Kristoffer Halvorsen wins U23 Men’s Road Race at the World Championships
Kristoffer Halvorsen of Norway won the bunch sprint to take the under 23 men’s world title in Doha. He outsprinted Pascal Ackermann (Germany) and Jakub Mareczko (Italy).
Norway and Germany led into the final kilometre, with their two sprinters engaging in a full-on sprint battle to secure the U23 world title.
Ackermann looked to have edged ahead of Halvorsen, only to see the Norwegian ease past him on the line. Jakub Mareczko (Italy) completed the podium in third place.
“It was a very hard sprint but the team did an amazing job and I got on the wheel of the German rider, so it was perfect. They were so good today, this was a team win,” Halvorsen said of his team-mates after winning the 48 rider bunch sprint.
“I’m just so happy. The course was perfect for me, it was flat with lot of corners, it was a big goal for me this year. It’s incredible. My dream now is to win the elite world title too.”
Halvorsen is Norway’s second winner in three years of the U-23 Men’s Road Race after Sven Erik Bystrom in 2014, who in turn followed compatriot Kurt-Asle Arvesen’s gold in the same event back in 1997.
After Thursday’s thrilling finale, racing continues on Friday with the Junior Men and Junior Women’s Road Races, held over 135.3 kilometres and 75 kilometres respectively.
World Championships 2016 – U23 Men’s Road Race:
| 1 | Kristoffer Halvorsen (Norway) |
3:40:53 |
| 2 | Pascal Ackermann (Germany) |
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| 3 | Jakub Mareczko (Italy) |
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| 4 | Phil Bauhaus (Germany) |
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| 5 | Amund Grondahl (Norway) |
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| 6 | Jason Lowndes (Australia) |
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| 7 | Garcia Cortina Ivan (Spain) |
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| 8 | Aksel Nömmela (Estonia) |
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| 9 | Jonathan Dibben (Great Britain) |
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| 10 | Alan Banaszek (Poland) |
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