Oliver Wood in the U23 race at Bergen Worlds(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Carbel Svendgaard beats Oliver Wood to third place in the under-23 road race in Bergen(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Carbel Svendgaard beats Oliver Wood to the bronze medal in the U23 road race in Bergen(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Oliver Wood in the under-23 men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Bergen(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Scott Davies string out the peloton(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Great Britain squad celebrated Oliver Wood's fourth place in the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships, happy with the result and proud to have produced an excellent team effort despite going close to a medal and even the world title.
Wood is better known for his success on the track but used his speed to come through late in the sprint for third place. Denmark's Michael Carbel Svendgaard beat him for the bronze medal but Wood was faster than Italian Bardiani-CSF professional Vincenzo Albanese in Bergen.
"If someone had said this morning you'd finish fourth in the world championships I'd have snatched that but now I'm also a bit disappointed to miss out on the podium," Wood told Cyclingnews before celebrating with close friend and team James Knox as they headed to the Team Sky bus that is on loan to Great Britain this week in Bergen.
"I've always got a sprint in my legs thanks to the track. I wondered how much the climb would take out of my legs but I tried to stay calm. I was definitely on a good day."
Fourth place was the culmination of an excellent team performance from Great Britain, with fellow track talent Mark Stewart doing some huge turns on the front to try to and catch Benoit Cosnefroy (France) and Lennard Kamna (Germany). Scott Davies was in the thick of the action mid-race and also worked to control the attacks in the finale.
"It was a great effort by the team, especially by Mark Stewart in the closing kliometres. It almost came together," Wood pointed out.
"I was sat second or third wheel in the final kilometres. I saw Casper Pedersen doing some turns and Mark too but nobody else wanted to take it up. It was a real pity."
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Teammate James Knox warmly congratulated his close friend at the finish, while Scott Davies, who worked hard and rode aggressively during the race to ensure Great Britain was represented in the key break, also praised Wood.
Knox will turn professional with Quick-Step Floors in 2018; while Davies is due to announce his future professional team sometime next week. This was his last race as an under-23 rider.
"This won't change my career for now," he said. "The next focus is the track season. I ultimately have goals on the road but first the big goal is to be an Olympic champion on the track."
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
