Great Britain and Germany were the major winners on the second day of racing at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Canada, collecting three gold medals each. Great Britain won its first medals at the UCI Championships while Germany is now second in the medal count after five victories. However, after collecting two gold medals, the Netherlands top the medal count with a total of seven medals.
Great Britain makes headlines
Twenty-six-year-old George Peasgood (GBR) won his second consecutive UCI title after an impressive performance in the MC4 category. His time of 38:26 minutes was over a minute faster than runner up Louis Clincke (BEL). Ireland’s Ronan Grimes came third.
Title defended ✅👑@george_peasgood wins the Gold in the C4 Time Trial ⚡️#BaieComeau2022 pic.twitter.com/x7zBwddVk4
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) August 12, 2022
Peasgood, who is based at the Loughborough Performance Centre in Great Britain, was in control from the start and completed a fine week of racing, having won silver last weekend at the World Triathlon Para-Series in Swansea, Wales.
Sophie Unwin (GBR) and pilot Jenny Holl (GBR) scorched to gold in 39:57 minutes. It was a masterful display from the British duo who were the only riders to come in under 40 minutes. Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Eve McCrystal won silver, while Sweden’s Louise Jannering and Catrin Nilsson took bronze.
Great Britain’s third gold of the day, and in the UCI Championships, came in the MC1 time trial, with Francis Brown winning with a time of 31:20 minutes.
Germany looking strong
Germany’s Michael Teuber averaged nearly 40 km/h in the MC1 category when he won the race on 28:44 minutes. Aaron Keith (USA) and Ricardo Ten Argiles (ESP) finished second and third.
Maike Hausberger (GER), who won silver in Cascais (Portugal) last year, secured the victory in the 18.9 km WC2 time trial with a time of 31:04 minutes. She was 38 seconds clear of Switzerland’s Flurina Rigling. Colombia’s Daniela Carolina Munvear Florez won her country’s first medal in Baie-Comeau with bronze.
And 50-year-old Kerstin Brachtendorf (GER) won the WC5 time trial gold in 28:12 minutes followed by New Zealand’s Nicole Murray in second. Italy’s Eleonora Mele took bronze.
The Netherlands in form
As for the country who is leading the medal count after the second day, Dutch Tristan Bangma and pilot Patrick Bos continued their unbeaten run in tandem this season, winning the MB category in 34:53 minutes, with fellow countrymen Vincent Ter Schure and pilot Timo Fransen in second. Alexandre Lloveras and pilot Maxime Gressier from France won the bronze.
Bangma and Bos’s UCI Championship gold comes off the back of winning the overall title at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup round in Quebec City last weekend, added to two Olympic golds in the time 1 km time trial and individual pursuit at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Daniel Abraham Gebru secured a second gold for the Netherlands during the day by winning the MC5 race in 36:37 minutes, ahead of Dorian Foulon and Kevin Le Cunff from France, who took second and third place.
In a busy day of racing, the USA added two gold medals to their count and now has a total of four. Clara Brown was in great form in the WC3 category, coming in under 30 minutes with 29:36 minutes. Japan’s Keiko Sugiura won silver with Australia’s Paige Greco third.
Samantha Bosco brought the US further success in the WC4 category. Her time of 28:28 minutes was over one minute faster than Australia’s Emily Petricola in second. Canada’s Keely Shaw took bronze.
Belgium’s Ewoud Vromant won the MC2 category in 26:37 minutes followed by France’s Alexandre Leaute and Australia’s Darren Hicks, while the MC3 category proved the most exciting moment of the day as Spain’s Eduardo Santas Asensio edged out Great Britain’s Finlay Graham, winning by just eight-hundredths of a second with 26:25.71. France’s Florian Bouziani took the bronze.
Two days of exhilarating time trial racing have been concluded and attention now turns to this weekend’s road races.
Brief explanation of para-cycling sport classes
C – Cyclist: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary
T – Tricycle: three-wheeled bike
B – Visually impaired: tandem bicycle ridden with sighted pilot
H – Handbike
Each group is divided into different sport classes (1 to 5), with the lower the number indicating greater impairment.