UCI Road World Championships 2006

The 73 UCI Road World Championships 2006 for cyclist found from 19 to 24 September at the Austrian Salzburg instead.

A total of six decisions were made in the road cycling disciplines of individual time trials and road races in the categories women elite, men elite and men U23. At world championships, the riders do not compete for their commercial cycling teams as usual , but rather ride in national teams. The strongest nations - calculated according to a rating scheme that takes into account the successes in the last international competitions - are allowed to start with up to nine drivers.

stretch

The time trial competitions took the drivers to the northern periphery of Salzburg. After the start on the banks of the Salzach at Elisabethkai, Hallwang and Elixhausen were on the path of the participants. Then it went in the direction of Obertrum . While the women turned halfway between Elixhausen and Obertrum near the village of Ursprung , the U23 men drove to the center of Obertrum and had to pass the village of Ursprung a second time. The elite men also circumnavigated the Obertrumer See . Then came the way back to Elixhausen, from where the starters drove back to Salzburg via Lengfelden . The goal was at Mirabellplatz . The origin was the highest point of the route with 575 m.

The road races took place on an approximately 22.2 km long circuit in and around Salzburg. The northernmost point of the route was Elixhausen. There was also the highest point of the route at 547 m. The start and finish were at Mirabellplatz. The men had to cope with an altitude difference of 2,796 m on the 12 laps, the women 1,398 m and the U23 men 1,864 m.

Competitions

Men

Road racing

space	athlete	country	time
1	Paolo Bettini	ITA	6:15:36 h (42.476 km / h)
2	Erik Zabel	DEU	equal time
3	Alejandro Valverde	ESP	equal time
4th	Samuel Sánchez	ESP	+ 0:02 min
5	Robbie McEwen	OUT	equal time
6th	Stuart O'Grady	OUT	equal time
7th	Uroš Murn	SVN	equal time
8th	Alexander Bocharov	RUS	equal time
9	Tom Boonen	BEL	equal time
10	Vladimir Gusev	RUS	equal time

Length: 265.9 km (12 laps of 22.16 km each)
Start: Sunday, September 24th, 10:30 a.m. CEST

The Colombian Alex Ardila had already broken out of the main field on the first of a total of twelve laps . In the course of the next laps, more riders joined Ardila at the top, while Ardila fell back from the group. A top group of eleven remained in which all top nations (Italy, Spain, Germany, France, USA and Belgium) were represented. This group was now about 15 minutes ahead of the field. At the beginning of the fourth from last lap, the lead had dropped to less than three minutes. With three laps to go, the group had grown to 25 drivers as more drivers had left the main field. The attempt to escape was then ended 42 kilometers from the destination.

On the penultimate lap, Moisés Aldape , David Loosli and Kanstanzin Siuzou broke up , but were overtaken by the duo Fabian Wegmann and Paolo Bettini a little later . Behind them, a group with other title favorites formed, which the duo caught up before the last lap.

The final round was hard to beat in terms of tension. Again and again, individual drivers or groups tried to break away. It was only on the final ascent, the Gschaiderberg , that Bettini was the first to cross it and walked the last nine kilometers with a slight margin. Six kilometers from the finish, however, he was caught by the group of pursuers behind. After further unsuccessful attacks by Davide Rebellin , Fabian Cancellara and David Millar , it initially looked like a sprint decision by a main field of around 50 drivers. With 500 meters to go, four drivers - two Spaniards, one of them Alejandro Valverde , Erik Zabel and Paolo Bettini - managed to break away from the peloton easily. This led to the sprint decision of this top group on the home straight, which Bettini won ahead of Zabel and Valverde and secured the world title after Zabel was still in the lead 50 meters from the finish.

The field finished just two seconds behind the winner, which was achieved by 126 of the 198 registered drivers.

Individual time trial

space	athlete	country	time
1	Fabian Cancellara	CHE	1:00:11 h (50.664 km / h)
2	David Zabriskie	United States	+ 1:30 min
3	Alexander Vinokurov	KAZ	+ 1:50 min
4th	Brian Vandborg	DNK	+ 1:53 min
5	Sebastian Lang	DEU	+ 2:09 min
6th	Vasil Kiryenka	BLR	+ 2:14 min
7th	Leif Hoste	BEL	+ 2:31 min
8th	Michael Rogers	OUT	+ 2:32 min
9	Andrij Hrywko	UKR	+ 2:45 min
10	Vladimir Gusev	RUS	+ 2:54 min

Length: 50.83 km
Start: Thursday, September 21, 1:30 p.m. CEST

In the longest individual time trial in World Championship history, which was tackled by 52 of the 53 registered riders, the Swiss time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara won the title in a superior manner in the fight against the clock. With a time of 1:00:11 h (50.664 km / h) he was 1:30 minutes ahead of silver medalist David Zabriskie from the USA and 1:50 minutes ahead of the newly crowned Vuelta winner Alexander Vinokurow from Kazakhstan.

