U.S. men, Germany women highlight first day action at UCI Worlds

The 2015 UCI Road World Championships began in Richmond yesterday with the Men’s and Women’s Team Trials.

The cyclists started the 38.6-kilometer (24-mile) course at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden north of the city before making their way downtown. The teams followed Monument Avenue and East Main Street into Shockoe Bottom and through the Richmond National Battlefield Park. They then looped back into Shockoe Bottom and continued on Main Street before taking two sharp turns to finish on 5th and Broad streets at the Richmond Downtown Marriott.

For the men’s trial, BMC Racing Team of the U.S. took the title with a time of 42:07. Team Etixx-Quick Step of Belgium finished 11 seconds later for second place followed by the Movistar Team from Spain, which finished 30 seconds after first place.

The BMC Racing Team led the race through all four checkpoints. Sunday’s win marked the second consecutive UCI world team time trial championship for the U.S. team.

In the women’s trial, Team Velocio-SRAM of Germany finished first with a time of 47:35. Boels Dolman of the Netherlands finished second just six seconds behind the winner. Velocio-SRAM led the race for the first two checkpoints, before Boels Dolman took over first place at the third checkpoint by three seconds. On the final hill, Velocio-SRAM was able to regain the lead and keep it for the final 680-meter stretch to the finish line.

In 2015, Velocio-SRAM has had 25 victories and is fourth in the UCI rankings. The win Sunday was the fourth consecutive for the team in a world team time trial championship.

Contact sports assistant Olivia Healy at olivia.healy@richmond.edu