2021 World Road Cycling Championships

88th edition: Sept 19 - 26, 2021
Flanders, Belgium

World Road Cycling Championships podium history | 2020 edition | 2022 edition

Road race: Elite Women | Elite Men

Time Trial: Mixed Relay | Elite Women | Elite Men

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Sunday, September 26: Elite Men's Road Race, Antwerp - Leuven, 268.3 km

Course map & profile | Photos

Julian Alaphilippe repeats as World Road Champion. Sirotti photo

Weather at the finish city of Leuven at 2:10 PM, local time: 21C (70F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the south at 11 km/hr (8 mph). There is a 10% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the organizer's explanation of the course:

After the start on the Grote Markt in Antwerp, the peloton leaves for Leuven, with a passage in Official Village Keerbergen. Arriving in Leuven, the final unfolds on the local circuit (4 hills) and the Flandrien circuit (6 hills): 1.5 x local circuit Leuven, 1 x Flandrien circuit, 4x local circuit Leuven, 1x Flandrien circuit and 2.5 x local circuit Leuven. The finish line after this tough race is on the sloping Geldenaaksevest.

Here's the race report from winner Julian Alaphilippe's Deceuninck-Quick Step team:

Julian Alaphilippe successfully defended the rainbow jersey, becoming the first Frenchman in history to win back-to-back titles, after producing a performance of devastating intensity and brilliance in one of the most intriguing races seen in recent years. By doing this he etched his name in to the history books and ensured himself twelve more months in the iconic rainbow jersey, which he captured for the first time in Imola, last September.

“I have no words, I am just so happy! I worked hard for this and had good legs, but I didn’t dare to dream about retaining my title. It’s insane, that’s all that I can say. An amazing victory which wouldn’t have been possible without my incredible team, who protected me all day long and guided me excellently in the final part of the race”, an ecstatic Julian said at the finish.

France and Alaphilippe had been the main instigators of Sunday’s 268.3km race from Antwerp to Leuven, the team of the defending champion going on the attack with more than 180 kilometers to go. This move had Kasper Asgreen, Tim Declercq and Remco Evenepoel come across and put pressure on a peloton who was forced to chase hard for more than an hour in order to bring it back together.

Attacks kept coming even after that group was reeled in, but a first proper selection was made 58 kilometers from the finish, when Julian put the hammer down on the Bekestraat, blowing the race to pieces. Several riders managed to come across, forming a strong 17-man group which also featured Andrea Bagioli, Evenepoel, Florian Sénéchal and Zdenek Stybar. They quickly put two minutes between them and the large chasing group, in part thanks to Remco, who dug deep at the front.

It looks like all of Belgium has come out to watch a hyper-aggressive race. This is at about 130 kms to go.

After the young Belgian peeled off the front, France took over the reins and brought Alaphilippe in position, who danced on the pedals and got a small gap, before being reabsorbed. Two kilometers later, the reigning champion went again, but the result was the same. This didn’t deter him in any way, as with 17 kilometers to go the 29-year-old unleashed another blistering attack, this time on Sint-Antoniusberg ascent, and carved out a ten-second gap heading onto the last lap. Four riders tried to counter and formed a strong chasing group, at one point reducing the margin, but once the road went up again, so did Julian’s buffer, who entered the final ten kilometers some twenty seconds clear.

On the Wijnpers climb, the Frenchman continued to dance on the pedals and put more seconds between him and the first group down the road, and with five kilometers to go it became pretty much clear it was game over. Shaking his head in disbelief, that’s how Julian went under the flamme rouge, knowing that he had it in the bag and would get to sport the coveted rainbow bands for one more year, prolonging what’s arguably the best moment of his career.

“The plan was to counter in the final kilometers, but I sensed an opportunity and rode on instinct. As soon as a gap was there, I rode my heart out to remain at the front. The Belgian supporters told me to slow down, but that only motivated me to go harder. I left everything on the road, and while I was doing that, I kept thinking of my son, Nino. Winning the Worlds again is incredible”, said Julian after sealing one of the most impressive victories of his career and strengthening his amazing legacy.

