cycling: Cycling World Championships in Bergen: Even the rain can't stop Tom Dumoulin

Cycling: Top favorite Tom Dumoulin won the individual time trial at the World Championships in Bergen. The Dutchman didn't give his competitors the slightest chance. Despite the rain getting heavier and heavier for the last starters, he pulverized every intermediate time. In the end he won by a margin of 57 seconds over Primoz Roglic (Slovenia). Bronze went to Chris Froome (Great Britain), who was already a whopping 81 seconds behind. Tony Martin missed a medal with ninth place. The Swiss Stefan Küng could not take part in the decision and finished 25th.

The red carpet was rolled out for the pros

The individual time trial of the World Championships in Bergen was described by many experts as a mountain time trial. The 3,4 kilometer long Mount Fløyen with an average gradient of over nine percent should make a big difference on the 31 kilometer course. Already at the start the spectators could recognize some different types of bikes. Pure time trial machines were ridden or modified road bikes with time trial handlebar attachments. Most of the pros used the transition zone at the pre-climb split time, which was taken at 27,6km. There, a red carpet was rolled out for the professionals, on which the wheel change could be carried out within a few seconds. The intermediate times taken up to that point were difficult to classify, as the pros drove into the final climb with tanks of different sizes.

50 mts before the finish line! Wilco Kelderman 🇳🇱 has the best time yet 46:15.33 #Fløyen #Bergen2017 pic.twitter.com/AyLxXctvsp

— Bergen 2017 (@bergen2017) September 20, 2017

Dumoulin with strong split times - but it starts to rain!

As expected, Dutchman Wilco Kelderman, an early starter, was in the lead for a long time before Nelson Oliveira (Portugal) was able to push him off the lead. At 17:04 p.m. defending champion Tony Martin (Germany) started his mission. Moments later, fellow favorite Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) missed Oliveira's fastest time by 23 hundredths. After 11,5 kilometers, the top favorites were already showing clear tendencies. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) set the fastest time. Behind him, already ten seconds behind, was Rohan Dennis (Australia). Tony Martin was 16 seconds behind. Chris Froome (Great Britain) was already well behind at 24 seconds. Subsequent split times confirmed these tendencies, but there was a problem from above: it started to rain! The first to suffer was Rohan Dennis, who fell and had to bury all chances of victory.

#Bergen2017 No rival in obstaculos @tom_dumoulin pic.twitter.com/qPLcjzjrfA

— Mundo Ciclistico (@mundociclistico) September 20, 2017

Tom Dumoulin new time trial world champion

Despite the rain, Tom Dumoulin smashed every split. At the last timing before the final climb, the Dutchman was 50 seconds faster than Oliveira, the leader at the finish. None could even remotely match Dumoulin. Martin was 50 seconds back, Froome 51. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) was 62 seconds back, initially edging out Oliveira at the finish. Mount Fløyen became a triumph for the new world champion Dumoulin. In the end he almost ran into Froome, who had started in front of him. With a 57-second lead over Roglic and 81 seconds over Froome, the Dutchman really deserved the gold medal. As expected, Tony Martin lost a little more time on the climb and finished ninth.

Results of the 2017 World Time Trial Championships in Bergen