get back onto terms.

Cancellara had started two places ahead of Julich and, by contrast, he was clearly on a good day. He went close at the first time check and stayed close to Gutierrez's splits thereafter. Ruben Plaza Molina (Spain) and Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) were also going quite well, although the timechecks showed that they were unlikely to trouble the leading time. There was, however, one rider left to go. Rogers's win last year ensured he started with dossard number one and while he was only fifth at the first check, he accelerated from that point to overtake his Spanish rival and complete a remarkable third straight World Championship title. Amazingly, today's victory marked his first win of the season: not a bad way to end that kind of drought.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net

Images by Hernan Alvarez/Cyclingnews.com

Results

1 Michael Rogers (Australia)                 53.34.49 (49.939 km/h)
2 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain)        0.23.77
3 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)             0.23.89
4 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spain)                  0.44.06
5 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazakhstan)            1.20.24
6 Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan)              1.29.00
7 Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)             1.31.60
8 Sebastian Lang (Germany)                    1.35.32
9 Matias Medici (Argentina)                   1.37.07
10 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Colombia)       1.41.27
11 Bobby Julich (United States Of America)    1.45.37
12 Ondrej Sosenka (Czech Republic)            1.55.49
13 Ben Day (Australia)                        2.05.46
14 Marzio Bruseghin (Italy)                   2.11.68
15 Michael Rich (Germany)                     2.13.96
16 Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia)               2.16.75
17 Marco Pinotti (Italy)                      2.22.78
18 Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)                  2.26.00
19 Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)                 2.29.61
20 Jan Hruska (Czech Republic)                2.37.59
21 Brian Bach Vandborg (Denmark)              2.42.54
22 Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)                    2.42.82
23 Denis Menchov (Russian Federation)         2.45.17
24 Bert Roesems (Belgium)                     2.49.49
25 Gregor Gazvoda (Slovenia)                  2.56.49
26 James Lewis Perry (South Africa)           2.58.93
27 Gustav Larsson (Sweden)                    3.00.17
28 Viacheslav Ekimov (Russian Federation)     3.07.10
29 Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)                     3.12.88
30 Sylvain Chavanel (France)                  3.18.53
31 Leif Hoste (Belgium)                       3.19.68
32 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)                3.27.63
33 Peter Mazur (Poland)                       3.37.28
34 Eric Wohlberg (Canada)                     3.40.32
35 Thomas Dekker (Netherlands)                3.44.53
36 George David (South Africa)                3.46.81
37 Joost Posthuma (Netherlands)               3.48.98
38 David O'Loughlin (Ireland)                 3.52.09
39 Michael Blaudzun (Denmark)                 3.55.77
40 Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)                    4.00.49
41 Lukasz Bodnar (Poland)                     4.49.63
42 Juan Carlos Lopez Martin (Colombia)        4.54.18
43 Linas Balciunas (Lithuania)                4.58.35
44 Christophe Moreau (France)                 5.07.11
45 Csaba Szekeres (Hungary)                   5.13.34
46 Thomas Lövkvist (Sweden)                   5.40.66
47 Denis Shkarpeta (Uzbekistan)               5.49.93
48 Tommi Martikainen (Finland)                7.13.87
DNS Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Bulgaria)                      
 
Intermediate timing

km 10.5
 
1 Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)            13.30.82
2 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain)        0.12.86
3 Ondrej Sosenka (Czech Republic)             0.14.29
4 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)             0.15.91
5 Michael Rogers (Australia)                  0.17.44
6 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazakhstan)            0.18.83
7 Matias Medici (Argentina)                   0.22.48
8 Ben Day (Australia)                         0.22.92
9 Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)                   0.23.45
10 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spain)                 0.25.45
11 Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan)             0.27.16
12 Marco Pinotti (Italy)                      0.30.77
13 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)                0.31.00
14 Denis Menchov (Russian Federation)         0.31.16
15 Bert Roesems (Belgium)                     0.31.75
16 Bobby Julich (United States Of America)    0.31.79
17 Gregor Gazvoda (Slovenia)                  0.32.40
18 Marzio Bruseghin (Italy)                   0.32.69
19 Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia)               0.33.01
20 Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)                 0.34.56
21 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Colombia)       0.35.63
22 Brian Bach Vandborg (Denmark)              0.36.68
23 Jan Hruska (Czech Republic)                0.38.42
24 Sebastian Lang (Germany)                   0.38.98
25 Leif Hoste (Belgium)                       0.39.66
26 Sylvain Chavanel (France)                  0.41.12
27 George David (South Africa)                0.42.75
28 Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)                    0.44.54
29 Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)                     0.45.42
30 Gustav Larsson (Sweden)                    0.47.77
31 Thomas Dekker (Netherlands)                0.48.94
32 Joost Posthuma (Netherlands)               0.50.16
33 Michael Blaudzun (Denmark)                 0.50.25
34 Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)                    0.51.76
35 Michael Rich (Germany)                     0.53.27
36 Viacheslav Ekimov (Russian Federation)     0.54.54
37 James Lewis Perry (South Africa)           0.55.28
38 Linas Balciunas (Lithuania)                0.57.83
39 Peter Mazur (Poland)                       0.58.96
40 Lukasz Bodnar (Poland)                     1.00.90
41 David O'Loughlin (Ireland)                 1.03.68
42 Denis Shkarpeta (Uzbekistan)               1.10.64
43 Christophe Moreau (France)                 1.11.05
44 Eric Wohlberg (Canada)                     1.15.43
45 Thomas Lövkvist (Sweden)                   1.16.78
46 Csaba Szekeres (Hungary)                   1.24.65
47 Juan Carlos Lopez Martin (Colombia)        1.26.14
48 Tommi Martikainen (Finland)                1.30.24
 
