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Gold for Kirchmann and Sunweb in team time trial world championship

Impressive double gold for Sunweb in Bergen, Norway

The first day of competition at the UCI Road World Championship in Bergen, Norway was a great one for both Sunweb, who won the men’s and women’s team time trials, and Canada, as Leah Kirchmann’s earned gold while Karol-Ann Canuel’s Boels-Dolmans outfit, winners last year, took silver. Giro d’Italia champion Tom Dumoulin was over the moon that his squad held off traditional powers BMC, Sky and Quick Step to take the win.


The 42.5-km course was exceedingly difficult, with a rolling start after Ravnanger, a bit of flatness before the steep Birkelundsbakken climb at the 31-km mark. The Birkelundsbakken was 1.4-km of 7.2%.


The Women’s Race

Women’s teams faced the course first, and Team Virtu Cycling were the first down the start ramp. The team, like BePink, fragmented on the Birkelundsbakken and had to wait for riders to get back on.

Cervelo-Bigla held the fastest time with 56:09, but mostly-Dutch Sunweb descended Birkelundsbakken like a stone to come in 28-seconds faster. Boels-Dolmans, with three Dutch riders to Sunweb’s four, started last but couldn’t hit Sunweb’s time and missed gold by 12-seconds.

The Men’s Race

A couple of hours later Norwegian outfit Team Fixit.no kicked off the men’s race, and posted 53:11. Behind then LottoNL-Jumbo saw its fastest time at the first intermediate check broken by Sky.


LottoNL-Jumbo knocked Polish Pro Continental team CCC Sprandi Polkowice off the hotseat with 49:10 but the Dutch squad found itself soon budged off by Movistar, .35-seconds faster. However, BMC, Sunweb and Sky were going great guns on the Birkelundsbakken.

Sunweb sent the Spaniards packing, destroying the fastest time with 47:10. But could the Dutch team hold off BMC, who were three-seconds faster at the 31-km time check, or Sky, who were five seconds back at the 31-km point?


BMC faded in the final few kilometres to finish 8-seconds back. Sky’s bronze had them 22-seconds in arrears. Svein Tuft’s Orica-Scott was fifth, 1:03 slower.

Monday sees the first individual chronos, the Junior women and U23 men. Canadians Erin Attwell and Laurie Jussaume will challenge 16.1-km and Jack Burke and Alex Cowan face 37.1-km.


2017 UCI Road World Championships Women’s Team Time Trial

Gold) Sunweb (Lucinda Brand, Coryn Rivera, Leah Kirchmann, Floortje Mackaij, Sabrina Stultiens, Ellen van Dijk) 55:41
Silver) Boels-Dolmans (Anna van der Breggen, Megan Guarnier, Karol-Ann Canuel, Chantal Blaak, Christine Majerus, Amy Pieters) +0:12
Bronze) Cervelo-Bigla (Stephanie Gaumnitz, Clara Koppenburg, Lisa Klein, Lotta Lepistö, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Cecille Uttrup Ludwig) +0:28


2017 UCI Road World Championships Men’s Team Time Trial

Gold) Sunweb (Tom Dumoulin, Lennard Kämna, Wilco Kelderman, Soren Kragh Andersen, Michael Matthews, Sam Oomen) 47:50
Silver) BMC (Rohan Dennis, Silvan Dillier, Stefan Küng, Daniel Oss, Miles Scotson, Tejay Van Garderen) +0:08
Bronze) Sky (Owain Doull, Christopher Froome, Vasil Kiryienka, Michal Kwiatkowski, Gianni Moscon, Geraint Thomas) +0:22

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