Complete results:

Photos

68 classified finishers, 126 abandons, 1 non-starter

268.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.147 km/hr

1	Julian Alaphilippe	France	5hr 56min 34sec
2	Dylan Van Baarle	Netherlands	@ 32sec
3	Michael Valgren	Denmark	s.t.
4	Jasper Stuyven	Belgium	s.t.
5	Neilson Powless	USA	s.t.
6	Tom Pidcock	Great Britain	0:49
7	Zdenek Stybar	Czech Republic	1:06
8	Mathieu van der Poel	Netherlands	1:18
9	Florian Sénéchal	France	s.t.
10	Sonny Colbrelli	Italy	s.t.
11	Wout Van Aert	Belgium	s.t.
12	Markus Hoelgaard	Norway	s.t.
13	Valentin Madouas	France	s.t.
14	Matej Mohoric	Slovenia	4:00
15	Giacomo Nizzolo	Italy	4:05
16	Nils Politt	Germany	5:25
17	Guillaume Boivin	Canada	s.t.
18	Jan Polanc	Slovenia	s.t.
19	Benoît Cosnefroy	France	5:30
20	Victor Campenaerts	Belgium	s.t.
21	Alexander Kristoff	Norway	6:27
22	Mike Teunissen	Netherlands	s.t.
23	Ivan Garcia	Spain	s.t.
24	Diego Ulissi	Italy	s.t.
25	Michael Matthews	Australia	s.t.
26	Peter Sagan	Slovakia	s.t.
27	Dylan Teuns	Belgium	s.t.
28	Sebastian Schönberger	Austria	s.t.
29	Bauke Mollema	Netherlands	s.t.
30	Luka Mezgec	Slovenia	s.t.
31	Tiesj Benoot	Belgium	s.t.
32	Petr Vakoc	Czech Republic	s.t.
33	Sven Erik Bystrøm	Norway	s.t.
34	Vegard Stake Laengen	Norway	s.t.
35	Ethan Hayter	Great Britain	s.t.
36	Michal Kwiatkowski	Poland	s.t.
37	Tadej Pogacar	Slovenia	s.t.
38	Patrick Gamper	Austria	s.t.
39	Rui Oliveira	Portugal	s.t.
40	Artem Nych	Russia	6:31
41	Stefan Küng	Switzerland	s.t.
42	Gorka Izagirre	Spain	s.t.
43	Imanol Erviti	Spain	s.t.
44	Gonzalo Serrano	Spain	s.t.
45	Silvan Dillier	Switzerland	s.t.
46	Cesare Benedetti	Poland	s.t.
47	Joao Almeida	Portugal	s.t.
48	Primoz Roglic	Slovenia	s.t.
49	Yukiya Arashiro	Japan	s.t.
50	Merhawi Kudus	Eritrea	s.t.
51	Rasmus Tiller	Norway	s.t.
52	Emils Liepins	Latvia	s.t.
53	Carlos Rodriguez	Spain	6:39
54	Michael Gogl	Austria	6:40
55	Nelson Oliveira	Portugal	s.t.
56	Arnaud Démare	France	6:48
57	Lawson Craddock	USA	6:49
58	Gianni Moscon	Italy	6:52
59	Roger Adriá	Spain	7:04
60	Toms Skujins	Latvia	7:07
61	Yves Lampaert	Belgium	7:22
62	Remco Evenepoel	Belgium	s.t.
63	Fabian Lienhard	Switzerland	15:43
64	Esteban Chaves	Colombia	s.t.
65	Nelson Soto	Colombia	17:18
66	Pascal Eenkhoorn	Netherlands	s.t.
67	Nikias Arndt	Germany	s.t.
68	Georg Zimmermann	Germany	s.t.

Course map & profile:

Map of the men's road race course

Profile of the men's road race

Men's Championship photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

The course had more than enough hills to soften the riders' legs.

Remco Evenpoel

American rider Neilson Powless was fifth.

For the second year in a row, Julian Alaphilippe is Champion of the World.

Alaphilippe enjoys his impressive win.

Dylan van Baarle (left) leads in the first group of chasers 32 seconds after Alaphilippe crossed the line.

Great Britain's Thomas Pidcock was sixth.

Mathieu van der Poel (orange jersey) leads in a group at 1min 18sec.

The podium, from left: Dylan Van Baarle (2nd), Julian Alaphilippe (1st) & Michael Valgren (3rd)

A rainbow jersey and a gold medal. A good day's work.

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Saturday, September 25: Elite Women's Road Race, Antwerp - Leuven, 157.70 km

Course map & profile | Photos

Elisa Balsamo beats Marianne Vos for the rainbow jersey. Sirotti photo

Weather at the finish city of Leuven at 2:10 PM, local time: 22C (71F), sunny, with the wnd from the south-southeast at 6 km/hr (4 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the organizer's race summary.