km 21.9
 
1 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain)       26.27.86
2 Michael Rogers (Australia)                  0.07.85
2 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)                    
4 Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)             0.08.83
5 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spain)                  0.14.96
6 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazakhstan)            0.21.35
7 Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan)              0.23.02
8 Bobby Julich (United States Of America)     0.30.19
9 Matias Medici (Argentina)                   0.33.76
10 Ondrej Sosenka (Czech Republic)            0.34.38
11 Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)                  0.40.76
12 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Colombia)       0.41.04
13 Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia)               0.41.44
14 Marzio Bruseghin (Italy)                   0.43.52
15 Ben Day (Australia)                        0.44.30
16 Marco Pinotti (Italy)                      0.44.96
17 Denis Menchov (Russian Federation)         0.51.68
18 Bert Roesems (Belgium)                     0.54.42
19 Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)                 0.54.59
20 Michael Rich (Germany)                     0.55.29
21 Sebastian Lang (Germany)                   0.55.64
22 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)                0.57.50
23 Jan Hruska (Czech Republic)                1.06.02
24 Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)                    1.06.23
25 Brian Bach Vandborg (Denmark)              1.06.62
26 Gustav Larsson (Sweden)                    1.08.15
27 Gregor Gazvoda (Slovenia)                  1.08.97
28 Viacheslav Ekimov (Russian Federation)     1.09.15
29 Sylvain Chavanel (France)                  1.10.10
30 Leif Hoste (Belgium)                       1.10.26
31 Peter Mazur (Poland)                       1.14.05
32 Michael Blaudzun (Denmark)                 1.14.36
33 Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)                     1.16.74
34 Thomas Dekker (Netherlands)                1.24.00
35 James Lewis Perry (South Africa)           1.31.77
36 Eric Wohlberg (Canada)                     1.33.60
37 David O'Loughlin (Ireland)                 1.33.85
38 Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)                    1.35.87
39 George David (South Africa)                1.36.91
40 Joost Posthuma (Netherlands)               1.43.50
41 Christophe Moreau (France)                 1.49.32
42 Lukasz Bodnar (Poland)                     1.49.40
43 Linas Balciunas (Lithuania)                1.51.22
44 Csaba Szekeres (Hungary)                   2.09.66
45 Denis Shkarpeta (Uzbekistan)               2.15.57
46 Thomas Lövkvist (Sweden)                   2.19.87
47 Juan Carlos Lopez Martin (Colombia)        2.34.43
48 Tommi Martikainen (Finland)                2.57.29
 
km 33
 
1 Michael Rogers (Australia)                 41.01.60
2 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain)        0.07.32
3 Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)             0.16.30
4 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spain)                  0.30.80
5 Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain)             0.45.80
6 Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan)              0.46.37
7 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kazakhstan)            0.52.26
8 Matias Medici (Argentina)                   0.52.90
9 Sebastian Lang (Germany)                    1.05.87
10 Ondrej Sosenka (Czech Republic)            1.07.96
11 Bobby Julich (United States Of America)    1.08.53
12 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Colombia)       1.11.81
13 Ben Day (Australia)                        1.18.13
14 Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus)                  1.18.66
15 Marzio Bruseghin (Italy)                   1.22.74
16 Marco Pinotti (Italy)                      1.26.15
17 Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia)               1.27.85
18 Bert Roesems (Belgium)                     1.36.88
19 Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia)                 1.37.47
20 Denis Menchov (Russian Federation)         1.40.86
21 Michael Rich (Germany)                     1.41.50
22 Ryder Hesjedal (Canada)                    1.45.90
23 Gregor Gazvoda (Slovenia)                  1.48.23
24 Brian Bach Vandborg (Denmark)              1.53.14
25 Jan Hruska (Czech Republic)                1.53.83
26 Gustav Larsson (Sweden)                    1.54.28
27 James Lewis Perry (South Africa)           1.56.78
28 Fumiyuki Beppu (Japan)                     2.00.97
29 Leif Hoste (Belgium)                       2.05.73
30 Sylvain Chavanel (France)                  2.06.41
31 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine)                2.08.33
32 Viacheslav Ekimov (Russian Federation)     2.08.91
33 Thomas Dekker (Netherlands)                2.20.11
34 Peter Mazur (Poland)                       2.20.73
35 George David (South Africa)                2.32.24
36 Michael Blaudzun (Denmark)                 2.32.92
37 Andriy Grivko (Ukraine)                    2.36.81
38 Eric Wohlberg (Canada)                     2.46.95
39 Joost Posthuma (Netherlands)               2.53.61
40 David O'Loughlin (Ireland)                 2.57.14
41 Lukasz Bodnar (Poland)                     3.03.38
42 Linas Balciunas (Lithuania)                3.18.68
43 Csaba Szekeres (Hungary)                   3.33.03
44 Christophe Moreau (France)                 3.35.62
45 Denis Shkarpeta (Uzbekistan)               3.41.38
46 Juan Carlos Lopez Martin (Colombia)        3.43.76
47 Thomas Lövkvist (Sweden)                   3.59.86
48 Tommi Martikainen (Finland)                4.46.76

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