World Cycling Championships: Germany narrowly misses out on a medal in the mixed time trial - van Vleuten crashes heavily
DPA
· 21.09.2022
After winning gold last year, this time the German cycling team finished fourth in the mixed time trial. The retired top performers Lisa Brennauer and Tony Martin are hard to replace.
Lippert has to wait for Kröger
Liane Lippert kept looking back, but Mieke Kröger was at the end of her tether on the Marine Drive. The German team's dream of another medal in the mixed time trial was dashed in the final metres.
After 28.2 kilometres, they were around seven seconds behind the Australian team in bronze. "We made the best of it, but we hurt ourselves in the last part," said track cycling world champion Kröger.
Switzerland wins gold
After winning gold last year, Miguel Heidemann, Jannik Steimle, Nikias Arndt, Lippert, Kröger and Romy Kasper came a thankless fourth this time round. The title went to Switzerland. Silver and bronze went to Italy (2.92 seconds behind) and Australia (38.4).
Kröger: "Can't replace Tony and Lisa"
However, a medal was not necessarily on the cards for Germany. After all, there is not much left of last year's gold team. Former time trial world champions Tony Martin and Lisa Brennauer have since ended their careers. Max Walscheid and Lisa Klein were also missing from the team this time. Only Arndt and Kröger were back at the start. "We did the best we could with the formation. We can't replace Tony and Lisa and we don't want to. We can only try to do as well as possible," added Kröger.
And it even looked good for a while. At the penultimate split time, Australia and Germany were on a par. But they lacked strength in the finish, especially as Kasper also had to let go beforehand. "My heart is bleeding. I was so excited," said Brennauer as a Eurosport commentator.
Lippert comments
After the three German men came into the transition in sixth place, Lippert and Co. began their chase to catch up. Kröger in particular once again proved to be a pacesetter on the flat sections. This was to pay off in the end. "We could have organised it better. It was very close. I had a bit too much energy at the end, which caused unrest in the group. Mieke did a great job before that and couldn't keep up with my speed. That's why we lost in the end," explained Lippert.
This left the German Cycling Federation without a medal in the elite time trial races. So far, there have only been podium finishes in the junior classes by Ricarda Bauernfeind in third place in the U23 women's competition and by the second-placed Justyna Czapla and third-placed Emil Herzog in the junior section.
Heavy fall by van Vleuten
The mixed team time trial was overshadowed by a serious crash involving Annemiek van Vleuten. The Dutch top rider fell a few metres after leaving the start ramp.
The Dutch team was also unlucky when Bauke Mollema suffered a puncture. In the end, Oranje only managed fifth place.
A few hours after her fall van Vleuten commented on Twitter. According to the report, the 39-year-old suffered a stable fracture of her elbow, which allows her to get on her bike. About her participation in the women's road race on Saturday will only be decided in the coming days.
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