Hello and welcome to our live coverage from Imola, for the women's elite time trial at the UCI Road World Championships. We're about 45 minutes away from the first rider to roll down the start ramp but we'll have complete live coverage from the entire day's racing.
It's a 31.7km course for both the men's' and women's TT, over a relatively flat course that should suit the power riders in the field. We have a stacked start list today with the reining champion, Chloe Dygert hoping to hold off a number of key challengers. For a rundown on the top-five favourites, check out Kirsten Frattini's feature, right here.
Dygert comes into this race as a massive favourite to retain the title she won last year. She was off-the-scale-good in Yorkshire and completely dominated the TT to win her first elite TT world title on the road. Here's what she had to say on the eve of of today's race.
Our tech guy Josh Croxton has put together this really interesting piece on the bike Dygert hasn't ridden this year because of the pandemic. It's well worth a gander as we build up to today's main event.
We're about 30 mins from the first rider starting.
Like we said the course is flat, but it's out and back so the wind could be a major factor. It'll mean riders will have to really think about their pacing and hold something back for the second half of the test but with no climbs on the route, it's a really good course for power rider. On paper, this course is perfect for Ellen van Dijk.
There's huge quality on the start list, here are the final 10 riders to set out later on today:
The biggest name that we're missing is former two-time winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) will not be participating in the time trial event this year having been sidelined with a fractured wrist sustained in a crash at the Giro Rosa. Reports today are that she's made her way to the airport and will be racing the road race on Saturday. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
A quick reminder that you should bookmark this page because it's home to the best women's race coverage on the internet. You won't find a site with more comprehensive reporting from the major races, with news, reports, interviews and blogs.
It's no coincidence that Annemiek van Vleuten - the world road champion - has chosen to write for us either. She authors a regular blog for Cyclingnews and you can find all the entries, here.
If you're looking for a few more hints or tips on who to follow today and for the women's road race on Saturday, then read our conclusions from last weeks' Giro Rosa.
Just over ten minutes to go until the first rider rolls down the start ramp.
Conditions out there are grey but there are some gusting winds, so we're in for a really tough section for the riders. If the winds dies down though that will really favour the later starters.
There's also a 40 per cent chance of rain according to the weather instruments in the CN blimp, but on a course that's not too technical, that shouldn't be a major problem. Less than nine minutes until the official start of the TT.
Riders of course start and finish on the motor racing circuit and the first rider to start is going to be Amber Joseph. She’s from Barbados and is part of the WCC Team. This is her first Worlds but she raced in the UK last year and has some really good results on the track, including the Pan American Championships points race in 2017 as a junior. She’s also the 2020 national time trial and road race champion of Barbados, so she could put in a handy ride today over this course. Whatever happens, this is a huge moment in this young rider’s career. She will start in just a few minutes.
We can see Banks from GB is riding towards the start house but she's not going out for a while yet as we see Joseph in the start house. She adjusts her helmet, waves to the crowd, and 3,2,1, she's off and racing. Here we go. 50 more riders to go.
Joseph takes the first corner quite cautiously but is now up and running. Margret Palsdottir (Iceland) is next. Palsdottir was third in the Icelandic national time trial championships this year. They took place in August and at 42 she’s one of the oldest riders in today’s race. She’s actually been on the podium four times in the national road race or time trial but this is also her first out at the World Championships.
Up the road and Joseph has found a decent pace and she's got a good cadence going.
Jarmila Machacova is now on the course. She’s the Czech national road champion, a title she picked up for the first time in August. She also won the race back in 2018, and won the national TT in both 2008 and 2012. She’s had some good results across Europe but this isn’t her first Worlds. She was in Italy in 2004 as a junior and took part in the road race. She was 35th that day. Who won that day? Marianne Vos. Whatever happened to her?
There's a bit more sunshine out there right now and that'll be a relief to the riders out there racing.
Next up is Valeriya Kononenko, and she’s on a bit of a hot streak having won two races in Turkey in the last few months. She as was 18th in the TT at the Euros back in August and raced the Dubai Tour earlier this year. She was actually the junior womens TT Euro champion in 2007.
A bit of a wobble there for Joseph but she keep it together as she hugs the left side of the road as much as possible. She's around 6 minutes into her effort, with the time check at 14.km.
Back Kononenko. She actually retained her title a year later by the way and finished second in the road race and was second in the junior Worlds TT too. Impressive stuff!
