The World Championships are naturally about the here and now, but the junior races allow us to see the future and in Elena Pirrone Italy have something for the best of both worlds. The 18-year-old took her second gold medal of the week by dominating the road race, giving the Azzuri a clean sweep as she soloed in by 12 seconds.
She kicked clear on the fourth lap of the circuit in Bergen when descending Salmon Hill, and she would not see another rider again.
As had been widely predicted beforehand, the climb of Salmon Hill made all the difference and it was seeing attacks launched as early as the first circuit. Riders began getting dropped as quickly as the second circuit but it was the third when things really began to heat up. The Australian Madeleine Fasnacht was one of many riders who launched a flurry of attacks, but nobody could live with the Italian’s advance and she was already gapping the field when she began to get away on the descent.
The run down into Bergen from Salmon Hill, likely to be as important as the climbing this weekend, is intensely technical, and the Azzzuri’s strength in depth came to the fore here. With Letizia Paternoster and Nicole D’Agostini sat in the 16-rider chasing group, Pirrone had an extra advantage whilst the Azzuri were set, with only France (Evita Muzic, Jade Wiel and Clara Copponi), Denmark (Caroline Bohe, Emma Norsgaard Jorgensen) and Great Britain (Sophie Wright, Pfeiffer Georgi).
The gap was never cut to less than 12 seconds, and with much of the 16-rider group marking each other after chasing the lone leader – a situation the two Italian riders present in the group were delighted with – and the leader was never for catching as she took another stunning win.
Denmark’s Emma Norsgaard Jorgensen took second in the sprint ahead of Letizia Paternoster of Italy, completing a wonderful day for the Azzuri.
