Host Country dominates 2014 World University Cycling Championship
The 6th edition of the World University Cycling Championship took place in Jelenia Gora, Poland from 9 to 13 July. Over 150 riders from 21 countries participated in this FISU single sport event.
TIME TRIAL
Monika Brzeźna (POL) led the competition for a long time. Surprisingly faster than Brzeźna was her team-mate Martyna Klekot (POL) with a result 38:18:98. Finally Brzeźna ended third, because Kathrin Hammes (GER) finished 13 seconds faster. Martyna Klekot was happy about the competition. “It was a tough race for me, but I am really satisfied with the result”, Martyna said. “Winning gold at home tastes extremely good.” In the Men’s Time Trial, the main favourites were Petr Vakoc (CZE) and Adrian Kurek (POL). They met the expectations and both climbed the medal podium afterwards. Vakoc finished first, Kurek was third, while Tim Gebauer from Germany ended on the second spot.
ROAD RACE
Kathrin Hammes from Germany won the women’s road race. In the men’s race, Petr Vakoc (CZE) took his second gold at this WUC. It was also a good race day for the host riders who won another three medals. Due to the tough weather conditions, the UCI’s judges decided to cut one lap of the race. The women competed on the 65km route. From the very first meters of the race a small group of cyclists took the lead, with two Polish riders, Katarzyna Solus-Miśkowicz and Martyna Klekot. Also the silver medallist of the time trial Kathrin Hammes was present in that group. And these three student-athletes battled it out for the medals. Finally, Hammes won. Second was Solus-Miśkowicz, Klekot third. The men competed on the 94 km route. Few minutes after their start rain began to fall, which affected the outcome of the race. After 75 km in the race, Czech cyclist Petr Vakoc, the time trial gold medallist from the previous day, took the lead. He left no room to his rivals and pocketed his second gold in Jelenia Gora. Tim Gebauer (GER) finished after him and Emanuel Piaskowy (POL) ended third.
XCO TRIAL
Katarzyna Solus-Miskowicz was a favourite of the women’s competition. Two days earlier she took the silver medal in the road race. She didn’t disappoint her supporters and won with a very good result (15:08:1). It took Barbara Benko from Hungary 22 seconds longer to complete the time trial. Third place was for Marine Groccia from Switzerland. Marek Konwa was tipped as a winner of the men’s competition. Konwa stayed focused and rode firmly from start to finish. It gave him a very good result: 11:56:40. Surprisingly, Czech athlete Jan Nesvadba clocked only eight seconds more than Konwa to pocket the silver. Third in the men’s was Swiss Emilien Barben.
XCO MASS START
Katarzyna Solus-Miśkowicz (POL) took her second gold and third medal in the women’s XCO Mass Start. Hungarian Barbara Benko finished second and third was Marine Goccia from Switzerland. In the men’s race Emilien Barben from Switzerland pocketed the gold, before Polish favourite Marek Konwa. Third was Jan Nesvabda from Czech Republic.
Host country Poland leads the medal table with 4 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze. It is followed by Czech Republic (2-1-1) and Germany (1-3-0), while Switzerland (1-0-3) and Hungary (0-2-0) complete the Top Five.