27/09/2014 Cycling


27/09/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 27/09/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Lizzie Armitt said is going to take the gold medal. Nobody within sight.

:00:22.:00:34.

Mark Cavendish is champion of the world. Bradley Wiggins powers

:00:35.:00:40.

towards the line. Chris Froome is the champion of this 100th to a

:00:41.:00:43.

difference. -- to a the castle of the Knights Templar

:00:44.:00:58.

here in north-west Spain. The Knights took possession of this to

:00:59.:01:06.

protect pilgrims on the road to Santiago to Compostela. The pilgrims

:01:07.:01:09.

still come, the Knights have long since gone. Until this week. So

:01:10.:01:15.

Bradley Wiggins, can he add the world time trial title to his

:01:16.:01:23.

mightily impressive record? Tony Martin going for a fourth world

:01:24.:01:29.

title in a row. It is going to be the fastest four seconds. Martin

:01:30.:01:32.

leading the way, Wiggins usually so good at measuring his effort.

:01:33.:01:37.

Feeling the heat. Martin 2.5 seconds slower than Bradley Wiggins. His

:01:38.:01:43.

back is against the wall now. Wiggins is going to have to produce

:01:44.:01:48.

the descent of his life here. This is going to be the fastest time,

:01:49.:01:53.

will it be a gold? Here comes Tony Martin. He is not going to do it.

:01:54.:01:58.

Bradley Wiggins is the world champion. Good afternoon from

:01:59.:02:10.

Ponferrada. Bradley Wiggins already set that record. Extended highlights

:02:11.:02:14.

coming later on after the main event, the women's road race. We

:02:15.:02:23.

will focus on the women's road race first, a comment on Bradley's

:02:24.:02:29.

performance on Wednesday. For me it was an amazing ride. There has been

:02:30.:02:34.

talk about his form this year. To say, yes, I still have got it. It

:02:35.:02:41.

was a fantastic ride. To put Tony Martin to bed way he did. He did not

:02:42.:02:46.

just win the world time trial, he beat Tony Martin, who was on form.

:02:47.:02:56.

Certainly mission accomplished by Bradley Wiggins. In great form. A

:02:57.:03:02.

knight in shining armour, there is always a damsel in distress. We have

:03:03.:03:06.

a damsel in the women's road race, she is not in distress though.

:03:07.:03:13.

Armitstead now putting in the full gas. The British champion wins. That

:03:14.:03:25.

was a stunning display. The World Cup leader, Lizzie Armitstead hits

:03:26.:03:30.

the front. It will be a drag race to the end. Lizzie Armitstead is the

:03:31.:03:37.

winner of the women's World Cup, there she is in the jersey she has

:03:38.:03:43.

worn all season. She will not be denied here in Glasgow, it is gold

:03:44.:03:48.

for Lizzie Armitstead, gold for England in the women's road race.

:03:49.:03:55.

Lizzie Armitstead our big hope for gold here in Ponferrada. It has been

:03:56.:04:00.

a coming of age for her this year. Absolutely, she ticked off the boxes

:04:01.:04:04.

this year, started the season strong and a lot of people thought wow. She

:04:05.:04:12.

has been on form. Very confident. To win the Commonwealth Games this year

:04:13.:04:16.

is another thing she has under her belt. She is informed to do it this

:04:17.:04:25.

year. That Commonwealth title you sense meant a huge amount to Lizzie.

:04:26.:04:30.

I think the Commonwealth Games means an awful lot to all of the riders

:04:31.:04:35.

there. It was a world-class field, she showed everybody a clean pair of

:04:36.:04:42.

heels. She gave her team-mates the confidence in her to go for that one

:04:43.:04:46.

goal. Talking about confidence, she often seems timid. We have seen a

:04:47.:04:54.

different Lizzie, her interviews before were almost bullish about her

:04:55.:05:01.

chances. Why not? She has won the races she targeted with fine form

:05:02.:05:06.

and confidence. She looks fantastic, every time she goes out there she

:05:07.:05:12.

knows she has done the work. She is able to have confidence that she is

:05:13.:05:18.

ready for it. Does it worry you that she has been quite so vocal about

:05:19.:05:24.

her chances? No, bring it on. I think so. It is a good sign.

:05:25.:05:31.

Possibly what has given her more confidence is the fact that Voss is

:05:32.:05:40.

not coming into this race 100%. She is still the favourite. She does not

:05:41.:05:45.

need to be because she has so much in hand, but it will give her and

:05:46.:05:49.

some other riders some confidence for getting on top spot today. In

:05:50.:05:54.

cycling you have to have a great team behind you. Let's hear from the

:05:55.:06:04.