The Danish time trial champion Brian Vandborg surprisingly set the first target time at the finish and at all intermediate time measurement points , which was rewarded with a thankless fourth place in the end. Only the favorites for the title were able to undercut the times of the Dane, with Cancellara appearing to be driving in a different league and the first time measurement already happened with an 18 second lead over the up to then leading. Even the winner of the last three years Michael Rogers could not stop the Swiss and finished the race in eighth place.

The German starters, Sebastian Lang and Andreas Klöden , could not make it into the medal ranks. Lang crossed the finish line in fifth, 2:09 minutes behind, and missed the bronze medal by 19 seconds, Klöden disappointed in 27th, 4:42 minutes behind.

Women

Road racing

space	Athlete	country	time
1	Marianne Vos	NLD	3:20:26 h (39.783 km / h)
2	Trixi Worrack	DEU	equal time
3	Nicole Cooke	GBR	equal time
4th	Noemi Cantele	ITA	equal time
5	Priska Doppmann	CHE	equal time
6th	Oenone Wood	OUT	equal time
7th	Annette Beutler	CHE	equal time
8th	Nicole Brändli	CHE	equal time
9	Svetlana Bubnenkowa	RUS	equal time
10	Andrea Graus	AUT	equal time

Length: 132.6 km (6 laps of 22.1 km each)
Start: Saturday, September 23, 2:30 p.m. CEST

In the women's 132.6 km race, some attacks started early on, but only the Russian Natalja Bojarskaja and the Canadian Anne Samplonius , who managed to pull away just before the end of the second of a total of six laps, gained a slight lead over the field . Shortly before the end of the fourth round, however, they were asked.

The race then entered its decisive phase on the fifth lap. On the Gschaiderberg , five kilometers before the end of the lap, a well-known 15-man leading group then pulled away. It included Trixi Worrack , Judith Arndt , Nicole Brändli , Christiane Soeder , Nicole Cooke , Oenone Wood and Amber Neben . The Germans and Swiss women, both of whom were represented by three drivers, tried to wear down the favorite Cooke through several attacks. On the last crossing of the Gschaiderberg, only three riders remained at the top. Nicole Cooke, Nicole Brändli and Marianne Vos were caught up by their opponents on the descent. In the group's exciting sprint to the finish, the only 19-year-old Marianne Vos prevailed ahead of Trixi Worrack and Nicole Cooke.

The main peloton crossed the finish line 2:07 minutes behind, which 94 of the 136 registered riders achieved. Defending champion Regina Schleicher got off the bike after the second lap and gave up the race.

Individual time trial

space	Athlete	country	time
1	Kristin Armstrong	United States	35:04 min (44.638 km / h)
2	Karin Thürig	CHE	+ 0:26 min
3	Christine Thorburn	United States	+ 0:29 min
4th	Priska Doppmann	CHE	+ 0:55 min
5	Nicole Cooke	GBR	+ 0:56 min
6th	Sulphia Sabirova	KAZ	+ 0:59 min
7th	Judith Arndt	DEU	+ 1:04 min
8th	Lada Kozlíková	CZE	+ 1:06 min
9	Trixi Worrack	DEU	+ 1:19 min
10	Amber addition	United States	+ 1:27 min

Length: 26.12 km
Start: Wednesday, September 20, 12 noon CEST

The race was all about the time trial specialists. At the end of the day, two of the medal winners from the previous year were back on the podium. A total of 39 female drivers registered for the race, 37 of them finished.

The US-American Kristin Armstrong , who won the bronze medal last year, won in 35:04 minutes (44.638 km / h) from defending champion Karin Thürig , who reached the finish line 26 seconds behind and was actually preparing for the Ironman Hawaii . Third place went to Armstrong's compatriot Christine Thorburn , 29 seconds behind.

The German starters Judith Arndt and Trixi Worrack finished in 7th and 9th place, 1:04 and 1:19 minutes behind, respectively. Christiane Soeder , who was born in Germany and started for Austria, crossed the finish line in 16th. The Czech Lada Kozlíková , who was seven seconds ahead of Armstrong at the first split time measurement after 10.1 kilometers, broke in on the second part of the route and finally came in eighth.

