Vacek won the silver, the bronze to Waerenskjold
By Kevin Kemp
Yevgeniy Fedorov (Kazakhstan) is the new U23 World Champion. | Photo: Cor Vos
09/23/2022 | (rsn) – Nine years after Alexey Lutsenko became the U23 World Champion in Valkenburg, Astana professional Yevgeniy Fedorov retained Kazakhstan’s second U23 title in history on Friday morning CEST at the World Championships in Wollongong, Australia. In the men’s doubles race with Czech Mathias Vacek, the 22-year-old got the upper hand. World time trial champion Sören Waerenskjold of Norway won the bronze medal in the large group sprint. He was faster than Madis Mihkels of Estonia, Dutchman Olav Kooij and Czech Pavel Bittner. Michel Hessmann is the best German in 11th place.
As expected, the experts determined the last. Seven of the top ten cyclists competed as professional cyclists this year. The winner even won the entire Vuelta a Espana in his legs. “I came back from the Vuelta in good shape and tried to get the best out of it. And it’s the best thing right now,” Fedorov said happily, according to a live translation by his team captain Alexandre Vinokourov. The new world champion pulled out of the quartet before the start of the final round. “I tried before climbing because I don’t have. I’m a real climber. But I know that if I can cross the mountain then I will have a chance to pass,” Fedorov looked back.
After the final crossing of Mount Pleasant, he was in front of Vacek. “In the descent and flat kilometers to the finish, the duo can make the seeker of They were in danger. “When the two of us climbed the last cliff, I felt Well. I’m not the best runner, but I still have very good legs,” said Fedorov, who did not give his Czech friend a chance to run.
Kooij own
Among the followers, Waerenskjold was the fastest. He had a teammate with him in Per Hagenes Strand, but he didn’t do any work for him in the final. The French also had three assists for their fast man Paul Penhoët up front and only intervened too late in the pursuit. On the other hand, Kooij is the only one, which the team has to do without Mick van Dijke. He can only – in vain – hope for other teams. “I could have been in the first group of the field and had to be lucky that we could get into the front row – it didn’t work out and it’s a shame,” said the “Jumbo sprinter” “There were a few French and Belgians. There and I hoped they would fill the gap. Unfortunately, they didn’t do that, and then I had to live with it to sprint for 3rd place. Then, I was defeated. In the end, that’s not what we came here for. But that’s cycling,” he said.
The German drove actively and made it very difficult from the first meter. Hannes Wilksch was part of the group that day, followed at times by his own teammates. Hessmann also played an important role in the follow-up. In the end, the two Germans themselves, Wilksch sacrificed himself in pursuit of the breakaway success in the end, Hessmann could not reach the top position against the sprinters in the group of favorites.
Here’s how the contest goes:
Already in the first ten rounds, the Germans are interested in a very difficult competition. They set such a high pace on Mount Pleasant that famous U23 riders like Rudy Porter of Australia, Este Rait Arm and seventeen time trialist Andrey Remkhe of Kazakhstan had trouble. After passing the first lap at the finish line, the quintet with Wilksch, Swiss Fabian Weiss, Belgian Fabio van den Bossche, French Mathis Le Berre and Petr Kelemen from the Czech Republic. Nine kilometers later, after running for a long time, the Croatian Fran Miholjevic went to the front.
After the Dutch in particular reduced the maximum gap in the field from three minutes to two minutes, Fedorov attacked with 70 kilometers. However, the Kazakh’s adventure lasted only ten kilometers, as the German team followed him again and again to catch up with the seven riders who got away. Despite the high speed, Dutch Casper van Uden, Italian Davide de Pretto, Briton Sam Watson, Hungarian Erik Fetter, Vacek and Spanish Enekoitz Azparren separated from the field with a distance of 54 kilometers. This six strong group with several medal contenders was immediately chased by the peloton and caught in just six kilometers.
In the third to last round, Tobias Andresen from Denmark and Tord Gudmestad from Norway attacked. The leading group split up shortly after Mount Pleasant. Wilksch, Le Berre and Kelemen held their ground and were 25 seconds ahead of the two Scandinavians, who, however, were soon followed by the first part of the field with a lot of flooding. At the start of the last two laps, the top three remained 25 seconds ahead of the peloton, where Michel Hessmann rode in the wind.
Several small groups broke away from the field with a flat part of the lap, but only Swiss Alexander Ballmer and Czech Jakub Tupalic could hold their own at the front for longer. With 21 kilometers to go, all attempts at separation ended and the first 31 riders in the race came together. Before the start of the last 17 kilometers, the Belgians Alec Segaert, Fedorov, Vacek and again Le Berre pulled away. They crossed the finish line 15 seconds ahead of the main group, again led by the Germans, who had only Hessmann and Wilksch with them. Wilksch now sacrificed himself for Hessmann, but was unsupported and unable to keep the upper quartet under control.
At the beginning of the hills, ten kilometers before the finish, Le Berre in front and Wilksch in the field had to give up. Balmer tried to take a leap forward. In the final stretch at Mount Pleasant, Vacek and Fedorov left Segaert behind. The time trial specialist was caught by Balmer, who did not make it all the way forward. 15 drivers left the field, among them Hessmann. The elite group couldn’t agree, so more riders came from behind.
However, this does not bring hope for cooperation, although some fast drivers still have assistants with them. So Fedorov, followed by Vacek, turned to the home stretch. Czech started running from the front – the Czech could no longer leave the saddle, resigned and finished second, ahead of the field led by Waerenskjold.