World Cycling Championships 2023: Bronze for Germany in the mixed relay, Switzerland defends gold
Ricarda Bauernfeind and Co. had to hold out for agonisingly long minutes at George Square in Glasgow before the bronze medal coup was perfect.
With a completely newly formed mixed relay team, the German team raced to third place at the World Cycling Championships. Miguel Heidemann, Jannik Steimle, Max Walscheid, Bauernfeind, Lisa Klein and Franziska Koch were only beaten by defending champions Switzerland and France on the 40.3 kilometre course.
"We are more than happy with bronze. That was very good," said national women's coach André Korff, adding: "It was an extremely technical course that some teams had problems with. We managed it very well. It was a freshly assembled team. The boys have raced together before in recent years, but the girls have never raced together in this form. For Franzi Koch, it was the first team time trial of her life."
Koch stayed on Bauernfeind's wheel until the end, keeping the pace high and celebrating her next big success just twelve days after her surprising stage win at the Tour de France. The gap to the old and new world champion was 51 seconds, which was to be expected. However, teams such as Great Britain, Australia and Italy were behind the BDR sextet.
Strong performance by the Germans
It was Germany's third medal in the fourth edition of the competition. After silver in Harrogate in 2019, there was even gold at the 2021 World Championships in Belgium. At that time, however, locomotive Tony Martin was still there. Last year in Australia, it was only enough for fourth place.
The German team delivered a strong performance. The men had already set the fourth-best time at the halfway point. Afterwards, the women also benefited from a technical defect suffered by Italy's Silvia Persico. The Squadra Azzurra were still in third place after the changeover. Medal contenders Australia were already handicapped by a crash in the first bends of the men's round.
However, the sporting value of the event is manageable. Many teams, such as the Netherlands, only sent riders from the second row into the race. Germany did not have its best time trialists at the start either. Belgium did not even enter a team. "The UCI is endeavouring to upgrade this. You can also see that in the number of participating nations. This will become more and more active in the future," emphasised Korff.
Afghan team celebrated
Meanwhile, the Afghan team, which had entered a team for the first time, was celebrated frenetically. The two sisters Fariba and Yulduz Hashimi and Zahra Rezayee, who had to flee after the uprising in August 2021 and are currently living in Italy, also took part. The fact that they finished last, a long way behind, was of secondary importance.
On the road, the elite competitions will continue with the women's individual time trial on Thursday in Stirling. The men will follow on Friday. The U23 men will be racing against the clock on Wednesday.
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