Germany’s Rudiger Selby was fourth while Austria’s Marco Haler placed fifth. Italian Filippo Fortin was sixth. The Australian team, who appeared to have taken over the race with 10km to go went too early in the deceiving straight-away to the finish. They led out everyone else in the pack and had nothing left for the final crucial 50 metres, with Michael Hepburn being the first Aussie in 21st place.
The lone Canadian rider, Guillaume Boivin, who took the bronze in the U23 race in 2010, was 117th in the 155 rider field at 2:36 minutes back.
“I am very, very happy,” said Demare at the finish. “It was a super course. I had two bike changes, but my teammates Angelo [Tulik] and Romain [Delalot] waited for me and we started to get in postion with five kilometers to go. With 250 metres I started to sprint; at 100 metres I saw a French rider on my wheel – I was very happy.
“We rode the course a couple of days ago and practiced a couple of things – it worked perfectly.” Petit had ridden the course in the Tour of Denmark this year, becoming familiar with its technical corners, rather narrow climbs and under-estimated hills.
“Of course a lot of teams wanted a sprint finish,” continued Demare. “It’s not that easy to get a bunch sprint – there were very intent teams where people were trying to get away close to the finish. I went after the people had tried to get away. The team talked to each other to plan the best way.”
Petit added, “It was not an easy race – at the end we chose to stay smooth and steady – that’s what I said at the time to Arnaud. I trusted him [and it worked].”
Boivin, who missed a lot of the current racing season to heal leg injuries, arrived in top form in Copenhagen with the only goal in mind to win the 12x14km race. As the lone Canuck it was a tall order and luck wasn’t on his side as he fell victim to several mechanical issues including two flats, a broken saddle and a broken wheel forcing a bike change during the race.
“It’s the continuation of my season. I wasn’t too lucky this year,” explained Bovin. “I had good legs for the win today but had to deal with several mechanical failures. I also miraculously survived a near-fall, that shook off the front wheel.
“I had to chase hard to get back in the group and during the chase I realized that my bike had a problem. The seat was broken, the rear wheel was in not turning right, so I had to change bike. All of this ended in style with a wheel missing about 10 spokes with less than a kilometer to go – that ended my hopes of any victory.
It was Boivin’s last race as a U23 rider as he enters the elite ranks next season. “I knew the course was easy enough, and that many countries wanted a sprint at the end. I really played the race low-profile, staying behind because it is not hard to be safe at the back. I wanted to save my energy as much as possible for the finish. It’s pretty hard being alone, without teammates, to position yourself.
“I now turn the page on 2011 and the focus for the 2012 season, and hopefully find my way to victory next year. I like it when the races are difficult. I will be looking to start next season with the ambition and intention to win races.”
Fenn, meanwhile, said that the Brits “…had quite a few different plans. Some guys had early moves while I am the guy for the sprint. Obviously I got jumped by the two French guys on my left,” he commented at the post-race press conference. “I was in the second position in the last corner, and second position with 300 metres to go. I think the team road really well today and deserves a medal. They rode well for me too.”
The first 100km of the race featured breaks with riders who didn’t have a chance of winning as they gained some of the spotlight. The two breaks – of two riders each, both including Brazilians, Carlos Alexandre Manarelli and Gideoni Monteiro – were absorbed with 45km to go. They had over two minutes on the field at one point, but no one was worried in a group that looked relaxed and not prepared to spend much energy chasing. The peloton did lose people to a few crashes and mechanical problems, but it wasn’t the pace that caused anyone to DNF.
Once the breaks were caught, a six-man group with Eugenio Alafaci of Italy, Tim Declercq of Belgium, Louis Meintjes of South Africa, Philip Lindau of Sweden, Maxat Ayazbayev of Kazakhstan and Natnael Berhane of Eritrea got away, with Ayazbayev and Berhane leading the charge with a two-man break at the 34km to go mark.
The other four bridged to them, increasing their lead to 34 seconds. As the race approached the last lap, Norwegian Vegard Robinson Bugge and a Kazakhstan rider bridged to the six man group, but the field behind them eventually swallowed them all up by the start of the last 14-km lap. Berhane and his teammates Tesfom Okubamariam Issak and Berhane Melake have spent the past four years training at the UCI Cycling School in Lausanne as part of the federation’s efforts to share knowledge and opportunities. Berhane finished 28th with the same time as the winner.