British team. I would like to be world champion, it is the first year

:06:05.:06:09.

where I can come to a prerace interview and say that with some

:06:10.:06:13.

genuinely believe in it. It is a real traditional time --

:06:14.:06:17.

transitional time, what is the feeling? It is really nice at the

:06:18.:06:22.

moment because there are lots of developing riders coming through. It

:06:23.:06:26.

is a really good opportunity for the younger girls to experience the

:06:27.:06:32.

elite women's World Championships. What about the team British cycling

:06:33.:06:37.

has put around you? I am really happy that Hannah Barnes and Lucy

:06:38.:06:41.

Garner are here to support me like in the Commonwealth Games, I really

:06:42.:06:46.

trust them. The team mountain bikers are the best in the world at what

:06:47.:06:49.

they do, no reason why they should not have an impact on the road. The

:06:50.:06:53.

reason they have mountain bikers in this road race is because the course

:06:54.:06:58.

is hilly, there is a technical percent. The course will be suited

:06:59.:07:05.

to the mountain bike style. Lizzie, the goal is to get her at the front.

:07:06.:07:10.

It will be either going with things early on or protecting the race

:07:11.:07:16.

later on if Lizzie is out in front. This year going to the Commonwealth

:07:17.:07:21.

Games and this, it feels I am developing and they are noticing. I

:07:22.:07:25.

am looking forward to proving I am worth a spot. Hannah Barnes chasing

:07:26.:07:32.

her down. What is your main role? Trying to get the early breaks.

:07:33.:07:39.

Hopefully it will be similar to the Commonwealth Games where we control

:07:40.:07:43.

it and Lizzie goes away with the group. For me it will be trying to

:07:44.:07:50.

chase down attacks, hopefully surviving the climate, it is a very

:07:51.:07:55.

tough course like last year. Not as tough, but still a really hard race.

:07:56.:08:00.

I hope I can survive and help out as much as I can. What is the plan for

:08:01.:08:06.

Lizzie? This course has Lizzie written all over it. She is in good

:08:07.:08:10.

form and I think she can really go for the win here. It is a relentless

:08:11.:08:16.

course, that is what Suits Me, repeated efforts with minimal

:08:17.:08:19.

recovery is what Suits Me and what I will try to benefit from. When I

:08:20.:08:23.

look around the competition I don't believe there is anybody that should

:08:24.:08:28.

be able to drop me on this course, I should make it to the finish with a

:08:29.:08:35.

select group. The winner, the golden girl of world cycling, Marianne Voss

:08:36.:08:41.

from the Netherlands. She is always someone to beat at the World

:08:42.:08:44.

Championships, she is definitely not as good as she normally is. I think

:08:45.:08:51.

I have the opportunity to become world champion, if I don't, I will

:08:52.:08:56.

be disappointed, but it is the best chance I have ever had. Lucy Garner

:08:57.:09:03.

and Hannah Barnes part of that Commonwealth winning team. Noel Emma

:09:04.:09:13.

Pooley, though. Lizzie Roper at Hannah Barnes and Lucy Garner at the

:09:14.:09:17.

Commonwealth Games, had them right at her side. -- Lizzie road with. A

:09:18.:09:30.

couple of mountain bikers in there. Controversially. I think they will

:09:31.:09:37.

be enjoying this. When she saw the dissent in training, everybody said

:09:38.:09:41.

it was technical, she said there are no rocks, no trees, nothing in her

:09:42.:09:47.

way, it will not faze her, she will be able to go up the climb. Distance

:09:48.:09:52.

may play a part, mountain biking is a short event, but much sharper,

:09:53.:09:58.

higher effort. She fully deserves her place. There has been some

:09:59.:10:03.

criticism of their selection, given they are not experienced on the

:10:04.:10:10.

road. There has been, of course, but Lizzie Armitstead has come into this

:10:11.:10:13.

with confidence she can win, she will have had input into the team.

:10:14.:10:17.

