Melissa Lowther and Jon Dibben took top-ten finishes as Great Britain started their 2014 UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain.

Lowther, 18, finished seventh in the morning's junior women's time trial before Dibben delivered sixth place in the under-23 men's equivalent.

Lowther completed her 13.9-kilometre lap in a time of 20:36.08 in wet conditions in the Province of Leon.

She finished 27 seconds down on Australian winner Macey Stewart with Denmark’s Pernille Mathiesen taking silver and Stewart’s compatriot Anna-Leeza Hull bronze.

Grace Garner also represented Great Britain in the race, finishing in 41st. The 17-year-old had been suffering with illness ahead of the time trial.

“Mel’s ride, top ten, is fantastic. To put herself up there in seventh place, I’m really happy with that,” Great Britain coach Matt Winston said.

“Grace came down with illness during the week and was slowly getting better so we went with the decision to race her. She wasn’t 100%. She rode a technically very sound race.”

Rain throughout the morning in the Province of Leon left standing water on the roads to test the first riders out on the course.

Lowther, making her road world championships debut, was the seventh rider of 49 down the start ramp and set the early pace, going through the 5.7-kilometre time check in 7:53.27.

Crossing the line, Lowther moved into the hot seat but was eventually replaced by American Emma White before the Australian duo of Hull and Stewart also bettered Lowther’s effort.  

Garner, also making her first appearance in the road world championships, reached the time check in 8:13.63 as the rain returned for the latter part of the event. The European junior team pursuit champion finished in 22:06.14.

“I’m pretty pleased with how the girls applied themselves for the time trials. Conditions were pretty tricky out there,” Winston added.

“It’s rained all morning, the road are pretty slippy so I thought the way they handled themselves, having only ridden it in the dry, was technically very good. They rode the course technically very well.”

Like Lowther, Dibben also produced a resolute ride, this time in the under-23 men’s time trial.

The 20-year-old completed a 36.15-kilometre course in 45:51.59, 38 seconds down on Australian winner Campbell Flakemore as the torrential rain returned.

Ireland’s Ryan Mullen collected silver, less than a second slower than Flakemore. Switzerland’s Stefan Keung completed the podium in third.

British under-23 time trial champion Scott Davies was 24th with a time of 45:51.59.

Dibben, who missed the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after fracturing his elbow, was the 17th rider of 63 to start his lap, managing to complete a small section of the course before the heavens opened.

Crossing the line in second at the time, behind Portugal’s Rafael Ferreira Reis, Dibben could only watch on to see how his time would stand up against the remaining riders.  

Mullen’s lap then forced Dibben into third before German Maximilian Schachmann pushed the Southampton-born rider out of the medals.

Flakemore’s impressive last sector gave him gold before Keung forced Dibben into sixth.

Results

Junior women's time trial
Under-23 men's time trial