Matt Robertson soared to a sensational second silver medal at the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling World Championships in Zurich, while Felix Barrow and the under-23 men also showed fantastic road race performances.
Men’s C2 road race
Matt Robertson clinched a sensational silver, his second medal of the world championships, in a ferocious head-to-head in the men’s C2 road race.
On the second of nine laps, reigning world champion Alexandre Leaute (France) launched an attack on the group, with Robertson responding quickly to get on his wheel and get away with him.
The two worked together throughout the undulating race, keeping the peloton at bay, with their initial 31 second lead only increasing as the finish line edged closer.
With the peloton now over 90 seconds behind and Leaute his only rival, Robertson worked hard to push the pace and stay with him for a sprint finish. However, in the final lap Leaute attacked again and got up the road. Robertson, unable to match him, followed him across the finish 45 seconds back to take his second silver of the championships.
On taking his best ever para-cycling road world championships result Robertson said: “Today’s result is a testament to a year of knuckling down and doing what my coach had planned and it’s nice to be able to pull it out on the biggest year of them all.
“It’s just felt like another part of the process where it’s clicked nicely, I don’t know how I’ve done it but I feel a lot more relaxed and that’s the key really. That was the best performance I could’ve given in terms of being happy – I don’t think I could have faulted what I did there with where I’m at and the gap is closing, and that’s exciting for me.
“It was almost a nice feeling in the last couple of kilometres to know where I had finished, enjoy it and know I’d broken the ‘curse’ of bronze from the last few years.”
Men’s T2 road race
Felix Barrow delivered a powerful ride in a tactical men’s T2 road race, finishing seventh overall.
Putting down the pace early on, Barrow worked hard to pull from the front in the early laps of a fast-paced race. The mid-point of the race saw Jindrich Masin (Czechia) make a break for it, surprising the peloton and managing to take an initial lead of 16 seconds.
The group worked together up the climbs, but couldn’t keep the Czech at bay and by the penultimate lap, he was 29 seconds up on the group.
With just over a lap to go, an attack was launched off the front of the chase and a trio formed of Dennis Connors (USA), Maximillian Jager (Germany) and Wolfgang Steinbichler (Austria). The trio slowly reeled Masin back in, before steaming past him metres before the finish line and forming the podium places, respectively.
Unfortunately, Barrow was unable to react to the chasers' attack and was forced to ride the final half lap solo, crossing the finish line in a respectable seventh place.
Men’s under-23 road race
The men’s under-23 category delivered a non-stop race over 173.6km, with the six-strong British team disrupting the race from the off to give Joe Blackmore a fifth place finish.
From the gun, the attacks were coming thick and fast, with riders trying to break from the group and set a competitive pace. Within the first 20km a three-man group of Cole Kessler (USA), Lewis Bowler (NZL) and GB’s Bob Donaldson managed to get an early break. Within 5km, their lead had extended to 1:06 on the peloton, with the trio pushing hard to keep the gap.
The three held their lead for around 35km, before solo chaser Alastair Mackeller (Australia) branched out to bridge the gap, only for the peloton to gain ground and eventually reel all four riders in on the crest of the climb with 117km to go.
The British team spent the following kilometres well-placed in the group, open to what was going on around them and active to any potential moves or attacks, with Matt Brennan accelerating within the bunch.
At 95 km to go, an attack was launched and Artem Schmit (USA) and Brit Callum Thornley made the break on the small kicker to gain a 17 second lead, forcing the peloton to work to get them back. The bunch frantically chasedfor the next 10km to have them in sight as the race crossed the finish line for the second time before heading into four laps of the city circuit.
Over the city circuits, with spectators out in droves, breakaway groups continued to form and be caught as the race never let up, even in the tricky weather conditions. Heading into the penultimate lap, a front group of nine formed 30 seconds up the road, including Brits Thornley, Blackmore and Matthew Brennan.
With 44km to go, the race started to splinter with Jan Christen (Switzerland) managing to create a solo gap of 34 seconds ahead of three chase groups. Blackmore was positioned at the front of the second chase group of six, pulling hard at the front on the ascent and looked confident as they worked to close the gap to 23 seconds.
As the race headed to its climax, the toll of the technical course and a long day in inclement weather saw the chase groups splinter further into ones and twos, with Christen caught and Niklas Behrens (Germany) and Martin Svrcek (Slovakia) 28 seconds ahead for a two-up sprint finish, which saw Behrens crowned the winner.
A follow group of six seemed to be headed for a bunch sprint for bronze, before Alec Segaert (Belgium) managed to get away with 11 seconds to take third place. Blackmore crossed the finish line a further 18 seconds behind, finishing fifth overall.
Teammate Thornley crossed in 34th position, while having delivered their tactics to a tee in service of Blackmore’s stake at the podium, Brennan, Donaldson, Louis Sutton and Oliver Stockwell did not finish.
During the race, the UCI announced that following a crash in the women’s junior road race yesterday, 18-year-old Swiss rider Muriel Furrer had died as a result of her injuries. Everyone at British Cycling is devastated to learn of the passing of this devoted young rider, and we send our condolences to her family, friends and Swiss teammates.
Tomorrow will continue with the women’s C1-3 and C4-5 road races where Fran Brown, Katie Toft, Daphne Schrager, Amelia Cass, Morgan Newberry and Sarah Storey compete in their respective categories, before the elite women’s road race takes place. Elinor Barker, Anna Henderson, Claire Steels, Lizzie Holden, and under-23 riders Josie Nelson and Alice Towers will all be competing in a bid for the world championship title.
You can watch the elite road race on Discovery+ and all para-cycling road races on Eurovision.
