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

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Deputy Editor. Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist 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. After joining Cyclingnews as a staff writer on the back of work experience, Patrick became Features Editor in 2018 and oversaw significant growth in the site’s long-form and in-depth output. Since 2022 he has been Deputy Editor, taking more responsibility for the site’s content as a whole, while still writing and - despite a pandemic-induced hiatus - travelling to races around the world. 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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