After a nerve-racking finale, it was Italy's Elisa Balsamo who clinched gold. She won after a thrilling sprint against former world champion Marianne Vos. Securing a third world title for Italy at this UCI Road World Championships. Polish rider Niewiadoma took bronze.

A circuit spanning 157.7 km, with the Leuven city loop being ridden four times, and the Flandrien Loop once, awaited the women during their road race. The starting shot sounded on the Grote Markt in Antwerp, after which the peloton set off towards Leuven. All eyes were on the strong block of riders from the Netherlands. With the likes of Van Vleuten, Van der Breggen, Vos and Van Dijk, they were the favourites for gold today. Home rider Kopecky, the Italian ladies Balsamo and Longo Borghini, and Polish rider Niewiadoma were the challengers on duty.

The race started slowly, but after a few attempts to pull away, it was Michaela Drummond from New Zealand who went solo during the first few kilometres on the city loop in Leuven. She quickly built up a lead of more than 45 seconds, but the first passage on the steep Smeysberg brought her dreams to an end.

Antwerp - what a setting for the start of the world road race championships.

After Vollering had to dismount on Moskesstraat due to problems with her bike and later had to change bikes, the peloton gradually moved towards Bekestraat and Smeysberg for the second time. There, South Africa's Moolman-Pasio tried to split up the peloton, but could not break away. The local loop in Leuven would be decisive. The Netherlands attacked time after time, aiming to turn it into a gruelling battle.

But every attack by the Netherlands was countered by the Italians. So it was no surprise that it came down to a one-on-one at the finish line. Elisa Balsamo versus Marianne Vos. It was the young Italian who pulled the win out of the bag. Katarzyna Niewiadoma won the sprint behind them and took bronze for Poland.

Complete results:

Photos

157.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.706 km/hr

1	Elisa Balsamo	Italy	3hr 52min 27sec
2	Marianne Vos	Netherlands	s.t.
3	Katarzyna Niewiadoma	Poland	@ 1sec
4	Kata Blanka Vas	Hungary	s.t.
5	Arlenis Sierra	Cuba	s.t.
6	Alison Jackson	Canada	s.t.
7	Demi Vollering	Netherlands	s.t.
8	Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig	Denmark	s.t.
9	Lisa Brennauer	Germany	s.t.
10	Coryn Rivera	United States	s.t.
11	Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio	South Africa	s.t.
12	Alena Amialiusik	Belarus	s.t.
13	Elise Chabbey	Switzerland	s.t.
14	Lizzie Deignan	Great Britain	s.t.
15	Sina Frei	Switzerland	s.t.
16	Lotte Kopecky	Belgium	s.t.
17	Elisa Longo Borghini	Italy	s.t.
18	Ellen van Dijk	Netherlands	0:08
19	Annemiek van Vleuten	Netherlands	s.t.
20	Marta Cavalli	Italy	0:15
21	Ruth Winder	United States	0:17
22	Marta Bastianelli	Italy	s.t.
23	Maria Giulia Confalonieri	Italy	0:29
24	Rachel Neylan	Australia	0:45
25	Anna Henderson	Great Britain	0:49
26	Ella Harris	New Zealand	s.t.
27	Audrey Cordon-Ragot	France	s.t.
28	Spela Kern	Slovenia	0:50
29	Mavi Garcia	Spain	s.t.
30	Amy Pieters	Netherlands	s.t.
31	Karol-Ann Canuel	Canada	s.t.
32	Chantal van den Broek-Blaak	Netherlands	s.t.
33	Christine Majerus	Luxembourg	s.t.
34	Jolien D'Hoore	Belgium	1:21
35	Pfeiffer Georgi	Great Britain	s.t.
36	Lucinda Brand	Netherlands	3:01
37	Franziska Koch	Germany	3:29
38	Sarah Roy	Australia	3:31
39	Ane Santesteban	Spain	s.t.
40	Anna Shackley	Great Britain	s.t.
41	Tiffany Cromwell	Australia	s.t.
42	Paula Patino	Colombia	s.t.
43	Hanna Nilsson	Sweden	s.t.
44	Omer Shapira	Israel	s.t.
45	Aude Biannic	France	3:34
46	Juliette Labous	France	s.t.
47	Anne Dorthe Ysland	Norway	6:23
48	Jesse Vandenbulcke	Belgium	7:31
49	Eugenie Duval	France	s.t.
50	Evita Muzic	France	s.t.
51	Karolina Kumiega	Poland	s.t.
52	Kristen Faulkner	United States	8:22
53	Marta Lach	Poland	8:50
54	Rasa Leleivyte	Lithuania	s.t.
55	Eider Merino	Spain	8:55
56	Leah Thomas	United States	9:13
57	Hanna Solovey	Ukraine	s.t.
58	Eugenia Bujak	Slovenia	s.t.
59	Shari Bossuyt	Belgium	s.t.
60	Jarmila Machacova	Czech Republic	s.t.
61	Hayley Preen	South Africa	s.t.
62	Noemi Rüegg	Switzerland	s.t.
63	Leah Kirchmann	Canada	s.t.
64	Michaela Drummond	New Zealand	s.t.
65	Amalie Dideriksen	Denmark	s.t.
66	Romy Kasper	Germany	s.t.
67	Sarah Rijkes	Austria	s.t.
68	Marta Jaskulska	Poland	s.t.
69	Sara Martin Martin	Spain	s.t.
70	Anastasiya Kolesava	Belarus	s.t.
71	Tayler Wiles	United States	s.t.
72	Aurela Nerlo	Poland	s.t.
73	Nathalie Eklund	Sweden	s.t.
74	Lisa Klein	Germany	s.t.
75	Susanne Andersen	Norway	s.t.
76	Valerie Demey	Belgium	s.t.
77	Lourdes Oyarbide	Spain	s.t.
78	Ingvild Gaskjenn	Norway	s.t.
79	Julie Leth	Denmark	s.t.
80	Stine Borgli	Norway	s.t.
81	Sheyla Gutierrez	Spain	s.t.
82	Emma Norsgaard	Denmark	s.t.
83	Katrine Aalerud	Norway	s.t.
84	Alice Barnes	Great Britain	s.t.
85	Eri Yonamine	Japan	s.t.
86	Rotem Gafinovitz	Israel	s.t.
87	Kathrin Hammes	Germany	9:25
88	Mieke Kröger	Germany	s.t.
89	Anna van der Breggen	Netherlands	9:30
90	Marlen Reusser	Switzerland	s.t.
91	Niamh Fisher-Black	New Zealand	s.t.
92	Lauretta Hanson	Australia	s.t.
93	Amanda Spratt	Australia	s.t.
94	Vittoria Guazzini	Italy	s.t.
95	Elena Cecchini	Italy	s.t.
96	Marita Jensen	Denmark	13:21
97	Karolina Karasiewicz	Poland	s.t.
98	Diana Penuela	Colombia	s.t.
99	Lizbeth Yareli Salazar	Mexico	s.t.
100	Phetdarin Somrat	Thailand	s.t.
101	Julia Borgstrom	Sweden	s.t.
102	Trine Holmsgaard	Denmark	s.t.
103	Daniela Campos	Portugal	s.t.
104	Christina Schweinberger	Austria	s.t.
105	Caroline Baur	Switzerland	s.t.
106	Lauren Stephens	United States	s.t.
107	Valeriya Kononenko	Ukraine	s.t.
108	Dana Rozlapa	Latvia	s.t.
109	Roxane Fournier	France	s.t.
110	Jelena Eric	Serbia	s.t.
111	Jessica Allen	Australia	s.t.
112	Frances Janse van Rensburg	South Africa	18:47
113	Julia Biryukova	Ukraine	s.t.
114	Yanina Kuskova	Uzbekistan	s.t.
115	Inga Cesuliene	Lithuania	s.t.
116	Nina Berton	Luxembourg	22:01
117	Lorena Colmenares	Colombia	s.t.

Course map & profile:

Women's road race map

Women's road race profile

Women's road race photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

American racer Susanne Andersen on the cobbles.

The peloton has arrived in Leuven. In orange, Marianne Vos. I don't know who the American racer is.

Another group of riders in Leuven.

It's down to a drag race between Marianne Vos and Elisa Balsamo.

Head down, Elisa Balsamo drives for the line, slightly ahead of Marianne Vos.

And Elisa Balsamo is Champion of the World.

The podium, from left: Marianne Vos (2nd), Elisa Balsamo (1st) & Katarzyna Niewiadoma (3rd)

World Champion Elisa Balsamo

The Italian women's team after the awards ceremony.

