Kiwi riders Niamh Fisher-Black and Mikayla Harvey both claimed top 25 finishes in the women's road race at the road world championships in Italy, as Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen became a double world champion with victory in Italy.
On Sunday (NZ time), Van der Breggen who had already won gold two years ago in Innsbruck, Austria, jumped away from a reduced pack on the climb to the Cima Gallisterna in the penultimate lap, 41.5 km from the finish, and never looked back.
The win added to her time trial win earlier in the week, becoming just the second rider to win both events at the same world champs, after France's Jeannie Longo in 1995, to achieve the road race-time trial double since the solo effort against the clock was added to the world championships in 1994.
"It was a really hard race right from the beginning," she says. "The climbs are really tough but in the third lap I felt strong.
"We made the race harder and I just went for it. Everybody was tired.
Another Dutchwoman, defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten, took silver and Italian Elisa Longo Borghini claimed the bronze medal.
For New Zealand, Fisher-Black was the pick of the Kiwis finishing 15th while Harvery was 22nd.
Fellow Kiwi Georgia Williams, in a support role for the road race, placed well inside the top half of the field, finishing 46th of the 142 starters.
"For my first world championships it has not sunk in yet but we have all had good races today," says Fisher-Black.
"I was pretty nervous all week in my first world championships, and the first few laps were really tense with the big group, some crashes and some close calls.
"When the gas went on from the Italians and Dutch, it thinned out and it was full-on from there and super-hard.
"We just couldn't go with the small break on the final climb but overall, for me, a top-20 finish in my first worlds is amazing. Honestly I came in with no expectations at all."
The hastily rearranged world championships will conclude on Monday with the men's road race which will feature Kiwis George Bennett, Dion Smith, Patrick Bevin and Finn Fisher-Black.
Reuters/Newshub.
