Imola (Italy) (AFP)
The fall of the American Chloé Dygert left the road open to the Dutch Anna van der Breggen who won gold in the ladies' time trial of the World Cycling Championships on Thursday in Imola (Italy).
Set off to fly over the event, like last year in Yorkshire, Dygert lost control of his bike, in a wide downhill curve, and fell over the safety rail which it struck violently.
The young American (23 years old) was seriously injured in the left knee, wide open, and was evacuated by ambulance.
The accident gave the race back to the suspense that Dygert had suppressed by dominating his rivals in the first part of the race.
At the intermediate score, she preceded the Swiss Marlen Reusser by 26 seconds.
As for van der Breggen, she was then 36 seconds behind.
Reigning European champion, the Dutchwoman turned the situation around in the second half of the race.
After 31.7 kilometers, the same distance as for the men's time trial scheduled for Friday, she beat Reusser by 15 seconds and pushed her compatriot Ellen van Dijk to 31 seconds.
"I had no idea where I was," VDB + said.
"I told Danny Stam (sporting director) not to give me a part-time job. I just wanted to go as quickly as possible to the finish. That's when I crossed the line that I got knew I had won ".
In this race, the new world champion ended her run of second places (four since 2016).
At 30, her record is enriched with a new major title as she plans to end her career after the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Olympic road champion (2016), world champion two years later, the Dutchwoman won the women's Giro last Saturday under the jersey of her brand team (Boels-Dolmans).
On the French side, Andrey Cordon-Ragot took 11th place, 1 min 53 sec behind the Dutch.
La Bretonne did better than the French champion Juliette Labous (17th at 2 min 30 sec).
© 2020 AFP