Follow britishcycling.org.uk on  

World Masters Road Title for Anne Plant

Story posted September 8

The 16th UCI World Masters Road Racing Championships were held in St Johann during the last week of August.  Over 2,000 competitors from 67 nations competed in various age groups on a hilly 42 km closed road circuit. One of the many British competitors, Ann Plant, was successful in winning her age group and here is her story:

With just an hour to go before the start of the day’s racing, and whilst I was warming up, the skies had darkened and the imminent rain began with accompanying thunder. Of the 30 women due to start the over 50’s event, only 22 lined up on the start – the weather conditions now being nothing less than horrendous. 

Heavy rain and strong winds were forecast for the rest of the afternoon. After the flat and neutral start, the race headed for the notorious Hocheberg, the first climb. This saw a group of eight immediately become the break. Before the second climb, three riders clawed their way back, only to lose contact as I pushed the pace hard on the second ascent in order to make the dangerous descent relatively in my own time.

I did drift from the front to the back of the re-formed group of nine on this sweeping, fast, and dangerous descent. This established group now became ‘the race’ and almost all of these riders tried and were unsuccessful in various attempts to jump away from the front which meant that a group of nine riders approached the difficult dog-leg junction with 1000m to go.

As the group approached the 500 metre to go point, the pace was high enough to start to string out the riders and I was well placed near the front on the dangerous final bend – a curve tracking the road through another 90 degrees. At this point, I had planned to launch a sprint, whatever the cost, as the finish was in sight and my preparation led me to believe that a long ‘sprint’ was my best option. This proved to be the case and by the finish, clear spaces were visible between first, second and third riders, who were clear of the remaining six.

Race Result -- 2010 World Masters Road Race, Women over 50
1.  Anne Plant    GBR  1.07.33
2.  Marion Bax  NED  1.07.33
3.  Petra Kluender  GER 1.07.33
4.  Claudia Pfisterer  AUT 1.07.33
5.  Vida Ursic   SLO 1.07.33
6.  Brigitte Kern  GER 1.07.33
7.  Bev Ronnow  USA 1.07.33
8.  Sissel Vien   NOR    1.07.33
9.  Ilse Gerersdorfer  AUT  1.07.33
10.  Partizia Cabella  ITA 1.08.25