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Wednesday, September 22: Team Time Trial Mixed Relay, Knokke Heist - Bruges, 44.5 km

Course map & profile

Team Germany celebrates its victory. Sirotti photo

Weather at the finish city of Bruges at 2:30 PM, local time: 20C (68F), fair, with the wind from the south at 11 km/hr (7 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Mixed country teams of 3 men and 3 women compete against each other in a team time trial. In 2021 the men's teams will start in Knokke-Heist and ride in the direction of Bruges, over a similar route as the individual time trials. Upon arrival after 22.5 km in Bruges, the women's team will take over, for a 22 km route with passage at the Damse Vaart and start and finish in Bruges.

Here's the race organizer's Team Time Trial summary:

The last event on the roads between Knokke-Heist and Bruges was the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. The team of Tony Martin, who concluded his career today, came out on top. Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein, Mieke Kroeger, Nikias Arndt and Maximilian Walscheid provided him with a wonderful parting gift from cycle racing.
Another rainbow jersey was up for grabs between Knokke-Heist and Bruges, or rather: 6. Three men and three women defended their country's honour in the Team Time Trial Mixed Relay. It was only the second time this discipline has featured on the programme in 100 years of the UCI Road World Championships. Netherlands, the title defender, sought another victory with its impressive team, but Germany, Italy and Switzerland also brought a strong selection to the start at the beach in Knokke-Heist.

Tony Martin leads the German men. This is Martin's last race, which resulted in a rainbow jersey for him. Nice way to end a career. Sirotti photo

The German women on their way to rainbow jerseys. Sirotti photo

The first impressive time on the tables came from the United States. However, their party in the hot seat didn't last long. The United Kingdom’s team, third in 2019, was almost a minute faster at the finish in Bruges. They, in turn, were overtaken by Switzerland. Küng and Reusser’s team moved up to the top of the ranking.

It promised to be a thrilling finale. The Belgian team kicked off the last wave. They couldn't give the home crowd what it had come for and were slower than Switzerland and the UK. Meanwhile, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands had begun their team time trial.

During their leader’s farewell race it was as if Tony Martin's German team had wings. First, Martin, Arndt and Walscheid put in the best time at the finish, before Kroeger, Brennauer and Klein defended their lead. The Italian men, with new world champion Ganna, beat Germany’s time, but in the second leg Cavalli, Cecchini and Longo Borghini had to concede defeat. Top favourites the Netherlands were also unable to better the German times and had to be content with second place.

And so Tony Martin was able to end his career in the finest jersey cycle racing has to offer.

Complete results:

Winner's speed: 44.5 kilometers raced at 52.540 km/hr

1	GERMANY	50min 49.1sec
	BRENNAUER Lisa
	KLEIN Lisa
	KROEGER Mieke
	ARNDT Nikias
	MARTIN Tony
	WALSCHEID Maximilian Richard
2	NETHERLANDS	@ 12.79sec
	van VLEUTEN Annemiek
	van DIJK Ellen
	MARKUS Riejanne
	BOUWMAN Koen
	MOLLEMA Bauke
	van EMDEN Jos
3	ITALY	@ 0:37.74
	CAVALLI Marta
	CECCHINI Elena
	LONGO BORGHINI Elisa
	AFFINI Edoardo
	GANNA Filippo
	SOBRERO Matteo
4	SWITZERLAND	@ 0:37.79
	CHABBEY Elise
	KOLLER Nicole
	REUSSER Marlen
	BISSEGGER Stefan
	KUENG Stefan
	SCHMID Mauro
5	GREAT BRITAIN	@ 0:54.99
	ARCHIBALD John
	BARNES Alice
	HENDERSON Anna
	BIGHAM Daniel
	DOWSETT Alex
	LOWDEN Joscelin
6	DENMARK	@ 1min 16.16sec
	DIDERIKSEN Amalie
	JOERGENSEN Emma Cecilie
	LETH Julie
	BJERG Mikkel
	JOERGENSEN Mathias
	NIELSEN Magnus Cort
7	BELGIUM	@1:21.03
	BOSSUYT Shari
	D'HOORE Jolien
	KOPECKY Lotte
	CAMPENAERTS Victor
	HERMANS Ben
	LAMPAERT Yves
8	UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	@ 2:09.68
	RIVERA Coryn
	THOMAS Leah
	WINDER Ruth
	CRADDOCK Lawson
	McNULTY Brandon
	POWLESS Neilson
9	FRANCE	@ 2:51.79
	BORRAS Marion
	COPPONI Clara
	DEMAY Coralie
	DENIS Thomas
	TABELLION Valentin
	THOMAS Benjamin
10	POLAND	@ 3:23.18
	KARASIEWICZ Karolina
	KUMIEGA Karolina
	NERLO Aurela
	MACIEJUK Filip
	PAPIERSKI Damian
	RUDYK Bartosz
11	SPAIN	@ 4:05.55
	ISASI CRISTOBAL Ziortza
	MARTIN MARTIN Sara
	OYARBIDE JIMENEZ Lourdes
	AZPARREN IRURZUN Xabier Mikel
	LOPEZ FUENTES Diego
	MAS BONET Luis Guillermo
12	AUSTRIA	@ 4:33.00
	RIJKES Sarah
	SCHWEINBERGER Christina
	SCHWEINBERGER Kathrin
	BAYER Tobias
	RITZINGER Felix
	SCHMIDBAUER Maximilian
13	UCI WORLD CYCLING CENTRE	@ 6:28.98
	GEDRAITYTE Akvile
	KOLESAVA Anastasiya
	MEDVEDOVA Tereza
	DAUMONT Paul
	HABIMANA Jean Eric
	WAIS Ahmad Badreddin