It is down to what support she feels she needs. They seem to be very

:10:18.:10:24.

confident about that course, something that will suit Lizzie. She

:10:25.:10:30.

says the fact it is a relentless. The climbs on their own are not

:10:31.:10:34.

particularly tough, it is the fact they come lap after lap and there is

:10:35.:10:39.

a lot of chasing in between. Chasing is key. If she likes the course,

:10:40.:10:44.

likes the weather, it is good. We will talk about the contenders,

:10:45.:10:48.

already drama on the course, the race started at 2pm British time. We

:10:49.:10:54.

can bring you up-to-date with a very dramatic start to the race. Big, big

:10:55.:11:04.

crash year, a lot of riders going down and had a lot of riders going

:11:05.:11:09.

down underground here. A very sizeable proportion of the peloton

:11:10.:11:12.

down, some of them have clearly fallen extremely heavily here. A

:11:13.:11:18.

couple of the American riders down, I can see 23 there, Taylor of the

:11:19.:11:27.

United States. 110, who was 12th in the time trial. This looks very

:11:28.:11:31.

nasty for a couple of the riders, one of the Americans in real

:11:32.:11:39.

trouble, it seems. Canada with two riders on the floor, at least half

:11:40.:11:42.

of their team. What an enormous crash that is. Heating

:11:43.:12:02.

oh my goodness. What an awful crash for so many riders in the race.

:12:03.:12:19.

Let's hope it is not as serious as it looks potentially for one or two

:12:20.:12:24.

of them. None of the riders from New Zealand, not sure who that was,

:12:25.:12:28.

catapulted down the centre of the road. I think that rider was

:12:29.:12:40.

potentially from New Zealand. Confirmation of some of those who

:12:41.:12:51.

have fallen. There is an American ride on the far side of the road who

:12:52.:12:54.

looks as though she has a real problem. We hope that is not as

:12:55.:13:01.

serious as it looks. We have seen some tumble so far in pond for RADA,

:13:02.:13:06.

but nothing to compare, that was a horror. Very, very frightening to

:13:07.:13:08.

see. -- so far in pond for Voss came down hard. Both are back

:13:09.:13:26.

in the peloton now, but something like that, what will it do to them?

:13:27.:13:31.

What has it taken out of them? I imagine the riders upfront would

:13:32.:13:35.

have neutralised the race to a certain extent, road tempo, when the

:13:36.:13:41.

Italian game through she was on her own behind the car and a lot further

:13:42.:13:46.

back. It is good that those two are back in the peloton, but how much

:13:47.:13:52.

has it taken out of them? What does Lizzie do? She has come through

:13:53.:13:56.

that, she knows that Georgie and Voss have come down, how does it

:13:57.:14:04.

play into her tactics? It will add to her confidence. She lost a

:14:05.:14:10.

team-mate in Lucy Garner. Lizzie will have taken confidence to see

:14:11.:14:15.

the race had to be neutralised for Voss to come back. She knows it

:14:16.:14:19.

takes a lot out of the legs for them to do that and mentally as well.

:14:20.:14:24.

Lizzie will be feeling very confident. As you mentioned,

:14:25.:14:29.

Marianne has had problems this week, she pulled out of the team time

:14:30.:14:33.

trial, we think she has a hamstring problem. She is not firing on all

:14:34.:14:39.

cylinders. Even when you talk to the Dutch they don't really know where

:14:40.:14:45.

she is act. She can afford to give a few percent away. -- where she is

:14:46.:14:50.

act. One of the riders she has looked that as a possible contender

:14:51.:14:57.

is a French rider. Who rides on the same professional team. One of the

:14:58.:15:01.

hottest contenders for today because they have raised so much together

:15:02.:15:09.

they know each other's strengths. Voss would be a fitting team-mate.

:15:10.:15:18.

These two have been out for a spin on the course. Puffing and panting.

:15:19.:15:23.

I loved every minute. It is the climbs that will prove decisive.

:15:24.:15:30.

Only a few kilometres in, a punchy little climb. Back end of the race?

:15:31.:15:36.

It feels good when you are fresh, after a few laps it could start to

:15:37.:15:42.

hurt a little bit. If that is the toughest climb of the day we will be

:15:43.:15:57.

fine. I can feel that! Ouch. I thought that was the climb at the

:15:58.:16:01.

castle, but that is really going to take it out of everyone, we are 200

:16:02.:16:06.

metres higher than the castle. The sprinters will struggle to hold on.

:16:07.:16:11.

Definitely, once they are up there. Might be OK for a couple of laps. I

:16:12.:16:26.

hope that is the hardest bit done. Right, that is definitely the top.

:16:27.:16:34.

That last kilometre is where the damage can be done, all the way down

:16:35.:16:38.

to the finish as well, any gap you have got at the top, it will be

:16:39.:16:43.

extremely difficult to get back on the run-in. Race you down. Game on.

