We’ve already seen some incredible performances during this World Championships, and there will surely be plenty more to come during the week, but any rider will do well to top the performance that Denmark’s Mikkel Bjerg produced when he emphatically claimed the men’s under-23 time trial title.
The 18-year-old stopped the clock with a fantastic time of 47:06.48, and over the course of the afternoon, none of the 37 riders to take the course since in over two hours and thirty minutes could get within a minute and five seconds of his time. It was a stunning effort of power, pacing and climbing, having eventually ended up with the sixth fastest time at the first checkpoint before storming through the second lap of the course to take a huge lead by the end.
There was comparatively little drama through the day, as the American Brandon McNulty, who had rolled over the line just two minutes earlier, would eventually take second with his time of 48:12.40.
The battle for the Bronze medal was the only closely contested spot of the day, changing hands several times over the course of the afternoon. At first, Edoardo Affini (Ita) held the proper benchmark for the podium spot with his effort of 48:41.71, and he sat in the hotseat for a long time before he the Australian Callum Scotson (Aus) snatched it, sat in the hotseat, and had to get up to make way for Luxembourg’s Tom Wirtgen, quickly posted a faster time.
His chances of holding onto the spot were enhanced in horrible fashion when American Neilson Powless flew into the barriers, having attempted to hook his chain after it dropped on the descent form the final climb before drifting into the roaring and landing head first. The three occupiers of the podium spots were visibly horrified, but thankfully his prospects were more harmed than his health and he regained his composure to finish fifth.
Unfortunately for Wirtgen, the Frenchman Corentin Ermenault would break his heart with only minutes left to go, the penultimate rider managing to best his time by just 1.72 seconds. A visibly anguished Wirtgen had to leave, whilst pre-race favourite Kasper Asgreen ran a negative split but didn’t threaten the podium during the second half of the course, finishing 90 seconds off his team-mate, who looks set for the very top.
