Scott Davies took a top ten finish for Great Britain with a seventh place finish in the junior men’s race at the UCI Road World Championships in Florence, Italy.
British Cycling Olympic Development Programme athlete Davies, 18, was in a chasing group behind Dutch winner Mathieu van der Poel, who had attacked fellow escapee Franck Bonnamour with five kilometres to go of the 140-kilometre course, on the steep Via Salviati climb.
Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart chances of a podium spot were ended after a snapped chain and subsequent wait for a bike change left him pursuing the peloton solo, which eventually proved too great a task.
Denmark’s Mads Pedersen took silver and Albania’s Iltjan Nika bronze.
“It would have been nice to get on the podium but I can’t complain at that to be honest,” Davies said.
“I didn’t expect it to come down like that, coming in to the last lap I started to cramp up and then van der Poel and Pedersen hit it up that climb so I got gapped a bit. Fortunately there was a few of us behind who chased back on the descent.
“We got gapped again on the steep climb and did the same and chased back then jumped from rider to rider and it worked out alright in the end. I was really on the limit.”
Hart said the race was well poised before his snapped chain.
“The race was going perfectly. That big break went but we took the responsibility, everyone was watching us and knew we were doing to do something,” Hart said. “We brought it down a lot and I was feeling amazing, the best I’ve felt all year to be honest.
"My chain snapped on the steep climb, the third time up, probably the worst possible timing as the bunch was completely strung out so I had to wait a minute and a half, get a spare bike.
“By the top of the next long climb I was within about 15 seconds if the bunch but that was as close as I could get they were going full gas.”
Results