:16:44.:16:56.

It is a tough course. It is very tough. That crime is harder than it

:16:57.:17:03.

looks on the profile. I did not expect it to be that hard, that

:17:04.:17:08.

first bit past the castle is OK, good legs, start the second climb

:17:09.:17:12.

and it keeps going. If it is wet it will change the race, flip it on its

:17:13.:17:16.

head, it will be completely different. It is not one for the

:17:17.:17:22.

pure sprinters, pure climbers, it is not one. You need to be in really

:17:23.:17:27.

good form. Extremely good shape. Unlike me. I need a copy. My legs

:17:28.:17:41.

are burning. -- huffy. Copy? Testing. That massive crash, when

:17:42.:17:48.

you have fallen down it is even more challenging. Simon? COMMENTATOR:

:17:49.:17:53.

Thank you, Jonathan, welcome everybody. The race noticeably

:17:54.:17:59.

affected by that crash on the last lap, a number of riders held up,

:18:00.:18:06.

many forced to abandon. There may well have been another crash, one of

:18:07.:18:14.

the riders from Israel has fallen. This rider fell a few minutes ago

:18:15.:18:18.

for Australia. Looking less than happy, gingerly taking this dissent.

:18:19.:18:23.

The news from the British point of view is positive, Lizzie Armitstead

:18:24.:18:28.

towards the front, out of trouble. Two of the big favourites, the

:18:29.:18:34.

defending champion came through the finish line 43 seconds down.

:18:35.:18:40.

Immediately after the crash. Georgia from Italy had one team-mate with at

:18:41.:18:45.

one 57. Over the last few minutes they have got back into the peloton.

:18:46.:18:58.

The bronze medal time trial winner in the Commonwealth Games looks as

:18:59.:19:02.

though her day is done at this world road race championship. World Cup

:19:03.:19:11.

winner Armitstead is prominent at the front of the race for Great

:19:12.:19:15.

Britain are staying out of trouble so far. We have seen two crashes

:19:16.:19:20.

already. We are inside the final 80 kilometres. Pleased to say that will

:19:21.:19:33.

surely more and Rob Hayles have made it back to the commentary box. Letta

:19:34.:19:43.

we caught the end of the crash. We are not up-to-date with who is back

:19:44.:19:54.

in the peloton. There is a bell Russian rider who looks like she has

:19:55.:19:56.

received a bash. -- rider from Belarus. The Italian felt

:19:57.:20:12.

quite hard, did not look like she would get back up and get back in.

:20:13.:20:19.

It would be interesting to know how Voss is and how that crash has

:20:20.:20:23.

knocked her about. It takes a toll on your mental condition. Her

:20:24.:20:27.

team-mate looked like she was struggling. We had a little look.

:20:28.:20:46.

Belgian lost a couple of riders. Some very heavy fall is. -- for

:20:47.:20:51.

loans. Germany trying to control most of

:20:52.:21:02.

this women's road race so far. They go over the second of the two climbs

:21:03.:21:08.

per lap, this will be the key part of the race as the race goes on.

:21:09.:21:12.

This may be where it is won and lost. You can see the Italians

:21:13.:21:22.

getting together. In the black helmet with two white lines. That is

:21:23.:21:36.

Georgia. The Italians are still there, they have got themselves

:21:37.:21:46.

together. It will be interesting to see if they stick to the plan.

:21:47.:21:52.

Australia looking weekend. -- looking week. It is not a great

:21:53.:22:12.

situation, it was an awful crash, travelling at such high speed.

:22:13.:22:15.

Alison Powers fell heavily in that crash. Good signs for the Italian

:22:16.:22:29.

rider, it will have taken a lot out of her, the crash. She is upfront

:22:30.:22:34.

with her team-mates, that will help her psychologically. The Italian

:22:35.:22:43.

hanging in there. As the riders head up the climb. One kilometre long,

:22:44.:22:52.

this second climb. Kelly Taylor, one of the Australians we saw, made it

:22:53.:22:59.

back. She managed to make it back, so a few riders back in the peloton,

:23:00.:23:03.

they will have worked extremely hard to get there. Pauline was in sixth

:23:04.:23:21.

place towards the front of the peloton. Last is in good company at

:23:22.:23:41.

this stage of the race. We have seen Hannah Barnes as well. Last is doing

:23:42.:23:48.

a good ride, proving her spot here. They will be aware of this part of

:23:49.:23:53.

the ride. There will be gaps opening up, trying to get their confidence

:23:54.:23:58.

back. Four kilometres away from the next passage over the line. 68

:23:59.:24:11.

riders in that front group. Just off the back, the Netherlands, Italy.