Course map & profile:

Mixed relay map

Mixed relay profile

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Monday, September 20: Elite Women's Individual time trial world championships

Course map & profile | Women's time trial photos

Another rainbow jersey for Ellen Van Dijk.

Knokke Heist - Bruges, 30.3 km

Weather at the finish city of Bruges at 2:10 PM, local time: 18C (64F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the northeast at 14 km/hr (9 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from winner Ellen Van Dijk's Trek-Segafredo team.

The rainbow stripes. One of the most sought-after jerseys in cycling.

Third in 2020. Third again in 2018. And a bittersweet second in 2016.  Since winning the coveted World Championship individual time trial title in 2013, Ellen van Dijk has come close but never climbed back onto the top step.

Finally, eight years later, she has done just that.

In the past years, Ellen van Dijk has overcome debilitating injury, sickness and a nemesis time trial specialist – Swiss Marlen Reusser – who has gotten the better of Ellen in the few time trials leading into the Flanders World Championships.

Understandably, Ellen had no certainty of victory coming into the race. Even when she set a blistering time of 36:05, stopping the clock nearly two minutes ahead of the quickest time so far (and a whopping average speed of 50km/h!), there was still no assurance. Reusser and compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten, the Tokyo Olympic ITT gold medalist, still had to finish.

While van Vleuten’s times checked slower at the intermediate timing points, Reusser was on a good pace.

It was going to be close!

So when the clock clicked past 36:05 and the Swiss Olympic silver medalist still hadn’t reached the finish, Ellen could begin to believe. And when van Vleuten crossed the line 24 seconds slower, Ellen could not hold back her tears.  It has been a long, bumpy road back to the top, but she did it!  The rainbow jersey was hers again.

“I didn’t know I would become so emotional, but this has been a dream for so long to get the world title again,” said Ellen. “This year everything felt so good, but there was always Marlen Reusser who was so strong this year. I knew I had a really good level, but I also knew that she is super, super strong, and the last couple of weeks she beat me at every time trial, so I knew it would be very difficult and I would have to ride my best ever time trial.

“I think it was good, but I had no idea if it was good enough because I started one hour earlier than the favorites. I was also in doubt about the wind, whether it would be in my disadvantage or not. Marlen had a faster intermediate time, and I thought she would be faster [at the finish], and then I saw she lost seconds in the end… I can’t quite believe it. It’s been a dream for so long.”

Ellen van Dijk began the 2021 season with a big goal always in her mind: winning the individual time trial at the 2021 World Championships in Flanders, a course that suited the pure time trial specialists, and there perhaps is none purer than Ellen.

Ellen has consistently been at the top of the time trial game. It’s a discipline within cycling that takes precise preparation – a lot of sweat and hours and hours of specific training on Trek’s new time trial bike went into today’s race.  And Ellen, an early starter, had a lot of time in the hotseat to ponder: Was it enough?

“It was quite horrible,” answered Ellen when asked about the time spent waiting in the hotseat. “It’s nerve-wracking; you sit there with nothing to do. When I arrived in the hotseat Annemiek (van Vleuten) still had to start. I really didn’t know what my time trial was worth. People said to me it was a really good time trial; I knew it was good, but I didn’t know if it was good enough.

“Time trialing is my favorite discipline, it’s something I love with all my heart, and it just feels like it’s my discipline. I knew this would be a really good course for me. I put everything into this, and that it worked out for me – this is a dream come true!”

Congrats, Ellen – you deserve this.

