Twelve titles were on offer on the final full day of the para-cycling road programme at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Dumfries & Galloway. One of them was won by the powerful Frances Brown.
Five out of five for Brown
Frances Brown looked tireless and just as powerful as when she took her first victory in the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships as she claimed her fifth rainbow jersey today in the Women C1 road race. After three wins on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow (omnium, scratch race and individual pursuit) she was hungry for more on arriving in Dumfries and Galloway for the road events. First, the time trial gold on Thursday. And now the road race, where she comprehensively beat China’s Wangwei Qian by nearly four minutes. Qian’s teammate Jiafan Yang was third.
Another highlight for Great Britain today came thanks to William Bjergfelt in the Men C5 event, raced in relentless rain. The British athlete bided his time as part of the leading trio for the majority of the 93.6km race before outsprinting Ukraine’s Yehor Dementyev and Italy’s Andrea Tarlao, who won silver and bronze, respectively. The Brit completely emptied the tank and, as he held his head in his hands after he crossed the line, tears streamed down his face as the emotion of the victory swept over him.
Bjergfelt showed the final kick that he honed earlier in his career when he was an elite mountain biker. The 44-year-old switched focus to road racing and enjoyed some impressive domestic results before sustaining severe leg injuries in a training crash in 2015. Eight years later, he is UCI World Champion in the C5 road race.
Great Britain also revelled in the successes of Finlay Graham (Men C3) and Dame Sarah Storey (Women C5), who won her second gold medal of the UCI Cycling World Championships after the time trial Thursday.
Léauté gearing up for home Paralympics
Like Brown, France’s Alexandre Léauté won his fifth gold medal of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, in the Men C2 62.4km road race as, in a carbon copy of the time trial, he headed Australia’s Darren Hicks (silver) and Belgium’s Ewoud Vromant (third).
Léauté outsprinted the Australian for his 15th UCI World title at just 22 years old! Léauté can now look forward to Paris 2024 where he’ll aim to better his medal haul from Tokyo 2020, which included one gold (individual pursuit), one silver and two bronzes.
Countryman Kevin le Cunff was in an equally gluttonous mood, holding off Ireland’s Ronan Grimes to win the Men C4 road race. Le Cunff, who competes for French amateur team Dunkerque Grande Littoral-Cofidis and this season finished seventh in the Grand Prix du Pays d’Aix, once again showed his class to win his fourth gold medal in Scotland. Great Britain’s Archie Atkinson finished third.
Women B: Dunlevy changes pilots and still wins
Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Linda Kelly added Women B road race gold to the time trial gold they won on Thursday, despite losing over 40 seconds due to a wheel change. They caught and then passed the Polish duo of Otylia Marczuk and pilot Ewa Bańkowska who won silver in the 78km race. Great Britain’s Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl won bronze.
It has proved a memorable UCI World Championships for Dunlevy. The visually impaired rider usually competes with tandem pilot Eve McCrystal, with whom she has won Paralympic gold medals and several rainbow jerseys, including the road race last year in Baie-Comeau, Canada.
Last week, the pairing won bronze in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, in the individual pursuit. However, in a bid to qualify extra bikes for the Paris 2024 Paralympics, Dunlevy has teamed up with Kelly for several events since 2022, while McCrystal has paired with Josephine Healion, who just missed out on the road-race podium in fourth.
Finally, the awesome Dutch pairing of Tristan Bangma and pilot Patrick Bos rode to victory in the Men B road race for their third gold medal of the UCI Cycling World Championships: one on the track and two on the road after winning the time trial on Thursday. Bangma and Bos generated an incredible average speed of 45.275 kilometres per hour on the hilly 109.2km course. Like Thursday, countrymen Vincent ter Schure and pilot Timo Fransen won silver and the French duo of Élie De Carvalho and Mickaël Guichard bronze.
Para-cycling road competition will draw to a close on Sunday with the Mixed H team relay in Glasgow.
Full results and live timing on the UCI website.
Brief explanation of para-cycling sport classes
C – Cycle: conventional bike with adaptations if necessary
T – Tricycle: three-wheeled bike
B – Tandem: for blind or visually impaired athlete with sighted pilot
H – Handcycle
Groups C (1-5), T (1-2) and H (1-5) are divided into different sport classes, with the lower the number indicating greater impairment.