There was no clear domination however, with the Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain all winning six gold medals apiece at the end of two days of time trials and two days of road races across 26 sport classes.
France’s multiple medallists
Four of France’s individual gold medals came from Florian Jouanny (MH2) and Mathieu Bosredon (MH4), who both claimed victory in their respective time trial and road race. Their teammate Johan Quaile (MH3) was not far off the same exploit, but after clocking the fastest time in the time trial, had to be content with third in the road race after a six-way sprint won by Germany’s Vico Merklein.
It was a similar scenario for Heidi Gaugain, who won WC5 time trial gold, before sprinting to second place in the road race, won by Chinese rider Zixian Ji.
Kevin Le Cunff, meanwhile, went from strength to strength, finishing second behind Brazilian Lauro Cesar Mouro Chaman in the MC5 time trial, then going one better in the road race to add another gold to France’s tally.
France won its eighth gold medal in the handbike team relay thanks to a dominant performance from Riadh Tarsim, Florian Jouanny and Loïc Vergnaud, that saw them finish 24s ahead of Spain after a fierce battle with Germany, just 1s further back.
China’s victories: Two apiece for Chen and Bianbian
For China, Jianxin Chen rode to gold in the MT1 time trial, ahead of Canada’s home rider Nathan Clement. Chen tasted victory again in the road race, edging out fellow Chinese athlete Rongfei Lu, who had taken bronze in the time trial.
Sun Bianbian earned China another two gold medals, in the WH5 sport class.
In the WC3 time trial, Xiaomei Wang finished third behind winner Anna Beck (SWE) but went two better in the road race, which she won in a photo finish from time trial silver medallist Clara Brown (USA).
While five riders clocked 1:49:21 in the WC5 road race, it was China’s Zixian Ji who got the decision.
Finally, Huaxian Li finished second behind Germany’s Annika Zeyen in the WH3 time trial but went one better in the road race.
Vromant and Hordies double up for Belgium
Ewoud Vromant (MC2) and Maxime Hordies (MH1) won four of Belgium’s six gold medals between them. A photo finish was required to separate Vromant from second-placed Darren Hicks (AUS) in the MC2 road race, after the two men had finished in the same order in the time trial.
Hordies had a more clear-cut win in the MH1 road race, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Italian Fabrizio Cornegliano. The two mean also taken gold and silver in the time trial.
Louis Clincke (MC4 time trial) and Tim Celen (MT2 road race) were Belgium’s other two gold medallists.
The Netherlands: tandems in golden form
Dutch tandems made a clean sweep of the MB racing with Tristan Bangma and his pilot Patrick Bos claiming victory in the time trial, covering the 27.2km course in 31:50:23, just under 10secs clear of countrymen Vincent Ter Schure and pilot Timo Fransen.
Ter Schure and Fransen came back fighting in the road race to finish a clear 1:26 ahead of the next six tandems that sprinted for the remaining places on the podium. Poland’s Piotr Kolodziejczuk and pilot Michal Podlaski finished second, while time trial winners Ter Schure/Fransen had to settle for fifth.
Mitch Valize powered to dominant MH5 victories, finishing the time trial nearly 50secs faster than second-placed Loïc Vergnaud (FRA), before winning the road race 4:30 ahead of fellow Dutchman and Tim De Vries.
The Netherlands’ legendary Jennette Jansen won WH4 time trial gold while Marieka Van Soest (NED) rode to gold in the WT1 category.
Great Britain: Graham handles the pressure
As for Great Britain, Finlay Graham lived up to his pre-race favourite billing with gold in the MC3 time trial, his time of 36:10.72 over a minute clear of second-placed Matthias Schindler (GER). Come the road race, however, Graham’s countryman Jaco Van Gass beat him to gold. Graham won a bunch sprint for second.
Frances Brown won WC1 time trial gold with China’s Wangwei Qian second and Jiafan Yang third. In the road race, it was a repeat of the time trial podium.
There was a similar copy-paste of the podium in the WC2 racing, with Daphne Schrager winning two more golds for Great Britain in the time trial and road race, both times in front of Switzerland’s Flurina Rigling and the USA’s Allison Jones.
USA heads remaining nations
The USA enjoyed a strong competition with five gold medals thanks to Dennis Connors (MT2 time trial), and two apiece for Samantha Bosco (WC4 time trial and road race) and Katerina Brim (WH2 time trial and road race).
Elsewhere, Italy’s Simona Canipari won gold in the WH1 time trial and road race with countryman Michele Pittacolo winning a remarkable MC4 road race that saw 18 of the 22 finishers record the same time of 2:02:06.
Germany’s Michael Teuber dominated the MC1 time trial with Spain’s Ricardo Ten Argiles in second. Ten Argiles took revenge in the road race, however, breaking away for a dominant victory over the five-lap, 68km course.
Ireland’s Katie-George Dunlevy and pilot Linda Kelly won WB time trial and road race gold, while Switzerland’s Céline van Till achieved the double in the WT2 category.
Svetlana Moshkovich won gold for Austria in the WH4 time trial thanks to an effort of 24:56.26, while Pavlina Vejvodova added WT1 gold to time-trial silver.
The second round of the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup will take place in Ostend, Belgium, on 4-7 May. It’s then off to America for the third and final round in Huntsville, Alabama, on 26-29 May.
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.