:24:12.:24:18.

The Germans must be planning something because they are really

:24:19.:24:22.

driving the pace on the front, splitting up towards the back of the

:24:23.:24:26.

bunch. They look like they have control of this race at this point.

:24:27.:24:31.

The Italians starting to gather towards the front, keeping a close

:24:32.:24:37.

eye on things. There will be a lot of fatigue starting to creep into

:24:38.:24:40.

the legs. This is where you have to watch out. When gaps start opening

:24:41.:24:51.

you need to be wary of that quickly, can't afford to let a big gap go and

:24:52.:24:56.

try and chase it down, unless you have team-mates with you. Those

:24:57.:25:00.

riders that have positioned themselves well at the front, been

:25:01.:25:06.

out of the accident, dodging around riders on the ground, they will have

:25:07.:25:10.

an advantage mentally and physically going into the next lap here and the

:25:11.:25:16.

next climbs. They have not had to deal with that. And the nervousness

:25:17.:25:21.

of seeing an accident can play on your mind, you get more tense and

:25:22.:25:30.

cautious. Not hanging around on this dissent in towards Ponferrada. Two

:25:31.:25:40.

calamitous to the line. Whatever happens on the last lap, it will be

:25:41.:25:45.

a wild chase down this twisting, technical dissent before they reach

:25:46.:25:48.

the flat roads leading to the finish. On the back of the peloton,

:25:49.:25:52.

just off the back, the Russian rider. About 15 seconds there from

:25:53.:26:01.

the front of the peloton to the last ride on the back. Position will be

:26:02.:26:06.

key going into the last lap will stop a long way to go. Looking

:26:07.:26:13.

forward to the last lap and the descent into the finish. You really

:26:14.:26:14.

have to be up near the front. Here we are, back with the front of

:26:15.:26:27.

the race, we will see them coming through the finish in the not too

:26:28.:26:41.

distant future. Almost three laps in the bag now. This is about the only

:26:42.:26:52.

place on the circuit where there seems to be some kind of recovery.

:26:53.:26:57.

Riders just getting their breath, plenty having a drink. Keeping up on

:26:58.:27:02.

the fluids, it is fairly warm out there now. Hannah Barnes may come

:27:03.:27:10.

into your picture shortly on the left. There she is, Hannah Barnes.

:27:11.:27:17.

Lizzie Armitstead always staying near the front without having to

:27:18.:27:23.

show her face. That is Evelyn Stevens, a big smile at the back of

:27:24.:27:27.

the peloton, she is one of the favourites of the race in the USA.

:27:28.:27:34.

She will be glad to be in one piece after a couple of her team-mates

:27:35.:27:38.

ended up on the deck. Hannah Barnes at 21. Finishing her first with the

:27:39.:27:45.

American squad, United health care. A couple of good early-season

:27:46.:27:49.

results. Made a good early impression with her team. The

:27:50.:28:03.

Swedish rider we just saw. The national champion of Sweden only

:28:04.:28:21.

last year, Emily. Four laps to go. The German leading the way ahead of

:28:22.:28:29.

Lauren Hall from the United dates. -- United States. Last in the top 25

:28:30.:28:45.

as they came over the line. Someone from the Netherlands doing a bicycle

:28:46.:28:49.

change, very quick change, back onto the back of the peloton. Lizzie

:28:50.:28:56.

Armit said, 27 rider, over the line. -- Lizzie Armitstead. She has not

:28:57.:29:03.

had any moments of panic as a result of crashes so far. The adrenaline

:29:04.:29:08.

will have been coursing through the veins of the Italian rider, Georgia.

:29:09.:29:12.

After that crash three kilometres from the finish at the end of the

:29:13.:29:18.

lap, Georgia was nearly two minutes down when she went past the

:29:19.:29:21.

commentary position here. Her team-mates will have worked hard to

:29:22.:29:25.

get her back into that peloton. The peloton regrouped.

:29:26.:29:34.

You can have all of the prerace talk of favourites, who is in form, who

:29:35.:29:41.

is out of form, but a crash like that, it's decimated the field.

:29:42.:29:49.

The rider in the black, with the White helmets, up towards the front,

:29:50.:30:00.

up towards the front of the peloton, as they rode past.

:30:01.:30:04.

Stephen just happy to ride at the back, the American rider, but she

:30:05.:30:12.

has certainly been one to keep an eye on. Fifth in the World

:30:13.:30:17.

