Pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) delivered a comprehensive win in the junior time trial at the UCI Road World Championships, putting over a minute into his nearest rivals over the 27.7km course in Innsbruck, Austria.
The European road and time trial champion averaged 50kph over the rolling course and set a time off 33:15. The 18-year-old even had time to start his celebrations with over 50m to go before wheeling to a halt at the line and greeting his family.
Lucas Plapp (Australia) had set the provisional fastest time but had to settle for second place and a well-deserved silver medal, after finishing 1:23 down on Evenepoel, with Italy's Andrea Piccolo securing the bronze medal, 1:37 down on the new world champion.
Plapp, a world champion on the track, had blitzed through the course earlier, and set the fastest time by some 19 seconds at the 18km mark. Unlike many of the early pace setters, Plapp held his pace throughout the second half of the course, nudging Ilan Van Wilder (Belgium) and Joseph Laverick (Great Britain) down the standings.
Piccolo looked strong during his effort, while Michel Hessman (Germany) also threatened the medals but in truth the rest of the field were in a different race to Evenepoel, who will ride for Quick-Step Floors for the next two years after agreeing a contract with the Belgian team earlier in the summer. The 18-year-old was nearly a minute up at the first check, and only extended his advantage before the finish.
"I've worked so hard for this and it really was my main goal. I want to take the double, and now I have one, so I'm very happy with that. This is the most important one for me, I think. Especially winning for Belgian. It's so emotional for me," Evenepoel said.
"I went all out on the climbs and from kilometre 10 I went as hard as possible. I guess it worked and I'm very happy with the result. I can't believe it. It's a dream come true. It's nice when the hard work pays off."
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
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