Amalie Dideriksen repeats as junior world road champion
In her final year as a junior, the Danish rider takes her second world title, sprinting out of a small group for gold
Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen won her second junior world road championship title Friday, earning a second medal for her country in the 2014 championships, held in Ponferrada, Spain.
“It was a really hard race,” Dideriksen said. “The Italians were attacking me on the last two laps. I was doing everything I could to stay with them. I knew if it came to a sprint, I wanted to be there.”
The defending junior world champion, 18, won a sprint from a group of about 15 after 72.8 kilometers of racing on the hilly circuit.
On the final lap, the Italian team tried to make a move, but they were unsuccessful and had to settle for the silver medal, which Sofia Bertizzolo won in the sprint. Poland’s Agnieszka Skalniak finished third.
“I had a bad crash on the track, and I was able to train on the home trainer. I did not want to miss the worlds,” the two-time champion said. “To win again makes me so happy. I was feeling confident, but also I was pretty nervous at the start. It ended up in the sprint, so I am so happy. I hope to continue both on the track and road — I love both.
“I hope to find a team next year to race outside of Denmark. It’s my goal to become professional.”