September 20, 2011 (Copenhagen, Denmark) – Mads Wurtz-Schmidt is the new king of Denmark. He went into the 27.8km time trial with a goal of placing in the top ten but the golden crown was his today with a stunning ride on a course that took him twice through the royal palace. His time of 35:07.68 put him at 47.483km/hr and into the rainbow jersey.

Tour de l’Abitibi 2011, James Oram from New Zealand’s was 4.11 seconds back claiming the silver while Australia earned yet another medal via David Edwards winning the bronze at 20.79 seconds behind.

Swedish cyclist Markus Faglum-Karlsson took fourth at 32.91 seconds back, followed by Germany’s Juriy Vasyliv, 39.01 back. Denmark’s rounded out the top six with Casper Von Folsach just .6 seconds behind Vasyliv.

Canadian Yohan Patry took 32nd spot out of the 54 starters at 2:02:83 minutes behind Wurtz-Schmidt. Teammate Alexander Cataford, the reigning Canadian Junior ITT champ, had serious mechanical problems requiring two bike change, was 53rd, at 4:17:51 minutes back.

“It was a very big surprise. My goal was top ten, but to win is amazing.” said Wurtz-Schmidt. “I’m in a very good shape. I knew I could do a very good time trial, but it was extremely hard to sit and wait for the riders.”

Wurtz-Schmidt, who was the 15th last rider of 54 who raced didn’t have to sit in the hot seat too long but he was nervous – “It was a very hot seat to be in…,”  he added as he waited for the last fourteen riders to finish. Rising Kiwi star, Oram, was in there for most of the morning as he went off as the 10th rider. It was his first time riding in Europe, so for him, “…the European riders are a bit of an unknown. I loved the course. It suited me perfectly – not too windy and it was cool especially where it goes through the palace. I’m over the moon because I would have been extremely happy with top five.”

Edwards looked like he lost a bit of power in the second lap – the wind that was such a factor the day before had died down, but was still present during the second half of both laps. Edwards lost contact on his radio with his coach after three-quarters of the first lap but commented, “I gave everything today, so I’m very happy – through the roof.”

The Canadians felt outwitted by wind and mechanical problems. “The wind was definitely a big challenge. I’m not an extremely heavy and powerful rider, so the headwind was tough. Through the turns, the wind gusts almost forced me off my bike a few times” said Patry.

The top three riders said they felt the course protected them from much of the wind, but Patry also said the level of competition is much stiffer than what he is used to.
“This is not the same type of racing, and really difficult. We raced in four races in Belgium before arriving in Copenhagen. The ‘inter-club’ races have been difficult, and here it is even more difficult. Participating at the Worlds has been a different experience and much has been learned.”

For ITT Canadian junior men’s champ Cataford it was a frustrating day. “Unfortunately, I had mechanical issues with my rear wheel at the start, which forced me to do two bike changes,” he explained post-race. “It’s a bit disappointing because it affected my results, but still all-in-all, I had a good ride. I was a bit off my rhythm at the start when I had to change the bike. I put in some very good splits in the second lap, so even thought the result didn’t show it. Still I had some good form and rode well at these World Championships.” Cataford’s second lap showed him having the 40th fastest time.

“The rear wheel and the horizontal drop-outs had slipped, and the wheel was rubbing against the frame. Originally I thought it was the brake, so I tried to play with the brakes and realized it was rubbing against the frame.” He switched to his road bike and then switched back again to his time trial bike once it was repaired because of the length of the race.

“I had to forget about anyone else on the course, and focus on my own ride. Really, in a time trials, that’s what matters. The wind was definitely a factor. In some sections, you had to dig in and find shelter, while in other sections you could recover and benefit from the tailwind.”

 Results

1. Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Denmark) 35:07.7
2. James Oram (New Zealand) 4.11
3. David Edwards (Australia) 20.79
4. Markus Fåglum-Karlsson (Sweden) 32.91
5. Juriy Vasyliv (Germany) 39.01
6. Casper Von Folsach (Denmark) 39.61
7. Kristopher Jorgenson (United States) 46.65
8. Jon Dibben (Great Britain) 48.04
9. Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (France) 49.08
10. Sondre H Enger (Norway) 49.64
11. Alexis Gougeard (France) 56.13
12. Calvin Watson (Australia) 58.05
13. Michael Goolaerts (Belgium) 01:09.1
14. Fraser Gough (New Zealand) 01:23.4
15. Ruben Zepuntke (Germany) 01:30.3
16. Ryan Mullen (Ireland) 01:31.0
17. Kristoffer Skjerping (Norway) 01:33.9
18. Roman Semyonov (Kazakhstan) 01:36.5
19. Stefan Kueng (Switzerland) 01:36.6
20. Marlen Zmorka (Ukraine) 01:36.8
21. Roman Ivlev (Russia) 01:38.0
22. Viktor Okishev (Kazakhstan) 01:40.4
23. Sergio Escutia (Mexico) 01:40.9
24. Sang-Hoon Park (Korea) 01:45.2
25. Davide Martinelli (Italy) 01:51.0
26. Joachim Vanreyten (Belgium) 01:51.9
27. Colby Wait-Molyneux (United States) 01:54.6
28. Daniel Turek (Czech Republic) 01:55.0
29. Théry Schir (Switzerland) 01:58.2
30. Owain Doull (Great Britain) 01:58.7
31. Volodymyr Dzhus (Ukraine) 02:00.4
32. Yohan Patry (Canada) 02:02.8
33. Ludwig Halleröd (Sweden) 02:04.0
34. Ivar Slik (Netherlands) 02:12.4
35. Riccardo Donato (Italy) 02:13.2
36. Matej Mohoric (Slovenia) 02:18.0
37. Paul Moerland (Netherlands) 02:24.2
38. Timmo Jeret (Estonia) 02:24.7
39. Krists Neilands (Latvia) 02:28.2
40. William David Muñoz Perez (Colombia) 02:32.6
41. Doron Hekic (Slovenia) 02:34.0
42. Paulius Siskevicius (Lithuania) 02:38.7
43. Endrik Puntso (Estonia) 02:41.5
44. Antonio Barbio (Portugal) 02:41.9
45. Amir Kolahdozhagh (Iran) 02:42.4
46. Hector Saez Benito (Spain) 02:42.7
47. Alexey Ryabkin (Russia) 02:45.4
48. Wojciech Sykala (Poland) 02:46.9
49. João Leal (Portugal) 02:54.5
50. Granja Manuel Diaz (Argentina) 03:14.9
51. Peteris Janevics (Latvia) 03:44.9
52. Naoya Uchino (Japan) 03:52.3
53. Alexander Cataford (Canada) 04:17.5
54. Lubos Malovec (Slovakia) 04:29.8
DNS Alberto Bettiol (Italy)