While the day belonged to Germany the Canadian camp was all smiles as Karol-Ann Canuel put out a stunning display of power and finess to claim 6th overall in the , to go with her gold medal as part yesterday’s winning Specialized-lululemon squad in the Team Time Trial. Her teammate, Leah Kirchmann, Canada’s reigning time trial champ, finished 27th.
“I’m super happy with my result. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I hadn’t done an ITT at this level but I’ve been working hard the past few weeks with my team. Specialized-lululemon and I knew I could do well today. It’s exciting to know that I feel like I can improve,” said Canuel who was second-fastest at both splits after finishing her race.
Canuel beat the 2013 ITT World Champion by just under 20 seconds at 39:39.42 with a consistent strong pace and sat beaming in the Shimano hot seat in the silver medal position until the last five riders shifted the podium power.
“This was completely unexpected. I have to admit I didn’t have a plan for this except to hit it as hard as I could. With the gold medal on Sunday, this was giving me more confidence in this race – and I still have another soon.”
Interview with Karol-Ann Canuel
Brenhauer bested the field by almost 20 seconds for the rainbow jersey to show how deep the German field is in what is considered to be the most grueling discipline of Pro cycling road racing. Brenhauer joins her legendary compatriot Judith Arndt who won this event in both 2011-2012 as Germany makes its mark once again – and now the stage is set for defending champ, Tony Martin, in Wednesday’s Elite Men’s ITT.
“I can’t believe it. I’m overwhelmed. I’m going to need time to know that it’s reality,” Brennauer said in tears after hugging her coach in celebration when she was declared the winner. “I had a really good day and knew I was riding well. I gave it all on the climb, took no risk on the descents and then went full gas to the finish. It’s a great day for Germany. I saw the Juniors race this morning and it’s great we’ve both won world titles.”
Anna Solovey (UKR) earned a huge boost with her silver medal today, having the first two fastest splits, though Brenhauuer’s engines couldn’t be denied going from 5th spot in the first split to second in the second split. She fired her legs digging into the pain bank and dug in deeper to beat her Ukrainian rival by +18 seconds at 38:48.16, the only rider to break the 39-minute barrier.
Yet in a certain way the real underdog story today was the Ukrainian rider’s gutsy race which was underlined by the hardships of her getting here, as well as her training. “It is my second World Championship but as it’s bad politics in my country. I tried to do my best with only three of us here – I have no sponsor and I live for today only.”
When asked how she trained she uttered, “I have only a few Pros races this year as I’m a track rider, but it’s danerous to even ride on the only track in the Ukraine. I raced today with nothing to lose…I don’t know if I’ll go back or not, I have little hope for a sponsor and no contract. It was a big job for me today, thank you.”
As her splits were the fastest until the end, she deflected the possibility of gold, “I just I didn’t think I’d win this, but I feel some luck being here,” added Solovey.
Evelen Steven (US) in bronze today, who took the silver back in 2012 in Valkenburg but missed out last year, was her usual bubbly, observant self, gracious in her praise of others: “ I just tried to empty out my pockets and go fast—I had my eyes closed for a lot of it. It was actually fun, this pain. I thought the other 2 put on a great show, I’m proud to be among them.”
When asked about missing the podium last year, she said: “Well every pedal stroke counts and …I brought that into my mental strategy this year – the hurt locker was opened up wide.”
The rain started just after Kirchmann started her run as the 11th last rider with dark storm clouds looming and while the big rain held off the Canadian ITT champion admitted it wasn’t her best effort today. She made no excuses acknowledging that she had some back tire slide outs that slowed her down as she finished 27th. “It’s been a dream this year, and as it’s coming to and end soon, I am lucky to have such a fine team and sponsors.”
Interview with Leah Kirchmann
At last year’s 22km Elite Women’s ITT in Florence that included some Tuscan cobblestones the Netherland’s Ellen Van Dijk couldn’t be slowed. But today, rocketing off last and doing her best to defend her gold medal, she was thwarted by tougher rivals and pouring rain that saw her finish a disappointing 7th on the day.
Full results here