Championship road race last year, already has a medal from the World

:30:18.:30:23.

Championships. Her specialised squad were winning that one.

:30:24.:30:44.

Eight in the Pan-American Championships of three years ago,.

:30:45.:30:53.

The Australian making contact with the back of the peloton, she is back

:30:54.:30:57.

in there, to strengthen the team. With Tiffany Cromwell. Comfortably

:30:58.:31:09.

sitting near the front. Not as animated as we thought it would be

:31:10.:31:17.

maybe everybody, perhaps the teams are trying to get together and

:31:18.:31:21.

communicate with one another. As well, by the time we have got to

:31:22.:31:28.

today, we have seen a few races go out earlier, over the last couple of

:31:29.:31:36.

days. They begin to form a pattern. The riders coming back to the hotels

:31:37.:31:39.

in the evening, the younger riders, asking how it was, there is

:31:40.:31:45.

discussions. You come into this week with a loose plan. Once you begin to

:31:46.:31:49.

talk to the other directors and riders in the team, you realise, it

:31:50.:31:54.

is very difficult out there, and all of a sudden it is going to hit you,

:31:55.:31:59.

especially if it is warm like it is today. They could very well be

:32:00.:32:03.

planning for things to happen extremely late on in the last two

:32:04.:32:07.

laps. Those who we know have abandoned the race, which must be as

:32:08.:32:22.

a result of the crash, include Lizzie Williams, six in the time

:32:23.:32:30.

trial, Canadian, no longer in the race, Kerchman out of the race, and

:32:31.:32:44.

Anastasia Chulkova. Silver, of Brazil, Emily Collins, New Zealand,

:32:45.:32:52.

she is out of the race, -- Silva. From the Czech Republic, Martina

:32:53.:32:56.

Sablikova. Martina Sablikova did very well, in

:32:57.:33:10.

11th, in the time trial. She is a three-time Olympic gold medallist

:33:11.:33:15.

and ten time champion speed skater, she does cycling as a means of

:33:16.:33:19.

keeping fit in the summer. Here she is performing at the top level, but

:33:20.:33:21.

sadly, she is out of the race today. From yarn of man, Anna Christian,

:33:22.:33:35.

leading the way for Great Britain, one of the more promising British

:33:36.:33:36.

riders. She does not like to just turn up,

:33:37.:33:49.

she likes to animate a race as long as she is involved. She could

:33:50.:33:53.

possibly be the youngest rider in the race, it was said earlier on

:33:54.:33:57.

Twitter, she does not have experience competing at this level

:33:58.:34:00.

because she is so young. Interesting to see that she is thriving on this

:34:01.:34:05.

atmosphere. She is a racer, she enjoys being out there. Clear role

:34:06.:34:09.

to look after Lizzie Armitstead and she is certainly living up to

:34:10.:34:12.

expectations. British road race champion last year, 25th in the

:34:13.:34:16.

world junior road race this time last year in Florence, big step up

:34:17.:34:21.

to go in with the seniors. Anna Christian, just 19 years old. I

:34:22.:34:29.

mention the Commonwealth Games rider, she finished 18. Lizzie

:34:30.:34:33.

Armitstead, winner of the World Cup, season-long competition, she has

:34:34.:34:38.

nearly packed in towards the front of the peloton. Bujak From Poland

:34:39.:34:52.

leaving her side of the course, she joins the list of TNFs, which will

:34:53.:34:57.

be growing considerably. I think there is going to be one or two

:34:58.:35:06.

more. -- DNFs. The Germans still on the front driving the pace, really

:35:07.:35:09.

good race to this point. I guess there will be some spectators and

:35:10.:35:13.

people watching on thinking that the Germans may have done too much too

:35:14.:35:17.

early, they have taken up a lot of the pacemaking, the first part of

:35:18.:35:23.

the race. They have come into the race with a game plan and they have

:35:24.:35:26.

not faltered from that even the crash.

:35:27.:35:48.

Steady climb up to Confederacion. Five kilometres long. Three parts of

:35:49.:35:56.

the climb reaching 8% in the first two kilometres, the average gradient

:35:57.:36:02.

4.6. Long old drag. Alison Powers, shorts torn, on the back end of the

:36:03.:36:08.

peloton. United States team regrouping. Stevens, 22, looking

:36:09.:36:15.

good. Powers, back in the main field. Also for the United states,

:36:16.:36:21.