Complete results:

Photos

30.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 50.383 km/hr.

1	Ellen Van Dijk	Netherlands	36min 5sec
2	Marlen Reusser	Switzerland	@ 10sec
3	Annemiek van Vleuten	Netherlands	0:24
4	Amber Neben	United States	1:24
5	Lisa Brennauer	Germany	1:29
6	Juliette Labous	France	1:47
7	Lisa Klein	Germany	1:52
8	Joscelin Lowden	Great Britain	1:59
9	Riejanne Markus	Netherlands	s.t.
10	Alena Amialiusik	Belarus	2:19
11	Leah Kirchmann	Canada	2:34
12	Emma Norsgaard	Denmark	2:43
13	Karol-Ann Canuel	Canada	2:48
14	Leah Thomas	United States	2:50
15	Valeriya Kononenko	Ukraine	s.t.
16	Audrey Cordon-Ragot	France	2:56
17	Anna Kiesenhofer	Austria	2:56
18	Nathalie Eklund	Sweden	2:57
19	Eugenia Bujak	Slovenia	2:59
20	Karolina Karasiewicz	Poland	3:04
21	Marta Jaskulska	Poland	3:06
22	Julie Van De Velde	Belgium	3:07
23	Omer Shapira	Israel	3:15
24	Vittoria Guazzini	Italy	3:17
25	Pfeiffer Georgi	Great Britain	3:18
26	Hanna Solovey	Ukraine	3:30
27	Katrine Aalerud	Norway	3:31
28	Dana Rozlapa	Latvia	3:38
29	Elena Pirrone	Italy	4:08
30	Sara Van De Vel	Belgium	s.t.
31	Rebecca Koerner	Denmark	s.t.
32	Rotem Gafinovitz	Israel	4:19
33	Tamara Dronova	Russia	4:22
34	Marcela Hernandez	Colombia	s.t.
35	Ziortza Isasi Cristobal	Spain	4:31
36	Maria Yapura Plaza	Argentina	4:33
37	Agusta Edda Bjornsdottir	Iceland	4:54
38	Frances Janse Van Rensburg	South Africa	5:16
39	Yanina Kuskova	Uzbekistan	5:19
40	Hayley Preen	South Africa	5:36
41	Daniela Campos	Portugal	5:47
42	Lorena Colmenares	Colombia	6:15
43	Phetdarin Somrat	Thailand	6:44
44	Bríet Kristý Gunnarsdóttir	Iceland	7:07
45	Luciana Roland	Argentina	7:39
46	Adyam Tesfalem	Eritrea	8:43
47	Diane Ingabire	Rwanda	9:12
48	Kanza Malik	Pakistan	14:49
49	Asma Jan	Pakistan	15:44

Women's time trial map & profile:

Women's time trial course

Women's time trial profile

Elite Women's time trial photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Great Britain's Joscelin Lowden riding to 8th place.

Lisa Klein was 7th.

Juliette Labous was 6th

5th place Lisa Brennauer

4th place Amber Neben

Annemiek Van Vleuten racing to third place.

Second-place Marlen Reusser

Ellen Van Dijk on her way to another rainbow jersey.

The podium, from left: Marlen Reusser (2nd), Elle Van Dijk (1st) & Annemiek Van Vleuten (3rd)

This is Ellen Van Dijk's sixth world championship, counting her Junior World Road win.

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Sunday, September 19: Elite Men's Individual time trial world championships

Course map & profile | Race photos

Knokke Heist - Bruges 43.3 km

Filippo Ganna on his way to winning another world championship. Sirotti photo

Weather at the finish city of Bruges at 2:30 PM, local time: 21C (70F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the northeast at 6 km/hr (4 mph). There is a 2% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from winner Filippo Ganna's INEOS Grenadiers team.

Filippo Ganna put in a perfectly-measured time trial performance to become a two-time men's TT world champion in Flanders.

Behind Wout van Aert (Belgium) at both the first and second intermediate checkpoints, Ganna finished strongly to secure his second world title, beating Van Aert by six seconds.

It was a superbly-paced time trial, as he trailed the Jumbo Visma rider by six seconds at the first intermediate, before closing the gap to less than a second at the final time check before the finish.

The time trial was finely poised as first Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), then Van Aert set the fastest time, before Ganna powered to the finish and won his second successive worlds TT by six seconds.

Ethan Hayter (Great Britain) finished a strong eighth in his first senior worlds time trial to make it two Grenadiers in the top 10, with Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) finishing 24th and Spain's Carlos Rodriguez 25th.

