You can either look for that second – or be happy with silver. The German mixed team missed out on World Championship gold by less than a second, but the anger quickly disappeared.
Maximilian Schachmann couldn’t believe his eyes. “When I saw a zero in front, I thought, that can’t be true,” said the new vice world champion in the mixed team time trial. But it was true. The German sextet missed the big gold coup at the World Championships in Zurich by just 0.85 seconds or less than two meters, and instead the favorite Australia celebrated.
“It’s actually crazy when you consider that two teams race 53 kilometers against each other and in the end it’s just a twinkle in the eye,” said Schachmann. The Berliner, along with Miguel Heidemann and Marco Brenner, laid the foundation for the unexpected success, which even saw European champions Italy beat into third place.
Led by a fabulously strong Antonia Niedermaier, the women’s trio of Liane Lippert and Franziska Koch completed the silver medal at Zurich’s Sechseläutenplatz. “In the end, we got everything we could out of it, but of course the 0.8 seconds are annoying. But we can’t blame ourselves,” said Niedermaier. The 21-year-old rode from the front for almost the entire race. Koch had to drop out early on, and Lippert also had problems with the rear wheel.
Second medal for Niedermaier
The men’s trio were slightly ahead at the first intermediate time, but the favored Italians and Australians overtook them on the flatter section. The women took to the track 21 seconds behind Australia and 14 seconds behind Italy.
Although Koch had to let go, the gap to first place had already been almost closed by the first intermediate time. Niedermaier had missed a medal in the individual time trial by just nine seconds – that should not happen to her again.
“I would have liked to have helped Antonia a lot more, but it just wasn’t possible,” said Lippert. So Niedermaier simply sorted it out herself – and after the U23 gold in the time trial, she has her second medal of the championships.
Identical lap to the road race
The team time trial was a foretaste of the road races that begin on Thursday, as it took place on an identical circuit. While the juniors and U23s will determine their world champions on Thursday and Friday, the women will start their 154.1-kilometer race on Saturday. The circuit around Zurich will have to be completed four times.
The men’s race on Sunday, starting in Winterthur, will ultimately take them over the challenging course seven times with two consecutive climbs. 4,500 meters of elevation must be overcome over the 273.9 kilometers. The favorites are Tour winner Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia, Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel from Belgium and the Dutch defending champion Mathieu van der Poel.
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
