Mads Wurtz Schmidt wins U23 TT gold in Richmond

Denmark’s Mads Wurtz Schmidt had impeccable timing on Monday. He won the under-23 world time trial championships with careful pacing, but he also was fortunate to cross the line early in the day, before rain began to fall on Richmond, Virginia. The 21-year-old claimed the rainbow jersey by a margin of 12 seconds over Germany’s Maximilian Schachmann, who also raced early in the order. Only Lennard Kamna, another German and last year’s junior ITT world champion, could come close. He ran last in the order and overcame the wet, windy conditions to earn bronze, 21 seconds back.

“I was shaking for the last one and a half hours and still am. I just can’t believe what I achieved,” said Schmidt. “I went hard on the first part, and then I took it a bit easy on the way out the first time, then I went full gas on the headwind on the way back. I won, so there’s nothing to say.”

Top-10 results

• 1. Wurtz SchmidtMads, Denmark, in 37:10.96
• 2. Maximilian Schachmann, Germany, at :12.20
• 3. Lennard Kamna, Germany, at :21.02
• 4. Engen KorsaethTruls, Norway, at :36.10
• 5. Owain Doull, Great Britain, at :36.25
• 6. James Oram, New Zealand, at :37.48
• 7. Miles Scotson, Australia, at :40.52
• 8. Thery Schir, Switzerland, at :41.13
• 9. Marlen Zmorka, Ukraine, at :42.68
• 10. Daniel Eaton, United States Of America, at :43.93

 
Early in the 52-rider race, American Gregory Daniel knocked Canadian Sean McKinnon out of the hot seat, but it didn’t last long. In short order, Nathan Van Hooydonk of Belgium, the next rider on the road took the lead. Then, Schmidt set the fastest time. Schachmann came close, but had to settle for second, leaving the Danish leader to a long afternoon in the hot seat.

The winds seemed to pick up toward the end of the day, which was split up into five waves of starters. It wasn’t until the final wave that riders would begin challenge the podium. Australian Miles Scotson was on a fast ride, notching a top-three split, but he had a chain issue on his second circuit, requiring a stop and mechanical assistance. He finished 40 seconds back in seventh.

The weather continued to deteriorate, and rain fell midway through the last wave. Many of the favorites in the latter part of the order were stymied by slippery roads. Only Kamna could crack the top three at the rainy end of the day, earning bronze.

On Tuesday, the junior men and elite women will take on Richmond’s time trial circuits, each racing 30 kilometers.

Full results

• 1. Wurtz SchmidtMads, Denmark, in 37:10.96
• 2. Maximilian Schachmann, Germany, at :12.20
• 3. Lennard Kamna, Germany, at :21.02
• 4. Engen KorsaethTruls, Norway, at :36.10
• 5. Owain Doull, Great Britain, at :36.25
• 6. James Oram, New Zealand, at :37.48
• 7. Miles Scotson, Australia, at :40.52
• 8. Thery Schir, Switzerland, at :41.13
• 9. Marlen Zmorka, Ukraine, at :42.68
• 10. Daniel Eaton, United States Of America, at :43.93
• 11. Ryan Mullen, Ireland, at :49.99
• 12. Davide Martinelli, Italy, at :58.03
• 13. Filippo Ganna, Italy, at :59.88
• 14. Steven Lammertink, Netherlands, at 1:03.92
• 15. Marcus Faaglum KarlssonJan, Sweden, at 1:11.40
• 16. Kragh AndersenSoren, Denmark, at 1:18.53
• 17. Nathan VanHooydonck, Belgium, at 1:26.19
• 18. Luis RodriguezJose, Chile, at 1:27.84
• 19. Gregory Daniel, United States Of America, at 1:30.76
• 20. Sean Mackinnon, Canada, at 1:36.10
• 21. Merhawi KudusGhebremedhin, Eritrea, at 1:42.43
• 22. Stepan Astafyev, Kazakhstan, at 1:45.54
• 23. Marc Fournier, France, at 1:45.87
• 24. Krists Neilands, Latvia, at 1:46.42
• 25. Josef Cerny, Czech Republic, at 1:47.20
• 26. Tom Wirtgen, Luxembourg, at 1:48.72
• 27. Ignacio Prado, Mexico, at 1:50.92
• 28. Nikolay Cherkasov, Russian Federation, at 1:53.70
• 29. Gregor Muhlberger, Austria, at 1:57.72
• 30. Ruben Pols, Belgium, at 1:59.28
• 31. Michal Schlegel, Czech Republic, at 2:06.86
• 32. Nickolas Dlamini, South Africa, at 2:13.40
• 33. Alexander Cataford, Canada, at 2:17.14
• 34. Scott Davies, Great Britain, at 2:19.69
• 35. Jhonatan Ospina, Colombia, at 2:28.42
• 36. Jhonatan Restrepo, Colombia, at 2:31.09
• 37. Morne VanNiekerk, South Africa, at 2:32.24
• 38. Eddie Dunbar, Ireland, at 2:34.55
• 39. Roman Kustadinchev, Russian Federation, at 2:39.34
• 40. Oleg Zemlyakov, Kazakhstan, at 2:55.22
• 41. Adil Barbari, Algeria, at 2:57.87
• 42. Abdia Anass AitEl, Morocco, at 3:08.21
• 43. Kyeongho Min, Korea, at 3:14.18
• 44. Altan-ochir Erdenebat, Mongolia, at 4:18.35
• 45. Xavier SanSebastian, Spain, at 4:24.69
• 46. Abderrahmane Mansouri, Algeria, at 4:30.97
• 47. Bonaventure Uwizeyimana, Rwanda, at 4:32.85
• 48. Valens Ndayisenga, Rwanda, at 4:48.10
• 49. Atsushi Oka, Japan, at 5:20.89
• 50. Yuma Koishi, Japan, at 5:29.25
• DNS Andrej PETROVSKI, Macedonia
• DNS Amanuel GHEBREIGZABHIER, Eritrea