Julie Bego of France took a brave solo victory at the Junior Women’s race at the UCI Road World Championships in Glasgow, beating British favourite Cat Ferguson and Belgium’s Fleur Moors.
Bego attacked with 20km remaining in the race on the ascent of Eldon Street in Glasgow’s city centre, and managed to build an advantage that stayed between 10 and 20 seconds for the final lap of the 70.3km race.
Persistent attacks came from the British, Belgian and Italian riders in the chase group of a dozen riders but they were unable to reel in lone attacker Bego, who also kept her nerve during a short downpour.
Ferguson bridged back to a late attack from Fleur Moors and beat the Belgian rider on the bike throw, just nine seconds behind Bego.
Italian team leader Federica Venturelli narrowly missed out on the podium in fourth place.
“It’s two months that I’ve been telling everyone that I’ll be world champion,” Bego said after the race.
“Today I made it happen. I’ve worked so hard, and there have been six months that I’ve thought about it.”
“I was afraid that I wanted it so much I’d make mistakes,” she added. “I had an amazing team around me, and today I knew that success wouldn’t just be about how strong I was but how the team would be there. The atmosphere in the team was amazing… I’m the World Champion but I also had the best team today.”
Speaking about the race tactics, Bego described how the French plans played out well.
“I was told to stay quiet for the first few laps and come to the front in the third lap and in the end attacked before the last lap.”
“I was worried I went too far out, and I wouldn’t have the strength to go all the way to the finish,” she added. “I convinced myself that I wasn’t going to make it just to be focused. I took a few risks in the corners but now I’m World Champion.”
How it unfolded
The Junior Women’s race set off from George’s Square in Glasgow watched by impressive crowds, as they offered a first glimpse of the city centre World Championship road race course.
The pace was immediately led by Great Britain, who entered the race as the widely recognised strongest team in the field.
An early attack from Australian Felicity Wilson-Haffendon ended abruptly as she skidded out on a downhill corner on the first lap and suffered a nasty collision with the barriers. Over the first 10km the pace was animated and led to an early selection with a large chase group falling 30 seconds behind the main field.
Wilson-Haffendon was thankfully soon back on her bike and in the chase group, but had a mechanical on the key 14% ascent of Montrose Street, which saw her move onto a neutral service bike and lose touch with the chase group.
Great Britain remained dominant on the front of the peloton, with time trial specialist Izzy Sharp making successive attacks from the front of the group. Sharp didn’t manage to break clear but the pace of the Great Britain, Belgium, German and French teams, led to an attritional race leaving only 40 riders in the front group as the race entered the last 40km.
British rider Carys Lloyd pushed the pace with 43 km to go and rode solo for several kilometres. Germany's Pia Grunewald bridged across but Lloyd dropped her on the climb with 41k to go. However, the larger chase group soon pulled the British rider back.
Entering the final 30km, Belgium, Great Britain and France were all well-represented in the leading group, and the race seemed set up for a sprint finish - as the fourth ascent of Montrose Street saw the field trimmed down to only 30 riders.
Bego made her attack during the penultimate lap, on the leafy ascent of Eldon Street and quickly opened a 13-second lead.
Bego, a race favourite entering the Worlds and having previously finished second in Trofeo Binda Juniors, presented a serious threat to British favourite Cat Ferguson. The British team found themselves on the defence with other French riders able to sit on their wheels as passengers, as Britain and Italy led the chase.
The chase group, now whittled down to only 14 riders, started the final lap under heavy rain and a significant 15 seconds behind the lone French leader.
With 12 km remaining Ferguson made an attack in pursuit of the French breakaway rider, but the chase group soon closed her down. With Ferguson’s two British teammates unable to drive the chase at speed, Bego remained 11 seconds ahead as the race entered the final 10 km.
Belgium, with Xaydee van Dinaey and Fleur Moors, then made an attack, bringing the gap to Bego back to under 10 seconds. However the chase fell to pieces as the Belgian riders eased and the group began to hesitate.
On the final ascent of Eldon Street, Bego maintained her lead on the chase despite an aggressive attack from Italian rider Federica Venturelli.
The next attack came from Ferguson, who struck out on a 12% ascent, and brought the gap down to 10 seconds as the group entered the final five kilometres. However, she proved to be a marked rider and was unable to move clear of her chasers.
As the race entered the final two kilometres, Bego held a 30-second lead and was certain to give France the first road race world title of the Glasgow championships. She had time to celebrate alone, as the chasers fought for the minor medals.
Results
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