BERGEN, Norway (AP) – Giro d’ Italia champion Tom Dumoulin won the time trial world title on Wednesday, beating runner-up Primoz Roglic and Tour de France and Vuelta de Espana winner Chris Froome to cap a remarkable season.
Dumoulin covered the 31-kilometer route featuring the grueling climb of Mount Floyen in 44 minutes, 41 seconds. His ride was so dominant that he was the fastest at every checkpoint and nearly caught Froome, who is one of the world’s best against the clock and had started 90 seconds ahead of him.
“I can’t believe it,” said Dumoulin, who also won the overall at the BinckBank Tour. “I thought my power meter was off because it was so high. I felt really, really good.”
Tom Dumoulin of The Netherlands competes in the UCI Cycling Road World Championships men elite individual time trial in Bergen, Norway, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix)
It started to rain for Dumoulin’s ride, but that hardly slowed him down. He finished 58 seconds ahead of Slovenian star Roglic and 1:21 ahead of Froome, who added a bronze medal to a historic summer for the Brit that included back-to-back Grand Tour triumphs.
“A massive congratulations to Tom. I’m just glad I’ve got no regrets,” said Froome, who decided to race the world championships despite coming off the three-week Vuelta.
“I gave it everything I had and I’d much rather be here and get a bronze than be at home wondering, ‘What if?'” he said. “The question has been answered and now it’s time to put my feet up.”
Dumoulin, who earned the bronze medal at the world championships three years ago, was also part of Team Sunweb’s gold medal-winning effort in Sunday’s team trial.
“Doing the double is amazing. Last Sunday it was a bit of a surprise that we won with the team,” he said. “Today is less surprising – I was one of the favorites. But in some ways that makes it harder.”
Some riders chose to get off their time trial bikes and mount a traditional road bike for the climb up Mount Floyen. But Dumoulin saved some time by staying on his aerodynamic TT bike, though he was so much stronger on the rest of the course that it hardly mattered.
His victory continued a stellar string of results for the Dutch at the world champions. Annemiek van Vlueten and Anna van der Breggen gave the Netherlands a 1-2 finish in the women’s race Tuesday.
Nelson Oliveria of Portugal was fourth and Vasil Kiryieka of Belarus was fifth, while four-time and defending champ Tony Martin of Germany finished ninth on a course that did not suit his strengths.
French contender Alexis Gougeard had a mechanical problem on the final climb that knocked him from podium contention, while Australia’s Rohan Dennis – who was within 10 seconds of Dumoulin on the flatter section – crashed hard before remounting and finishing eighth.
Britain’s Chris Froome competes in the UCI Cycling Road World Championships men elite individual time trial in Bergen, Norway, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix)
Laurens De Plus from Belgium competes in the UCI Cycling Road World Championships men elite individual time trial in Bergen, Norway, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017. (Marit Hommedal/NTB Scanpix)
Tom Dumoulin of The Netherlands competes in the UCI Cycling Road World Championships men elite individual time trial in Bergen, Norway, Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017. (Cornelius Poppe/NTB Scanpix)
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