Filippo Ganna:
"I think in one week my condition improved after the short camp at altitude, then I did the European Championships but my legs didn’t feel very good and I didn’t know if I could arrive at the Worlds in good shape.

"When I woke up this morning, I had a good feeling in the legs and to defend this jersey for me is very important. . It's a dream to win again and to defend this jersey.  I hope to honour it again for another year.”"

Ethan Hayter:
"There is a bit of room for improvement and I'm still recovering from the Tour of Britain, but I'm pretty happy.

"I've done a few good time trials this year... This time trial was probably too flat for me. I like one where you can go over and under with pacing and really punch over the climbs, I've always been good at time trials, but you don't do many at junior and under 23 level.

"That is one of the longest time trials I've done. You kind of just have to tuck in and go into your own world. I just did my thing and went as fast as I could."

Complete results:

Photos

43.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 54.370 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	Italy	47min 47sec
2	Wout Van Aert	Belgium	@ 6sec
3	Remco Evenepoel	Belgium	0:44
4	Kasper Asgreen	Denmark	0:46
5	Stefan Küng	Switzerland	1:07
6	Tony Martin	Germany	1:18
7	Stefan Bissegger	Switzerland	1:26
8	Ethan Hayter	Great Britain	1:27
9	Edoardo Affini	Italy	1:49
10	Tadej Pogacar	Slovenia	1:53
11	Max Walscheid	Germany	1:54
12	Jos Van Emden	Netherlands	s.t.
13	Nelson Oliveira	Portugal	1:55
14	Remi Cavagna	France	1:59
15	Jan Tratnik	Slovenia	2:04
16	Daniel Bigham	Great Britain	2:11
17	Mikkel Bjerg	Denmark	2:16
18	Lawson Craddock	USA	2:37
19	Ryan Gibbons	South Africa	s.t.
20	Hugo Houle	Canada	3:03
21	Matteo Sobrero	Italy	3:06
22	Brandon McNulty	USA	3:09
23	Thomas Scully	New Zealand	3:10
24	Michal Kwiatkowski	Poland	s.t.
25	Carlos Rodriguez	Spain	3:24
26	Andreas Leknessund	Norway	3:27
27	Benjamin Thomas	France	3:28
28	Andreas Miltiadis	Cyprus	3:30
29	Barnabas Peak	Hungary	3:33
30	Rafael Reis	Portugal	3:35
31	Dmitriy Gruzdev	Kazakhstan	3:59
32	Josef Cerný	Czech Republic	4:00
33	Ryan Mullen	Ireland	4:12
34	Rigoberto Uran	Colombia	4:18
35	Ognjen Ilic	Serbia	4:19
36	Daniil Fominykh	Kazakhstan	5:02
37	Felix Ritzinger	Austria	5:08
38	Petr Rikunov	Russia	5:10
39	Marcus Christie	Ireland	5:20
40	Mykhaylo Kononenko	Ukraine	5:47
41	Cristofer Jurado	Panama	6:10
42	Venantas Lasinis	Lithuania	6:25
43	Muradjan Halmuratov	Uzbekistan	6:29
44	Franklin Archibold Castillo	Panama	6:48
45	Ronald Kuba	Slovakia	7:53
46	Runar Orn Agustsson	Iceland	8:08
47	Nazir Jaser	Syria	8:20
48	Sarawut Sirironnachai	Thailand	8:35
49	Spas Gyurov	Bulgaria	9:12
50	Akramjon Sunnatov	Uzbekistan	10:43
51	Fadhel Al Khater	Qatar	10:57
52	Ali Jawaid	Pakistan	11:06
53	Lotfi Tchambaz	Algeria	11:43
54	Khalil Amjad	Pakistan	13:20

Men's time trial map & profile:

Men's time trial map

Men's time trial profile

Men's time trial photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

22nd-place Brandon McNulty

Lawson Craddock was 18th.

10th place Tadej Pogacar

8th-placed rider Ethan Hayter

7th-place Stefan Bissegger

6th place Tony Martin will be in just one more race, the Mixed Relay Championships, before he retires.

5th place Stefan Kung

4th place Kasper Asgreen

Third-place Remco Evenepoel

Wout Van Aert missed getting a rainbow jersey by six seconds.

Filippo Ganna on his way to another world championship.

The podium, from left: 2nd place Wout van Aert, 1st place Filippo Ganna & 3rd place Remco Evenepoel

Champion of the world Filippo Ganna