• Mikkel Berg takes men’s U23 time trial victory
The Harrogate finish is not far from Cold Bath Lane and rarely has a street held a more apposite name than on a day when intense rain turned the Road World Championships into a perilous, nerve-rending lottery. The women’s time trial, won by Chloe Dygert of the USA, and the men’s under‑23 event, won by the Dane Mikkel Bjerg, were both hit by the extreme weather, while the Harrogate fan zone was closed to avoid the turf of the grassy Stray becoming a quagmire. It was a day for wetsuits rather than skinsuits.
The men’s under-23 race on Tuesday morning began in rain that was merely heavy. The start ramp in Ripon was disconcertingly slithery, while the initial metres through a series of bends over cobbled setts in the attractive little market town turned into a test of bike-handling that all the starters tackled at barely walking pace. Out of town, each corner had to be taken with care, the more so because most cyclists rarely if ever ride a time trial in such conditions.
Written by William Fotheringham in Harrogate
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/24/cycling-rain-road-world-championships under the title “Dygert wins women’s time trial amid Road World Championships rain chaos”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