Next up it’s Mikayla Harvey from New Zealand. If you don’t know her, she’s a super talented young rider and is certainly one to follow. She’s only 22 but has made it onto the Equipe Paula Ka team after stints at Team Illuminate and Bigla, which became Equipe Paula Ka. Anyway this rider was 5th on GC in the Giro Rosa a few weeks ago and won the white jersey as the best young rider. She’s the real deal. Her first outing at the Worlds cam in 2015 in Richmond, where she raced as a junior in the road race. She’s been picking up national titles on a consistent basis but she had a bit of a breakthrough in 2018 when she was second in the white jersey comp at the Santos Womens’ Tour. She’s had a couple of wins in 2019 but it’ this year in which she’s really kicked on.
Ann-sophie Duyck is next to start. She is of course a real veteran of the sport and at 33 has raced for some of the biggest women’s teams in the world. She’ part of the Parkhotel team this year and is easily the most well-known of the starters so far. She was 5th in this race in 2014 and won the Chrono des Nations in 2016. Just a couple of race days to her name this season, but lets see how she goes.
Next up we have another youngster and it’s Sara Martin, or Sara Sara Martin as was listed on the start list. So good they named her twice? We’ll see but she’s another rider for the future, who at 21 is making Worlds debut in the elites. She’s off to the Movistar team in 2021 for the next couple of years and a lot is expected of her. She was second in the national TT and fifth in the road race earlier this year.
Duyck looks class on her TT bike and is immediately onto the TT bars and looking fast. She could be the early pace-setter at the first time check that comes at 14.9km.
Big hitter Elizabeth Banks is about to start. She’s here for the TT and road race and is in superb form after taking second in Plouay and then picking up her second ever stage in the Giro Rosa earlier this month. She will co-lead the GB team in the road race with Deignan but it will be interesting to see how she handles this course. The 29-year-old isn’t a specialist time trialist but she’s got a lot of power and could surprise a few people today. She was seventh in the Chrono des Nations last year and she’s making a real name for herself in women’s cycling. We’ll have a big story with here tomorrow on CN, and you’ll want to read it. Trust me.
Banks is up and running in the TT. Good start from the British rider who takes the first corner with confidence and accelerates out of it. She's one of two Brits on the startlist today.
Emma Cecilie Norsgaard rolls down the ramp. She’s another Movistar rider next year, and the 21-year-old Dane is very highly rated indeed. She’s the current national road champ in Denmark, was third in the European road race for U23 riders. She’s had a meteoric rise in cycling, and was second in he junior Worlds road race in 2017 before moving to Bigla. She took a win in Valenciana at the start of the year and big things are expected of her in the future.
Banks looks rapid as we see here out on the course. She could do very well today given her form.
Next down the ramp is Karol-Ann Canuel from Canada. The experienced Boels rider is fine TT athlete and was 12th in TT in Yorkshire 12 months ago. She’s easily one of the most experienced riders in the field today and well-respected member of the Boels team that took second in the TTT at the Giro Rosa a week or so ago. She made the top-10 in Strade Bianche back in August too and will be lining up for the road race as well. Worth an outside bet if you want to put some loonies or toonies on her chances.
Early favourite alert:
We now have one of the youngest riders in the field, Vittoria Guazzini. She’s just 19 but she was one of the most talented juniors in the world with titles at European and national level to her name. She was thrown into the deep end last year with a full Classics programme at the age of 18 but she’s another rider for the future, for sure. She picked up a couple of top-tens in the Giro Rosa earlier this month, so watch this space.
Winner of last year’s Lotto Belgium Tour is up next with Mieke Kroger setting off on the course. She was fourth in the TT at the Worlds in 2014, missing out on the podium by just 17 seconds to Stevens from the USA but the German has struggled to better that, possibly because selection for the German women’s TT line-up is so hard. She’s here now though, and if she’s on a good day could certainly challenge the top-10.
Banks is powering along and pushing a big gear but she looks comfortable at the moment. Her position is good too. No time checks just yet.
Siham Es-Sad is from Morocco and she’s the current U23 and elite women’s time trial champion. That’s impressive for someone who only turned 20 just over a month ago, and until this year was racing in the junior ranks. She's next to start.
Canuel is also moving rapidly along the course and heading towards that all-important first time check.
Our second rider from the WCC is about to start and it’s Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru from Ethiopia. This is her third year with the WCC team and she’s finding her feet with some fine results in Europe. She’s more recognized as a climber than a TT rider, but with the road race coming up in a few days she’s got two bites of the cherry at this World Championships.
From Ethiopia to Argentina, and we have Fernanda Yapura starting now. The 22-year-old is another member of the WCC team. She’s suffered from a lack of racing this year but the 22-year-old has plenty of Worlds experience from the last few years. She’s another climber but this is an important hit-out for a young rider establishing herself in the European circuit, and she’ll gain a lot of experience from the Championships. She’s already into a good rhythm so she’s going to give it her all today.
