Great Britain Cycling Team’s Jon Dibben took 15th in the under-23 men’s time trial as riders battled searing heat at the UCI Road World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Dibben completed the 28.9km course in 35:46.40, requiring a bike change in final kilometres as temperatures hit 38 degrees Celsius on Monday.
Tao Geoghegan Hart was 26th with a time of 36:30.92 as Germany’s Marco Mathis won in 34:08.09. His countryman Maximilian Schachmann was second with Australian Miles Scotson completing the podium in third.
"It was hard, as expected"
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) October 10, 2016
@JonDibben1 reflects on a gruelling under-23 time trial at #UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/L9tsatDQaJ
“It was hard, as expected,” Dibben said.
“You always knew the heat was going to be a big thing and it kind of felt a little bit hotter today. I don’t know what it was but it felt a little bit worse than the last couple of days here.
“First lap felt kind of good, it went exactly to plan. Then the second lap, I was planning to pick it up and it kind of just went the opposite way - started dropping, power dropped a bit and I started suffering.
“I had a mechanical with a few kilometres to go and needed a bike change but by then I was already a minute down anyway. Nothing I could have changed at all, I can’t complain I just didn’t really have it.”
GB's @taogeoghegan gives us his verdict after taking 26th in challenging conditions in the under-23 men's time trial.#UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/kQPgqyDBvZ
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) October 10, 2016
Three laps around the flat, artificial Pearl Qatar island made up the course. Points race world champion Dibben was the 15th at the first time check after 7.4km and had climbed into the top ten by the second checkpoint at 13.7km, but faded in the second half of the time trial.
Hart set out conservatively, the 39th fastest at the opening time check. The 21-year-old picked up the pace after that point and moved up the rankings but was unable to break into the top 20.
“It was everything we expected really,” Hart said.
“It just creeps up on you a little bit. I was hoping to pick it up in the second half of the ride and set out really conservatively but in the end it was more just a case of holding what I had and it wasn’t enough today unfortunately.”
Result
Gallery
