UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships: Double titles for several athletes

Day three of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Canada, saw several athletes add victories in the road race to the gold medals won in the time trials at the beginning of competition

Day three of the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships glowed orange as the Netherlands grabbed a quartet of victories to head the medal table with 10 more gold medals.

Jetze Plat added H4 road race to his time trial gold with a dominant display in 1:46:29. Austria's Thomas Frühwirth finished second (1:47:37) with France’s Mathieu Bosredon third. Plat has told us before how away from the racing amphitheatre he “likes to watch sport and tinker with his equipment. For holiday, I enjoy one week of doing nothing and sleeping under the sun”. Rest well-deserved. 

Mitch Valize (NED) also made it double glory at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in the H5 category in 1:49:30. Loïc Vergnaud (FRA) won silver with the Netherlands’ Tim de Vries third. Valize has enjoyed a fantastic two seasons after winning double gold at the 2021 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships and twice at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Jennette Jansen made it two out of two in the H4 road race (1:56:14) with Norway’s Suzanna Tangen second and Sandri Stöckli (SUI) third, while Marieke Van Soest added T1 road race gold to her time trial gold in 1:05:56. It was an impressive display from the Dutch rider who was nearly nine minutes ahead of Mexico’s Dulce Gonzalez Guerrero. New Zealand’s Eltje Malzbender finished third.

Elsewhere, the medals were spread among a number of countries. Maxime Hordies (BEL) won gold in the H1 category thanks to a storming effort of 1:16:26. Fabrizio Cornegliani (ITA) took silver with Nicolas Pieter du Preez (RSA) in third. Fellow Belgian Tim Celen made it two out of two at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in the T2 category with Dennis Connors (USA) second and Maximilian Jager (GER) third.

Florian Jouanny (FRA) won the H2 road race in 1:28:46 in the tightest of finishes. Luca Mazzone (ITA) and time-trial victor Sergio Garrote Munoz won silver and bronze, respectively, after a photo finish. France won another gold thanks to Riadh Tarsim’s victory in the H3 category, with Paolo Cecchetto second, just 1sec behind. Joey Desjardins (CAN) finished third.

Italy’s Giorgio Farroni won gold in the men’s T1 category (1:00:20). Canada’s Nathan Clement won silver with Spain’s Gonzalo Garcia Abella grabbing bronze. Simona Canipari (also Italy) won her second gold of the championships in the H1 race in 1:29:27. 

As did the USA’s Katerina Brim in the H2 category (1:08:34), with Roberta Amadeo (ITA)in second. Her team-mate, Oksana Masters, won H5 gold in 2:00:35. Ana Maria Vitelaru (ITA) took silver. Chantal Haenen (NED) won bronze.

Finally, Germany won two gold medals to rise to second in the medal table behind the Netherlands. Annika Zeyen rode to victory in the H3 race (1:56:47). Francesca Porcellato ITA) won silver with Jady Martins Malavazzi (BRA) third. And Germany enjoyed a one-two in the T2 road race thanks  to Jana Majunke (1:25:10) and Angelika Dreock-Kaser (1:25:27). Emma Lund won Denmark’s first medal of 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships with bronze.

Sunday will see the final meals of the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships awarded in Baie-Comeau.

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.