Dana Rozlapa is next, the 40-year-old from Latvia is the national TT champ and finished second in the road race. She’s been the national TT champ four times in her career and she spent two year racing in Belgium for the Keukens Redant team.
Here comes Eri Yonamine for Japan, in what I would argue is consistently one of the best national team kits in the world. She has 11 national elite titles on the road and is well-established in Europe as a talented all-rounder. This course isn’t really for her, if we’re totally honest but the Ale rider was once on the Wiggle team before it folded in 2018, which makes me wonder if Rochelle Gilmore has been to a wedding yet.
Canuel is so busy on the bike, her upper body moving a lot but that's just her style. She's a really competitive rider and although we don't have a time gap she is clearly motoring along.
Duyck is on a bit of a slight drag with 20.8km to go. She's about 3-4km from the time check as we see Banks a bit further down the road.
Banks is about to catch Martin from Spain. And the British rider tears by her. Impressive early pace from the Brit.
Another Canyon SRAM rider has just set off and it’s Rotem Gafinovitz from Israel. The 28-year-old is a decent tester but comes into this event without a single stage race to her name in 2020 due to COVID-19 and a lack of racing. She’s won the national TT championships for the last two years, it was cancelled this year, but is an outsider for the top-10 today.
26:10 is the benchmark set by Joseph at the first time check. Lets see how long that stands for.
Well not long because Kononenko has gone four minutes faster.
Now we have our first American of the day, it’s Lauren Stephens. She is in great form having won Ardeche earlier this month and ranking up a number of impressive results earlier in the season, before lockdown. The Tibco rider also stood out on the online racing circuit during lockdown, and she’s a really experienced athlete. This is her first Worlds since 2017, but she should make the top-five today if she’s on a good day.
Harvey then comes through the time check 15 seconds up. Great ride from the young Kiwi.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Teniel Campbell is the next rider to start the TT. She was on the WCC team until this year and she’s racing both the TT and the road race. She was second in the Pan American road race last year but she’s capable of a good result today as well because she was also second in the Pan Am road race in 2019. If you want to know about her then check out Kirsten Frattini’s excellent interview with her.
Olga Shekel starts her TT effort. The 26-year-old, who races for Astana, finished the Giro Rosa last week and is the Ukraine national TT champion.
Duyck is 1:15 down at the time check. That's a real surprise.
Duyck looked fast at the start of the race but she's well off the pace, which is a real surprise as we see Banks go fastest at the time check by 16.7 seconds.
It’s Eugenia Bujak who is next and she’s a possible contender for the top-10. She’s not raced the TT at Worlds since 2015 but the former Plouay winner had a couple of top-tens in the Giro Rosa and was just outside the top-ten in La Course. She’s also down for the road race this weekend.
The wind is picking up a bit and that's creating more of a headwind out there.
Arlenis Sierra gets her TT underway. The 27-year-old from Cuba. She’s got a number of massive wins in her palmares, including the Cadel Race and a stage in the Tour of California, and the Astana rider, who also won the Tour of Guangxi back in 2018 is also making her debut in the Worlds TT.
Jorgensen, from Denmark is now fastest.
Kiwi and Mitchelton Scott rider, Georgia Williams is off next. The 27-year-old won her national road title back in 2018 and has been part of the GreenEdge set-up since 2017. She’s not had a standout year in terms of results but she’s a class act and was the national TT champion last year too. She just missed out on the to-ten in the Worlds TT in 2018 so has the ability to break into the top-ten this time around if she’s on a good day.
Jorgensen (Denmark) remains top of the standings at the intermediate, with Cordon currently third, 19 seconds down.
Sticking with the Mitchelton theme and Grace Brown is starting her TT effort. More of a solid all rounder and a massively important rider for Saturday, she was second in the TT nationals earlier in the year, and third in the road race too. She of course won the TT nationals last year, and took a stage in the Santos Women’s Tour. The 28-year-old has really established herself in the Womens’ WorldTour after that short stint with Wiggle in 2015.
Anna Kiesenhofer, the Austrian national TT champion, starts her test. The 29-year-old had two top10s in Ardeche and finished third overall. She was 11th in the Euros TT in August too and has shown progress since last year. She was 20th in the TT at Worlds last year and should go better this time around.
Cordon-Ragot is putting in a shift here but she's lost a few more seconds out on the road. She's going to be a real factor for the road race but she always puts her hand up for the TT at major events.
Kroger has just gone second at the first time check, 3.5 seconds off the lead.
