2019 Road World Championships, Chloe Dygert-Owen, Daily News Digest, Features, News, Remco Evenepoel, Rohan Dennis, Warren Barguil - September 26, 2019

Rohan Dennis wins second straight world time trial title: Daily News Digest

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Welcome to your Daily News Digest. Here’s what’s happening today:

Rohan Dennis wins his second straight elite men’s time trial world title, Chloe Dygert-Owen says she rode to her Worlds TT win without a power meter, Warren Barguil extends with Arkéa-Samsic. Those stories and more in today’s Daily News Digest.

Story of the Day: Rohan Dennis defends his world time trial title

Rohan Dennis defended his elite men’s individual time trial title with an impressive performance at the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire.

The 29-year-old Australian powered to a second straight rainbow jersey on the 54-kilometer course from Northhallerton to Harrogate, setting a mark of 1:05:05 to win by more than a minute over runner-up Remco Evenepoel (Belgium). Filippo Ganna (Italy) rounded out the podium in third, two seconds faster than fourth-placed Patrick Bevin (New Zealand).

Dennis took the victory despite not having raced since July, when he withdrew from the Tour de France on stage 12. His relationship with his trade team Bahrain-Merida has appeared strained since then, and instead of riding a team issue Merida bike at Worlds on Wednesday, he rode the TT on a BMC Timemachine, the same bike he used en route to his TT win last year in Innsbruck, Austria. Those unusual circumstances did not, however, hold him back from delivering a brilliant ride in England, dominating the field to take the world title for the second year in a row.

“It’s been a tough year, a lot of talk since Tour de France about what I’m doing, so it’s really special to back up this year,” Dennis said. “To come here in the best possible shape and defend this title to show I’m still here to race, still here to win, and I’ve still got more to give in this sport.”

The elite men’s TT in Yorkshire got underway under the wet weather that has been the norm this week at Worlds, although conditions were more manageable on Wednesday than they were for the waterlogged under-23 men’s race on Tuesday.

Great Britain’s John Archibald was the first rider to spend a significant stretch in the hot seat. Australia’s Luke Durbridge took over the lead for the briefest of moments, before Great Britain’s Alex Dowsett knocked him out of it, only to see Ganna take over the hot seat for at least a little while.

It became clear before long, however, that the lead would soon change hands, as 19-year-old Evenepoel was setting impressive times through the intermediates – good news for Belgian fans with Victor Campenaerts having a less successful afternoon on the bike.

Dropped chain for Campenaerts, shades of Froome on Mont Ventoux pic.twitter.com/AoiNhovvCi

— the Inner Ring (@inrng) September 25, 2019

Unfortunately for Evenepoel, Dennis was cruising through a brilliant ride of his own. Evenepoel took the provisional lead as he crossed the line, but Dennis, the last starter on the road, was far faster at the intermediates.

Dennis caught up to Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic as he rolled into the last kilometer, and ultimately took the win with a gap of 1:08 over Evenepoel.

Results

1 DENNIS Rohan (Australia) 1:05:05
2 EVENEPOEL Remco (Belgium) 1:09
3 GANNA Filippo (Italy) 1:55
4 BEVIN Patrick (New Zealand) 1:58
5 DOWSETT Alex (Great Britain) 2:02
6 CRADDOCK Lawson (United States) 2:08
7 KANGERT Tanel (Estonia)
8 OLIVEIRA Nelson (Portugal) 2:10
9 MARTIN Tony (Germany) 2:27
10 KÜNG Stefan (Switzerland) 2:47

Moving Pictures

Organizers of the Atlas Mountain Race have released a preview video for the upcoming event, set to traverse the eponymous range in Morocco in February of 2020. You may have seen the CyclingTips piece on bike-packing in the region earlier this year—if so, you won’t be surprised to see the stunning landscapes the Atlas Mountain Race is set to cover next year.

Race Radio

Dygert-Owen rode to a TT world title without a power meter

Chloe Dygert-Owen put in a massive ride to win the elite women’s individual time trial at Yorkshire Worlds by more than a minute and a half on Tuesday, and she did it without watching her real-time power numbers.

“I think my biggest advantage was I didn’t ride with a power meter today,” the 22-year-old American said after her big win, according to Cycling Weekly.

“Earlier this year I did a race and it was just when I started to really kind of get my strength back. And I remember looking down at the power meter and thinking ‘I’m going out way too hard I need to back it off’ and so not having a power meter today, you know, not looking at those numbers and telling myself ‘hey, like, back it off,’ it was just kind of full gas from the beginning.”

As it turns out, Dygert-Owen maintained that full gas pace throughout the TT and ultimately won the rainbow jersey in the discipline by a huge margin.

Barguil extends with Arkéa-Samsic

Although Warren Barguil still had one year remaining on his original deal with Arkéa-Samsic, the French national road champion has signed a contract extension that will keep him with the Pro Continental team through the end of 2022.

“I want to be part of a growing project,” Barguil said. “I feel good at Arkea-Samsic, I have good teammates, a competent staff, we have solid sponsors… I found a good balance here.”

Barguil, 27, is a two-time top 10 finisher at the Tour de France who also counts two stage wins and a king of the mountains title there on his career palmares. He and his Arkéa squad are hoping to improve on those results in the Grand Tours moving forward, and with new arrival Nairo Quintana also signed through 2022, the team has secured its core of climbing talents for the next few seasons.

Worlds under-23 road race shortened

The under-23 men’s road race at the Yorkshire World Championships, scheduled for this Friday, has been pushed to a slightly earlier start and shortened by 14 kilometers (one fewer lap of the Harrogate finishing circuit) down to a total of 173 kilometers.

Organizers made the call due to potential poor visibility in bad weather, which has been a constant presence this week at Worlds. An earlier finish is expected to alleviate concerns for both rider safety and the quality of the television broadcast.

Tech News

Attaquer’s new Reflex race jersey range

Australian clothing company Attaquer has a new range of skin-tight performance jerseys that’ll have you looking oh-so-aero.

Available in men’s and women’s cuts, the short and long sleeve Race Reflex jerseys combine microfibre and Lycra to produce a compressive and flap-free fit, all the way down to the seam-free front panel and pockets that are designed to sit flat to the back. The simply-styled jerseys are given reflective details and logos.