Megan, in front of us, number 18. And the Dutch rider just in front of

:36:22.:36:28.

her. She was struggling to hold the pace but she is in among the wheels

:36:29.:36:32.

once again. Alison Powers, as you can see, quite a heavy fall in that

:36:33.:36:38.

crash. The American personnel will be shaking their heads in disbelief

:36:39.:36:42.

at the back like they have had. They have lost calm and small before the

:36:43.:36:48.

race began. She had a accident out training, free riders came down,

:36:49.:36:52.

Stevens was one of them. She was able to start the team time trial

:36:53.:36:56.

and the individual team trial, she got the bronze medal but having had

:36:57.:37:02.

the crash with powers. -- Carmen Small. -- time trial. They have a

:37:03.:37:10.

very strong team here. Shelley Goltz, being one of the sprinters.

:37:11.:37:20.

Abbott. -- Shelley Olds. And indicated that she was there or

:37:21.:37:26.

thereabouts. She definitely has form, she has had a consistent year

:37:27.:37:37.

this year. Very reliable domestique. A steady pace on the climb to

:37:38.:37:38.

Confederacion. It'll be interesting to how long up

:37:39.:37:51.

the climb those three mountain bikers on the other side of the road

:37:52.:37:58.

are able to cheer them on. Not too much longer, judging by the 1 at the

:37:59.:38:04.

back. I think that is an electric bike, man at the front, giving a

:38:05.:38:08.

wave and a smile! But they did well, holding pace with the peloton for a

:38:09.:38:18.

few seconds! Making sure they keep hydrated in this race. 127.4

:38:19.:38:27.

kilometres long. There is a mechanical with one of the Italians,

:38:28.:38:30.

you can see, going back through the peloton. Could be a puncture. Could

:38:31.:38:37.

be some kind of mechanical. Coming through on race radio about that not

:38:38.:38:44.

yet. Ukraine up at the front at the moment. One of the riders from

:38:45.:38:51.

Slovenia decides to make a move at the front. The riders being aided by

:38:52.:38:58.

a crossed tail wind up here, if you are feeling good, it can go do you

:38:59.:39:03.

into wanting to attack, if it was a blocked a headwind, it would put you

:39:04.:39:08.

off, the peloton behind, not too concerned. Only the 1 rider going

:39:09.:39:11.

clear, happy to let that go with 66.7 kilometres remaining. Stella

:39:12.:39:26.

Kern may be on the front, riders still coming past the commentary

:39:27.:39:27.

position, in little groups. She will have been relying on her to

:39:28.:39:47.

be in it a little bit longer. We knew that Hanson would not have

:39:48.:39:51.

great support towards the end of the race.

:39:52.:39:55.

Stella Kern Leading the way. 24-year-old, riding the Giro

:39:56.:40:05.

d'Italia this year, she was 18th in the Giro Tostano, that is a

:40:06.:40:17.

pre-championship event towards the end of the season. We saw one of the

:40:18.:40:22.

riders from Israel go off the front. A little bit further back for

:40:23.:40:27.

France. A problem at the back. Looking painful, looking like hard

:40:28.:40:51.

work. That looks like a face that is saying, that is a day for me.

:40:52.:41:01.

Giorgia Bronzini one Copenhagen. -- won. It is not going to work out for

:41:02.:41:07.

her today. The leader, out on the road, Kern. The gap is 20 seconds,

:41:08.:41:14.

it is a long way to go. An awful long way through for an individual

:41:15.:41:19.

rider to go clear. Trying to keep that going. She is going to be, I

:41:20.:41:22.

should imagine, she will be hoping that one or two other riders come

:41:23.:41:27.

across to her. Nobody seems interested in going clear of the

:41:28.:41:34.

bunch. From the Netherlands, Van Dijk. And next to her, the defending

:41:35.:41:41.

world champion, Marianne Vos. The Dutch have three defending world

:41:42.:41:45.

champions. -- three World Championships. -- three world

:41:46.:41:56.

champions. They have a very strong team, the Dutch. Missing a couple of

:41:57.:41:59.

big hitters through injury. They have nine riders, they have a

:42:00.:42:16.

very strong team, but they have lost Anna Van der Breggen coming into the

:42:17.:42:19.

race. And so that was a big blow. And riders, have gone out. Here is

:42:20.:42:36.

the leader. Even before she had made the attack, we saw her riding on the

:42:37.:42:42.

front of the peloton. Shell account. -- should ?pela Kern.

:42:43.:43:26.

Two of the big favourites had work to do to catch up to the front,

:43:27.:43:32.