Banks is still third at the first check, 16 seconds off Jorgensen's lead but the skies are getting a bit darker. Are we about to see a shower in this women's elite time trial?
Canuel was a whopping 31 seconds down at the intermediate check so Jorgensen still leads.
Banks has just 5km to go and it should be a tailwind but she's currently on a slight rise before the last section. This is a really crucial part of her effort.
Wow. Dana Rozlapa (Latvia) has just gone 31 seconds faster than Jorgensen at the intermediate. That's a huge effort as we see Kononenko finish. And here comes home and she finishes 41 seconds up to take the lead.
Harvey completed the course in a time of around 42:53, the first rider to go under 43 minutes.
Duyck comes over the finish line over two minutes down on Harvey.
And Banks is about to come to the line. 42:42 and around ten seconds faster. She's in the lead now.
But that time is smashed by almost a minute by Denmark's Jorgensen. 41'42 for the Dane.
Alice Barnes, another Canyon SRAM rider, sets off for her effort. She was 16th in the TT at Worlds last year and won both the national TT and road race in 2019. She can’t be written off on a course like this, if she’s aiming for the top-10, and she’s had some good results since lockdown ended and racing resumed in August.
Danish international and Sunweb rider Pernille Mathiesen rolls down the start ramp. She’s only had a handful of race days in 2020 and hasn’t been able to build on a strong set of results from 2019, when she was third in the Madrid Challenge and ended the race in the white jersey. She was also second on GC in Thuringen.
Lauren Stephens goes through the first time check and is 19 seconds off the lead.
Emma Jorgensen is still top of the standings and she should be there for a while yet.
Here comes Leah Kirchmann, our second ride from Canada. He had a bad injury last year when she crashed out of the Boels Ladies Tour but in 2018 she was 4th in the TT in Austria. She might prefer a tough course with some climbs in today but if she brings her A-game then a top-5 if completely possible. The Olympics were one of her main goals at the start of the year but she’s focused on both the road race and the TT here.
Canuel finishes over 1'20 on finish as Ragot takes provisional second , 31 seconds down on the current leader.
Next up is Aigul Garveeva. If she wins we’ll get to hear the Russian national anthem, which is easily the best anthem going. She’s unlikely to win but she did take the junior TT World title last year in Yorkshire and followed that up with 4th in the road race. Her career trajectory to date has been very impressive, and she recently came through a tough Giro Rosa. Not bad for rider so young. She only turned 19 last month.
Kroger comes over the finish just under ten seconds off the lead. That results bumps Banks down to fourth.
Neben is starting her effort now. Don’t be fooled by her lack of racing this year, she’s an expert in peaking for races despite a general lack of competition. She might also be 45 but she’s taken this title in 2008 and 2012 and was fourth in Yorkshire last season. In 13 outings in this race her lowest result was 15th and that was back in 2002. She’s so consistent and has only ever been outside of the top-10 once since then.
No Olga Zabelinskaya today. She's pulled out of the race.
Dana Rozlapa still leads at the first time check with Stephens in second.
On paper this course is perfect for Ellen van Dijk. She’s won the Euro four-times in a row, only finishing off the top-step once, this year. But she’s only won the Worlds TT once, back in 2013. She has been second and third however and should be a massive threat today. At 33 she’s been as consistent as ever this season.
Anna Plichta of Poland rolls down the start ramp. She’s another national champ racing in the TT but she’s never really shone in this event. Will that change today?
Results
Julette Labous is off next. She was sixth at the Euros TT earlier this year and won the white jersey in the Giro Rosa twelve months ago. She has a fair chance of cracking the top-ten today and came out of the Giro Rosa this time around with a third place on the final stage. She’s also the French national champion, having beat Cordon by a full five seconds in August.
Injured Annemiek van Vleuten travels to Imola with hopes to defend rainbow jersey at World Championships 'I can't believe I'm here' says defending championhttps://t.co/Ml2gvHXLAE #Imola2020September 24, 2020
Vittoria Bussi rolls down the ramp. The 33-year-old is another TT standout and was fifth in the Euros a month ago. This is only her second Worlds outing though, having taken 19th in the TT in Yorkshire last year.
Gracie Brown has put down a hugely impressive time at the first check and gone 31 seconds faster than Stephens. Wow.
Alena Amialiusik from Belarus starts her effort. The 31-year-old has been in the top ten twice in this race, back in 2019 and 2015 but in theory she’d prefer a tough, more climb-friendly course, than what we have today.
Emma Jorgensen still leads at the finish.
Stephens come to the line and she's third, 20'91 seconds down on the leader.