The bell lap started out with an Italian rider taking charge and Norwegian Bjorn Tore Nilsen Hoem jumping out with him. A Columbian cyclist attempted a solo break with 13km to go, but was reeled in as one of the Australian riders chased, flanked by two Italians. Australian riders Rohan Dennis, who won two team pursuit world cups in 2010, and Jay McCarthy, who was fifth at the junior world’s road race in 2010, had mechanical problems and had to replace their bikes. Within minutes though, they were making their way through the ever accelerating pack as any move was reacted to.
France sent one of their riders out when anything looked dangerous and reeled everyone in. With two kilometers to go it looked to be an Australian team pursuit with Luke Durbridge at the front as the team from down under took control. Right behind them were the Germans, who were clearly not going to let anyone escape. One of the British riders managed to get into the mix, with the Dutch, Italians, Belgium, and French filing in behind.
Then there was a pile-up mid-way through the field at a crucial corner, splitting things up. Each country would send out a rider, pushing the pace for the competition while allowing their designated sprinter to position himself going into the last corner before the finish line.
The Germans tried to take control but the Brits moved in with less than 1km to go. As the field made the last corner before the finish, the Aussies made their fatal mistake – they started sprinting out of the corner. But there’s a climb for almost 500 metres and it was clear by the 250 to go mark they could not sustain the charge.
Demare and Petit no longer had to sit patiently at the front of the peloton. Demare charged past, Petit followed and Fenn went with them – a classic and beautiful bunch sprint that gave Demare the gold, Petit the silver and Fenn the bronze for a historic day at the Road Worlds.
Results
1. Arnaud Demare (France) 3:52:16
2. Adrien Petit (France)
3. Andrew Fenn (Great Britain)
4. Rudiger Selig (Germany)
5. Marco Haller (Austria)
6. Filippo Fortin (Italy)
7. Wouter Wippert (Netherlands)
8. Alexey Tsatevitch (Russian Federation)
9. Tosh Van Der Sande (Belgium)
10. Andris Smirnovs (Latvia)
11. Jetse Bol (Netherlands)
12. Filip Eidsheim (Norway)
13. Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spain)
14. Raymond Kreder (Netherlands)
15. Petr Vakoc (Czech Republic)
16. Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Russian Federation)
17. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (South Africa)
18. Marcel Aregger (Switzerland)
19. Fabio Silvestre (Portugal)
20. Vegard Robinson Bugge (Norway)
21. Michael Hepburn (Australia)
22. Rasmus Guldhammer (Denmark)
23. António Carvalho (Portugal)
24. Matthias Brandle (Austria)
25. Miras Bederbekov (Kazakhstan)
26. Jan Polanc (Slovenia)
27. Sven Erik Bystrøm (Norway)
28. Natnael Berhane (Eritrea)
29. Andreas Hofer (Austria)
30. Zico Waeytens (Belgium)
31. Artem Topchanyuk (Ukraine)
32. Gideoni Monteiro (Brazil)
33. Bjørn Tore Nilsen Hoem (Norway)
34. Grzegorz Stepniak (Poland)
35. Toms Skujins (Latvia)
36. Ramon Sinkeldam (Netherlands)
37. Michael Valgreen Andersen (Denmark)
38. Daniil Fominykh (Kazakhstan)
39. Jan Keller (Switzerland)
40. Vegard Stake Laengen (Norway)
41. Oleksandr Prevar (Ukraine)
42. Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez (Colombia)
43. Georg Preidler (Austria)
44. Klemen Stimulak (Slovenia)
45. Chi Ho Yuen (Hong Kong, China)
46. Christopher Jennings (South Africa)
47. Indulis Bekmanis (Latvia)
48. Romain Delalot (France)
49. Michel Koch (Germany)
50. Igor Frolov (Russian Federation)
51. Simon Yates (Great Britain)
52. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Colombia)
53. Philip Lavery (Ireland)
54. José Gonçalves (Portugal)
55. Roman Osuna Montes (Spain)
56. Tobias Ludvigsson (Sweden)
57. Tim Declercq (Belgium)
58. Armands Becis (Latvia)
59. Jesper Dahlström (Sweden)
60. Sergey Chernetski (Russian Federation)
61. Eugenio Alafaci (Italy)
62. Jesper Hansen (Denmark)
63. Kanstantsin Klimiankou (Belarus)
64. Bert-Jan Lindeman (Netherlands)
65. Jelle Wallays (Belgium)
66. Angelo Tulik (France)
67. Moyano Enzo Josue (Argentina)
68. Mark Christian (Great Britain)
69. Piotr Gawronski (Poland)
70. Recep Ünalan (Turkey)
71. Emilien Viennet (France)
72. Arvin Moazemi Goudarzi (Islamic Republic of Iran)
73. Kamil Gradek (Poland)
74. Ramirez Chacon Brayan Stiven (Colombia)
75. Luke Rowe (Great Britain)
76. Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan)
77. Rudy Molard (France)
78. Carlos Alexandre Manarelli (Brazil)
79. Scott Thwaites (Great Britain)
80. Tom David (New Zealand)
81. Mark Dzamastagic (Slovenia)
82. Julian Kern (Germany)
83. Sean De Bie (Belgium)
84. Jonas Ahlstrand (Sweden)
85. Matthias Allegaert (Belgium)
86. Arman Kamyshev (Kazakhstan)
87. Jacob Rathe (United States Of America)
88. Thomas Palmer (Australia) 0:00:20
89. Christian Delle Stelle (Italy)
90. Daniel Diaz (Argentina) 0:00:26
91. Sonny Colbrelli (Italy) 0:00:29
92. Rob Bush (United States Of America)
93. Gavin Mannion (United States Of America)
94. Theo Reinhardt (Germany) 0:00:33
95. Sam Bennett (Ireland) 0:00:37
96. Magkoyras Neofytos Sakellaridis (Greece) 0:00:43
97. Philipp Ries (Germany)
98. Louis Meintjes (South Africa)
99. Bastian Bürgel (Germany) 0:01:04
100. Nicola Boem (Italy)
101. Anton Vorobev (Russian Federation) 0:01:07
102. Jovan Zekavica (Serbia) 0:01:09
103. Jakub Novak (Czech Republic) 0:01:49
104. Jay Mccarthy (Australia)
105. Rohan Dennis (Australia)
106. Luke Durbridge (Australia)
107. Janis Dakteris (Latvia) 0:01:52
108. Sebastian Lander (Denmark)
109. Christopher Juul Jensen (Denmark)
110. Tomás Koudela (Czech Republic)
111. Muhamad Adiq Husainie Othman (Malaysia)
112. James Williamson (New Zealand)
113. Erick Rowsell (Great Britain)
114. Niklas Gustavsson (Sweden)
115. Andrei Krasilnikau (Belarus) 0:02:29
116. Yauheni Patenka (Belarus)
117. Guillaume Boivin (Canada) 0:02:38
118. Johann Van Zyl (South Africa) 0:03:32
119. Roman Dronin (Uzbekistan)
120. Ki Ho Choi (Hong Kong, China)
121. Maxat Ayazbayev (Kazakhstan)
122. Siarhei Novikau (Belarus)
123. Reynard Butler (South Africa)
124. Gabriel Juarez Veron (Argentina)
125. Pawel Bernas (Poland)
126. Polychronis Tzortzakis (Greece) 0:05:38
127. Ian Boswell (United States Of America) 0:05:58
128. Joe Dombrowski (United States Of America)
129. Oleksandr Martynenko (Ukraine)
130. Ali Riza Tanriverdi (Turkey)
131. Gabor Kasa (Serbia) 0:06:13
132. Anatoliy Sosnitskiy (Ukraine) 0:07:41
133. Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Denmark) 0:08:25
134. George Bennett (New Zealand) 0:09:34
135. Philip Lindau (Sweden)
136. Maksym Vasilyev (Ukraine) 0:17:17
137. Berhane Melake (Eritrea)
138. Tesfom Okubamariam Issak (Eritrea)
DNF Silvan Dillier (Switzerland)
DNF Gianluca Leonardi (Italy)
DNF King Lok Cheung (Hong Kong, China)
DNF Victor Martin Hernandez (Spain)
DNF Stanislau Bazhkou (Belarus)
DNF Gökhan Hasta (Turkey)
DNF Lukasz Wisniowski (Poland)
DNF Felix English (Ireland)
DNF Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Ethiopia)
DNF Jordi Simon Casulleras (Spain)
DNF Mustafa Sayar (Turkey)
DNF Richard Lang (Australia)
DNF Mohd Ekbar Zamanhuri (Malaysia)
DNF Carlos Daniel Linares Zambrano (Venezuela)
DNF Jesus Ezquerra Muela (Spain)
DNF Youcef Reguigui (Algeria)
DNF Baron Castillo Felix Alejandro (Colombia)