Nevermind that I wasn't originaly planning to watch the 2014 UCI Cycling World Championships in person and that it was a scramble to find last minute flights and accommodation that weren't embarrassingly expensive and that I helped my cousin PR in a half marathon just a handful of hours before I started a 19 hour journey…nevermind all of that because I made it to Ponferrada after all!
I missed the first 2 days of racing since I was in transit but I was pretty happy that the first race I saw was the Junior Men's Time Trial. This is a race that's become near to my heart after I ended up watching most of it last year with the family of Zeke Mostov, a young American who was one of the first riders to start in Florence and spent the bulk of the day in the hot seat. When the last rider finished, Mostov came away with the bronze medal and I've since become friends with his mom. Today we had plans to meet near the finish and watch the race together.
Mostov would be the only defending medalist competing today. The silver medalist from 2013 had aged out of the Juniors and was now a U23. Tragically, the gold medalist from 2013, Igor Decraene, was killed a few weeks ago when he was hit by a train coming home from a party. I remember watching his mother storm the fence and brush off the Italian security like they were mere flies in order to embrace her son after he'd crossed the finish line. In a thoughtful tribute to the Belgian, no one would wear number 1 in the Junior Men's TT. My heart goes out to his family and friends who I'm sure would give anything to have seen Igor compete today.
The first rider to start things off was Uzbekistan's Roman Shukurov. I desperately wanted to dust off my Uzbek and strike up a conversation with him, but I'm guessing he's more Russian than Uzbek with a name like Roman and the kid looked pretty focused so I left him alone to finish his warm up.
Shukurov waiting for his countdown to start the race.
Based on Zoheir Benyoub's socks and shoe covers, I think it's safe to say Algeria's cycling federation does not have an overwhelming budget.
David Karl sneaks a glance at Spaniard Xavier Canellas.
The hard truth is that many of the riders here today will not advance beyond the junior level, so it's cool to see that not only are a lot of the riders themselves excited to have made it to the Worlds, their coaches and support staff are soaking it all in, too.
Each bike must be checked that it conforms to the UCI's standards.
A quiet moment for Brazil's Andre Gohr.
I didn't linger at the start for too long since I had to meet Emily and Keith, the parents of Zeke Mostov. The finish line was just a few minutes' walk, so I headed over to check it out and to find a good spot for us to follow the race.
Shukurov, as the first rider to finish, was the race leader…until the next rider finished.
Being a Tuesday morning, the crowd wasn't exactly huge.
Meanwhile, the riders who had already finished prepared to make their way back to their hotels. It never fails to surprise me that no one bothers to tell the riders how to make their way back to their hotels. Below: 2 riders stop to ask a volunteer for directions on how to get out of the fenced maze.
Ivo Oliveira rode past an empty VIP area with 100 meters to go.
Some of the Slovenian team paused their training to watch the time trial.
Sven Reutter set the new fastest time at the finish.
American Adrien Costa had started the course and was the fastest rider at the first time check. Costa's family weren't able to be in Spain and since he and Mostov are great friends who have ridden together for most of their cycling careers, we were also responsible for being Costa's cheering section.
The German rider's time in the hot seat was short lived as Luxembourg's Tom Wirtgen, 2 riders later, knocked 5 seconds off Reutter's time.
Wirtgen's time as the race leader was even shorter still. Filippo Ganna, the very next rider, was fastest by 24 seconds.
We'd been paying close attention to Costa's splits and he was on course to take the lead. He came through like a bat out of hell and was the first rider to finish in under 37 minutes (36:57).
Australian Michael Storer couldn't beat the American and slotted in behind him.
View of the finishing straight…and of a determined spectator.
As the only defending medalist competing today, Zeke Mostov had a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Watching him on the screen, he seemed to be riding well, but he didn't set any new fastest times at any of the checks so he was simply unable to match the power of his peers. He crossed the line in fourth place, out of medal contention.
I've never even formally met the kid and I was pretty gutted for him. His parents were accepting but it was still painful for his mom in a way that I'm sure only mothers can feel after watching her son dedicate himself so passionately to a singular goal for the last several months.
There were still 2 riders to finish but only one who threatened Costa. Germany's Lennard Kamna was tearing up the course. He'd already passed the French rider who started 90 seconds ahead of him and Kamna showed no signs of wearing out. If Costa came through like a bat out of hell, then Kamna was nothing less than a rocket.
Kamna won the Junior Men's Time Trial Championships with a whopping 44 seconds in hand.
The podium: 1st Lennard Kamna, 2nd Adrien Costa, 3rd Michael Storer.
