The first event of the day was the Junior Men’s 22 kilometer ITT and I was pumped! Two of the first 3 riders to start were Uzbek and I try to never miss an opportunity to cheer for my favorite doubly landlocked country. My plan was to see the last couple hundred meters of the race and catch them at the team bus area afterwards. I was ready with my sign!
Sergey Medvedev was the first rider on the course and I cheered as loud as I could for the young Uzbek.
The next rider finished and I waited for Khusniddin Khakimov, the other scheduled Uzbek, but the next rider to finish was Kazakh, followed by a Russian. Hmm. I doubted he’d been passed by 2 riders and was suspecting Khakimov hadn’t started. I figured I’d go to the buses and see if Medvedev was still around, but I could hear the 5th rider to start approaching and I could hear that he was flying. It was Zeke Mostov, a 17 year old American, and he was smoking the road.
Zeke’s time was good enough to put him in the hot seat and this is where he remained for most of the day. I did a quick lap of the buses, no sign of the Uzbek anywhere, and headed back to the course. Rider after rider finished but they all looked lackluster after Zeke’s performance.
There wasn’t a ton of people at the race but there were enough to make some good noise. Unfortunately, the stands were completely empty and the opposite side of the street with its VIP tents was equally deserted. It’s a shame to think these kids have given so much to get to the World Championships and no one is there to see them cross the finish line except for a few UCI race officials.
Adam Jamieson, the first of 2 Canadians, placed 37th overall, having passed a Turkish rider in the home stretch.
They’d had a frantic morning of alarm clocks and taxis, and then getting a text message from Zeke that he wanted his family to visit him in the hot seat added to the intense excitement. Since I had been to the finish area a couple of times already, I guided them around the sports complex to the finish line/hot seat since they didn’t have VIP bracelets that would have allowed them to walk the 200 meters directly.
In no time, I felt fully invested in Zeke and his family! We made it to the back entrance which was about 30 meters passed the finish line. We could see the tent that housed the hot seat where the race leader and the next 3 highest ranked riders stay until another cyclist finishes with a faster time and bumps someone out. Cycling is a cruel sport but to see the anxiety on a rider’s face as he sits in the hot seat and watches his competition come in, constantly wondering, “Is this the guy going to best me? Maybe? No, good. What about this one? How many more riders to finish…?” Oh, I can hardly stand it when I’m watching on TV but to be with that rider’s family was a whole new level.
It wasn’t a surprise but it was disappointing that security wouldn’t let the Mostov family in. The only thing to do was to watch the remaining 40 odd riders come in and listen to the occasional commentary for updates.
Canadian Jack Burke finished in 19th place.
Some of the riders looked destroyed after they had finished.
When Matthew Gibson, a British rider who ended up just 10 seconds behind Zeke’s time, finished, he looked exhausted behind words. Someone in the finish area stepped in front of him without looking, so Gibson swerved to avoid a collision, but the act of making a sudden hard turn seemed to be too much for him. His arms buckled and he hit the deck still clipped in to his bike. I was already taking a photo when he started to go down and it was horrible to watch him collapse. As if your heart didn’t already go out to this kid who just turned 17 a couple of weeks ago, he started to throw up anything that was in his system. The medical team was already on the scene as he landed, so they took care of him, but it was beyond humbling to witness the aftermath of one young athlete’s efforts. Gibson ultimately placed 5th.
Most riders went to the nearest fence, unclipped, and tossed themselves on the ground while their coach and teammates brought water, electrolyte drinks, and cans of Coke.
After a few minutes to recover, the cyclists generally got back on their bikes to ride the short distance to their bus or gave a quick interview.
With each rider that finished, Zeke was guaranteed a top 20 finish, then top 15, top 10, and top 5. To say it was stressful or nerve wracking would be an insulting understatement. When only a few riders remained on course, Mathias Krigbaum, a Dane, bumped Zeke into second place by 12 seconds. The last rider to finish, Belgian Igor Decraene, was the fastest rider of the day and beat Krigbaum by 8 seconds, pushing Zeke into third place but keeping him on the podium!
Below: Decraene finishing, the media surrounding him as he laid on the ground, and his family who stormed security to congratulate him.
Meanwhile, this is what it looks like when a mother realizes her child is going to be on the podium at the World Championships.
The race organizers actually got Zeke’s name backwards, calling him Mostov Zeke, but all that mattered was that his hard work had been repaid with a medal.
Just before the awards ceremony began, security let everyone in. We passed the hot seat on the way to the ceremony.
I told Zeke’s family to just enjoy the moment and that I’d take plenty of photos for them.
Zeke Mostov was one happy cyclist!
The family was given maybe a grand total of 10 seconds together for a picture before Zeke was whisked away to anti-doping control. You can see the hand coming in on the right to literally pull him away.
Personally, I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Zeke and to thank his parents and brother for letting me be part of such an enormous family moment. Chapeau!
One last note. Apparently the last time an American finished on the podium at the Junior Men’s ITT, it was Lawson Craddock (see yesterday’s post for more on him). And before that? Some kid named Taylor Phinney (who certainly featured in my posts from last year’s Olympics and last month’s Eneco Tour, not to mention is one of the riders I will be rooting for in the elite men’s ITT and road race this week). So Zeke is in some good company for sure.
Results
1st: Igor Decraene, Belgium
2nd: Mathias Krigbaum, Denmark
3rd: Zeke Mostov(!), USA
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