Crashes hold junior Kiwis back

Neutral service support  ©Graham Watson

Sep 25th, 11. Crashes at the start and finish of the junior men's road race hampered the chances of the Kiwi team at the Worlds last night and they didn't get the results they were capable of.

Before the event got underway everybody expected a bunch sprint but the riders decided differently: a group of six riders broke away on the last two laps with three of them narrowly surviving to the finish line.

French Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier took the gold in front of Martijn Degreve from Belgium and Steven Lammertink from the Netherlands.

Behind them, the Kiwis made their way to the finish line after being caught behind crashes in the final of nine laps.

Alex Frame was the first Kiwi in the action, but for all the wrong reasons.  He crashed early in the 126km race and although he tried valiantly to reconnect with the peloton, he was not able to and left the race.

While Frame was still chasing, Fraser Gough punctured and also faced a tough chase back. He made it to the main bunch and only narrowly avoided another crash at the back of the peloton.

Half way through the race two riders stole off the front. Kiwis James Oram, silver medallist in the TT event, then Dion Smith and Hayden McCormick helped the chase and with two laps to go the attack was neutralised.

It was not long after that three pairs of riders from France, Belgium and the Netherlands got a jump on the field.  The time gap came down and down as the pace was held high, but crashes again interrupted proceedings. 

On the final lap there were two crashes which took down more than 15 riders, including both McCormick and Smith. Smith was the best Kiwi finisher in 40th place behind Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier who proved breaks can stay free on this Worlds' course.

UCI World Road Championships

• Road race results from the UCI Road World Championships
• New World Road Champion Mark Cavendish
• Kiwis Worlds foiled by crash
• Jack Bauer ready for Worlds challenge
• Linda Villumsen races to plan
• Crashes hold junior Kiwis back
• Disappointment for U23 Kiwi men
• Junior Kiwis in the action, not just the good action
• Start lists for the road race events
• Kiwi family has two riders to cheer at the Worlds
• All time trial results
• Tony Martin delivers a World Champion performance
• Big images of the Kiwis in action
• Jack Bauer happy with Top 20 performance
• UCI name Jesse Sergent as one of the favourites
• Silver success for Linda Villumsen
• Stunning silver medal for James Oram
• Junior Kiwis benefit from World Champs merger
• Two Kiwis 6th best TT times in the World
• Aussies steal all the action on Day 1 
• Women's elite TT start list
• NZ team and race schedule