Men U23

Road racing

space	athlete	country	time
1	Gerald Ciolek	DEU	4:00:50 h (44.146 km / h)
2	Romain Feillu	FRA	equal time
3	Alexander Chatuntsev	RUS	equal time
4th	Francesco Gavazzi	ITA	equal time
5	Jelle Vanendert	BEL	equal time
6th	Robert Gesink	NLD	equal time
7th	Jos van Emden	NLD	+ 0:04 min
8th	Sergei Kolesnikov	RUS	+ 0:05 min
9	Edvald Boasson Hagen	NOR	equal time
10	Danilo Wyss	CHE	equal time

Length: 177.2 km (8 laps of 22.15 km each)
Start: Saturday, September 23, 9:00 a.m. CEST

As expected, the course of the 177.2 km long race of the U23 men turned out to be very nervous. After just six kilometers, the silver medalist of the individual time trial, Mikhail Ignatiev, launched the first attack and was alone in the lead until the third lap.

After that, the leadership changed several times. On the fourth of a total of eight laps, a group of six was in the lead, which was reduced to three drivers on the climb to the Gschaiderberg . The fifth lap, the field crossed the finish line closed. After the sixth lap, a group of eleven was in front, but they were also unable to break away decisively.

Eight of the eleven drivers then started the final lap with a lead of around 30 seconds. Shortly before the last climb, however, they were caught. On the top of the mountain, Alexander Khatuntsev had slightly separated himself . This was followed by a quintet, which also included Gerald Ciolek from Germany and Robert Gesink from the Netherlands . They caught up with Chatunzew on the following descent and six of them hit the home straight in Salzburg. There Gerald Ciolek proved to be the strongest sprinter and secured the world title ahead of the Frenchman Romain Feillu and Alexander Chatunzew.

The main peloton crossed the finish line five seconds behind, which was achieved by 144 of the 178 registered drivers.

Individual time trial

space	athlete	country	time
1	Dominique Cornu	BEL	49:28 min (47.904 km / h)
2	Mikhail Ignatiev	RUS	+ 0:37 min
3	Jérôme Coppel	FRA	+ 0:45 min
4th	Alexander Filippov	RUS	+ 0:52 min
5	Edvald Boasson Hagen	NOR	+ 1:13 min
6th	Stefan Schäfer	DEU	+ 1:21 min
7th	Logan Hutchings	NZL	+ 1:25 min
8th	Simon Špilak	SVN	+ 1:27 min
9	Peter Latham	NZL	+ 1:29 min
10	Kristijan Koren	SVN	+ 1:36 min

Length: 39.54 km
Start: Wednesday, September 20, 2 p.m. CEST

The 39.54-kilometer race for which 61 starters entered, 59 of whom crossed the finish line, was shaped by the Belgian Dominique Cornu , who won the world title in an impressive manner. He finished with a time of 49:28 minutes (47.904 km / h). Second place went to last year's winner Michail Ignatjew from Russia, who was 37 seconds behind. Third was the highly traded Jérôme Coppel .

The Belgian was already in the lead at the first timing point. Only the Slovenian Kristijan Koren could keep up with him until then, but later had to pay tribute to his high starting pace and only crossed the finish line in tenth place.

The two German starters, Stefan Schäfer and Tony Martin , finished 6th and 18th.

Medal table

space	country	gold	silver	bronze	total
1	Germany	1	2	-	3
2	United States	1	1	1	3
3	Switzerland	1	1	-	2
4th	Belgium	1	-	-	1
	Italy	1	-	-	1
	Netherlands	1	-	-	1
7th	France	-	1	1	2
	Russia	-	1	1	2
9	Kazakhstan	-	-	1	1
	Spain	-	-	1	1
	United Kingdom	-	-	1	1

doping

On September 20 , the opening day of the competitions, the two Argentinians Martín Garrido and Matías Médici were excluded from the competitions in the “Elite Men” class and the Brazilian youngster Magno Nazaret in the “U23 Men” class. In the blood tests carried out by the UCI, these three drivers had elevated hematocrit levels , which suggest doping with the prohibited substance EPO . However, since the increased value can also be of natural origin, the drivers were given a 15-day protection ban, which is imposed in such a case.

The Austrian U23 driver Marco Oreggia tested positive for EPO in the A test and is therefore not eligible to start the U23 road race. Markus Eibegger from Styria and Christian Ebner from Lower Austria had already been excluded from the World Cup squad because they left the team camp without permission after the announcement of a doping test.

Sources and Notes

1. ↑ radsportnews.net from September 20, 2009: Entry ban for three South Americans ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ derstandard.at, EPO scandal in Austria's team

Web links

• Official website for the 2006 World Cup (German, English, French, Italian)

See also

• UCI Track World Championships 2006