Might have to take it back about Japan having the best kit because Lisa Brennauer in the German skinsuit might just shade it. I’d wear that in social settings.
Swiss champ Marlen Reusser rolls down the ramp and sets off on her TT quest. She failed to finish the Giro Rosa but she was third in the Euros and this course is just right for her style of riding. She’s development massively in the last few year and the 29-year-old was sixth last year. Nailed on for the top-five, I’d say.
Here comes Anna Van der Breggen, a red hot favourite for today. Winner of the Giro Rosa, the Euros, and the Dutch national title this year alone, she’s won everything in the sport except this event. She’s been second on four occasions. Will today finally be her day.
Jus one more rider to come and it's Dygert but Van der Breggen is almost sprinting out of the blocks.
And the last rider off, Dygert, begins her TT defense. Here we go.
No time checks yet on Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) but that should in theory be a huge marker for today's race.
And now we see Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) out on the course. She was a late call up for the TT but this is her speciality as we see Dygert settle into her effort.
Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) is second at the first check, 0'8 down on Brown's time That is a bit of a surprise but it goes to show how well Brown is riding.
A few spots of rain on the circuit at the finish as we see Ellen van Dijk gobble up a rider ahead of her on the road. 15.9km to go for the Dutch rider.
Neben comes to the check, 14 seconds down on Brown.
Plichta comes through the check, 40 seconds off the lead and Jorgensen is still leading this TT. Most of the main favourites are still to reach the intermediate check at 14.9km.
Results
Bussi is 18 seconds down at the intermediate and fourth quickest so far.
Grace Brown is coming to the finish and she's over the line 20 seconds faster than Jorgensen. That's the lead for the Australian with a hugely impressive hit-out.
Results
Now Brennauer goes faster by almost six seconds at the intermediate check. This is a huge ride from the German.
Marlen Reusser is now the fastest, 27 seconds faster at the intermediate. She could be in line for the podium with a ride like that. Just two more riders to come through the intermediate check.
Anna van der Breggen can't match it. She's almost 10 seconds down on the Swiss rider. What can Dygert do?
Chloe Dygert is fastest by 26 seconds. Reusser is second with Van de Breggen in third.
Brown is going to struggle for a podium today as we see Dygert just churn that huge gear around with 13.9km to go.
Reusser and Van Der Breggen are going to duke it out for silver because right now Dygert is 35 seconds up.
Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) comes to the line and goes fastest by 29 seconds. Good ride but it's unlikely that she'll remain on the podium. We shall see...
Crash. Dygert is down.
That's awful. She's over the barriers and off the road. That's a dreadful fall for the American.
There was a roadside barrier on the side of the corner but she was losing control before she hit it. She did manage to drop some speed but still that was terrible fall as we see the US car stop by the side of the road. She's out of the race for sure.
That will throw the race wide open and Reusser could now be heading for the win. Van der Breggen was 10 seconds down at the intermediate.
No news on Dygert yet but once we know more we'll share the information.
Van der Breggen is closing the gap and is now just 4 seconds off the lead. Is Reusser about to see gold slip through her fingers?
And on this last little rise Van Der Breggen is one second ahead.
Bussi comes over the line 1'15 and seventh on the day.
Ellen van Dijk still leads and given how much faster she was in the second half of the race, could she take a medal?
First up it's Brennauer and she can't do it. She is second on the line, 13 second down.
Reusser. What can you do?
Reusser is coming to the line and she's going to take the lead. It's going to be good. It's 15 seconds up and she's into the gold medal position.
Just Van Der Breggen to come. She's on the circuit put does she have anything left in her legs?
Anna van der Breggen is going to do it. Anna van der Breggen is the time trial world champion. 15 seconds faster and the rainbow jersey is hers.
Here are the results from the women's elite time trial:
1 Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) 40:20.1
2 Marlen Reusser (Switzerland) 40:35.7
3 Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) 40:51.6
4 Lisa Brennauer (Germany) 41:05.2
5 Grace Brown (Australia) 41:21.3
6 Amber Neben (United States Of America) 41:40.5
7 Emma Norsgaard (Denmark) 41:42.3
8 Mieke Kroger (Germany) 41:51.2
9 Lauren Stephens (United States Of America) 42:03.2
10 Vittoria Bussi (Italy) 42:06.8
No news yet on Dygert. We see her fall again and it didn't look like an issue with how she took the corner. Hopefully we'll have more information later on today.
Final top 10 results
We have our story on Dygert, right here. She was so far ahead of the opposition before her crash.
Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) is on the podium and we hear the Dutch national anthem for the first time during these Championships.
Let's hear from today's winner:
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