(DO) Results beyond the pageĬhris Symonds (Ghana) racing in the elite men's time trial at the Flanders World Championships (Image credit: Bettini Photo) It's a boost for the discipline, which is tipped for a future Olympic berth with the IOC seeking more mixed-gender competition. This year also saw the mixed relay shift in the Worlds calendar, moved to take a spot after the individual time trial and drawing a higher quality field as a result with Ganna, Longo Borghini and Martin joined by Annemiek van Vleuten, Magnus Cort, Stefan Küng and TT gold medallist Ellen van Dijk. Five-hundredths of a second separated the two squads, as Filippo Ganna added his second medal of the Worlds, with the tight contest proving there was drama to be had outside of the 'main' events before and after. That may have been the main story of the day but it certainly wasn't the only one, with Italy pipping Switzerland to bronze on the bike throw of Marta Cavalli and Elisa Longo Borghini at the line. Of course, the post-race reaction was centred on Martin, his teammates paying tribute with Brennauer saying 'When we heard some days ago that this would be his last event, we promised him to make it a good one.' Tony Martin signed off his 16-year career with a fourth rainbow jersey, as his five teammates Lisa Brennauer, Mieke Kröger, Lisa Klein, Nikias Arndt, and Max Walscheid also triumphed. It's fair to say the reception has been mixed, but the second edition of the race in Flanders provided moments of real drama and a send-off for one of the top time triallists in recent history.

The mixed relay team time trial is the newest event at the World Championships, having been introduced as a replacement for the trade team's TTT two years ago. Germany win the team time trial mixed relay a the Flanders World Championships (Image credit: Getty Images Sport) The women juniors didn't take a top five, and it was the same story in the elite women's races, which saw Lotte Kopecky among the pre-road race favourites before her eventual 16th place finish. Huge crowds turned out to pack the courses around Brugge and Leuven throughout the week, with an estimated one million people watching Sunday's action from the roadside, but rather than a glorious week packed with gold, Belgian supporters instead got something different.Įuropean men's junior time trial champion, Alec Segaert, took bronze in the same event in Flanders, while race favourite, the much-hyped Cian Uijtdebroeks, couldn't recover from early crashes in the junior men's road race. Whatever the home nation's ambitions for the week's racing, an outcome amounting to three bronze medals and a silver – none at all in the elite men's or women's road race – was certainly not what Belgium had hoped to take away from their first home World Championships in almost two decades. 2021 UCI World Championships in Flanders - Men Elite Road Race from Antwerp to Leuven (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Time is winding down meaning