Bokeloh wins with a late sprint

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After a breathless morning of racing, Jonas Bokeloh (Germany) emerged victorious in the junior men’s road race at the world championships in Ponferrada, unleashing a fine finish to claim the group sprint ahead of Alexandr Kulikovskiy (Russia) and Peter Lenderink (Netherlands).

There were plot twists aplenty as the race ebbed and flowed through the final three laps. The only constant was the complete lack of respite in the peloton, which seemed stretched in single file for much of the final hour. Indeed, Bokeloh’s reading of the race had prompted him to anticipate a very different outcome. Over the top of Confederacion, the penultimate climb, he managed to bridge across to breakaways Pavel Sivakov (Russia) and Tamirlan Tassymov (Kazakhstan). When they were swept up at the base of the final climb to Mirador, he feared his chance had passed him by.

“I thought it would be a sprint from a breakaway, that’s why I followed them,” Bokeloh said. “I was a little bit sad when the break was caught by the peloton. On the last climb it was quite hard to follow. I really didn’t think I’d be able to sprint like I did after that. I was more focused on maybe a top ten place, I didn’t expect to be world champion. It’s amazing.”

Over 40 riders came together again at the foot of the Mirador, where the Swedish pair of Lucas Eriksson and Hampus Anderberg’s forcing whittled down the leading group still further, but nobody could quite snap the elastic and go clear.

On the way down, however, Switzerland’s Gino Maeder took over the reins, and his daring descent looked as though it would be enough to carry him to the rainbow jersey. As the road flattened out at the red kite, he had a small but sustainable advantage over the disorganised chasing group. Maeder was joined in the final kilometre by Stepan Kurianov (Russia), but they were swept up within sight of the line.

In the closing 200 metres, Bokeloh produced a sprint worthy of fellow German sprinters Degenkolb, Greipel et al to beat Kulikovskiy, while Lenderink held off Edoardo Affini (Italy) for the bronze medal.

“It’s a bit of a surprise because I thought a break would stay away on the final lap,” Lenderink said. “I was a bit on the back on the last climb, but I used the descent to get back on.”

The early entertainment was provided by Adrien Costa (USA), who launched a determined solo effort that saw him gain 45 seconds, but he was eventually reeled in as the peloton approached the beginning of the penultimate lap.

Over 100 riders were still in contention at that point, but a dangerous move sparked by Ricardo Verza (Italy) and Leo Danes (France) blew the race apart. The break swelled to six riders by the bell, where Wilmar Paredes (Colombia) set a fierce tempo all the way up the Confederacion, but there was a fresh regrouping shortly after the summit.

Nicola Conci (Italy) was the next to try his luck, in the company of Sivakov, but his Worlds dream ended when his wheels slid from beneath him while forcing the pace on the same fast corner that saw his Italian Under 23 teammate crash on Friday. The final climb and descent of Mirador were frenetic affairs, but when the dust settled in Ponferrada, a group of 32 riders formed to contest the medals.

“Right from the start I felt good, but I didn’t expect to become world champion,” said Bokeloh after he received the rainbow jersey. “I think it will make a lot of things much easier for me. I’m still looking for a team for next year and now I think I can get a better team.”

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