Mariella Voss, who was about three quarters of a minute down, she was

:43:33.:43:37.

able to get back on, as was Giorgia Bronzini, from Italy, not long after

:43:38.:43:40.

the crash was nearly two minutes back. The peloton regrouping. Those

:43:41.:43:46.

riders back in the main field. Anna Christian, we can see, up towards

:43:47.:43:52.

the front. From Great Britain. It is good to have your team-mates upfront

:43:53.:43:57.

in vision. Also shows everyone else is the strength in depth, early in

:43:58.:44:01.

the race. They said that Fallon had been dropped from the peloton, we

:44:02.:44:06.

saw her, number 31, back in the main field, the Dutch squad, losing the

:44:07.:44:17.

rider. That is the daughter of a former world champion, back in 1978.

:44:18.:44:22.

She is a strong rider herself, well-placed the spring. Fifth in

:44:23.:44:35.

that race. She is unable to contribute anything more today.

:44:36.:44:40.

First time at the World Championships.

:44:41.:44:49.

The Dutch team is very difficult to get into. Stevens. Interesting

:44:50.:44:57.

character, she gave up a high-powered business career to race

:44:58.:45:01.

as a cyclist? That is correct, and she has just decided that she is

:45:02.:45:06.

going to sign with a new team. They are becoming a super-team. We may

:45:07.:45:16.

see the strength transfer over. Did see Armistead. -- they have a new

:45:17.:45:22.

addition in Chantelle Black, they have Lizzie Armitstead, they have

:45:23.:45:24.

Van Dijk. . The lead of Spela Kern from Slovenia

:45:25.:45:30.

is over half a minute. The road goes uphill. Yet again. Up

:45:31.:45:47.

and over and round, and then on the top left hand of the screen that is

:45:48.:45:49.

where it begins to level off. They have climbed 200 metres at this

:45:50.:46:02.

point, above where they start. The first section of the climb down at

:46:03.:46:05.

the castle. Beautiful shot. Early on. Here, we can see, going over the

:46:06.:46:17.

top. Spela Kern getting her rhythm. None of the big nations are showing

:46:18.:46:22.

their hand so far in this race. It is interesting, there has not been

:46:23.:46:24.

any real attacks from the big nations. There was talk about

:46:25.:46:29.

Marianne Vos, playing a more conservative role with the Dutch

:46:30.:46:32.

team, and not going out on the attack and opening themselves up...

:46:33.:46:39.

They want to save themselves for the end of the race. Marianne Vos can

:46:40.:46:42.

kick off on that climb like nobody else. It is possible they will be

:46:43.:46:50.

relying upon that. We will see. A lot of talk and confusion in the

:46:51.:46:54.

week among people who are quite close to it, as to quite what her

:46:55.:46:59.

condition is. There has been a big question mark over what has

:47:00.:47:10.

happened. She pulled out of a couple of races. Yes, and she pulled out of

:47:11.:47:16.

another Tour before the finish. Some people were saying that she was not

:47:17.:47:20.

quite right, that she was injured. We have heard so many stories, that

:47:21.:47:25.

she had knee pain, back pain, no problems. That her form is not

:47:26.:47:28.

there, that she was sick. At the end of the day, a report from her

:47:29.:47:34.

brother today, saying that they were playing it safe coming into the

:47:35.:47:37.

World Championships. Some people see it as a negative, in reality, it may

:47:38.:47:42.

have been a positive indication, she was going 100% for the World

:47:43.:47:48.

Championships. Would we see anything into the way that she Road in the

:47:49.:47:54.

team time trial? It may have been playing it safe. Unfortunately for

:47:55.:47:59.

her, it may have saved her. -- fortunately for her. The horrific

:48:00.:48:03.

accident, she had already dropped off back. Was it nerves? Was it

:48:04.:48:11.

form? Was she thinking that she was going to go hard and then pull up,

:48:12.:48:16.

with a very short effort. That is what we do not know, Marianne Vos

:48:17.:48:21.

knows how to peak for a World Championship. We can only assume

:48:22.:48:24.

that all of these things that have been indications of form may not be

:48:25.:48:28.

there, it may be the complete opposite. What about the unity of

:48:29.:48:33.

the Dutch team? Some riders have been team-mates but moving

:48:34.:48:40.

elsewhere. Next year. Traditionally there has been a lot of Dutch riders

:48:41.:48:51.

on Rabobank. There has been a few announcements that if you of the

:48:52.:48:55.

riders from that team are leaving to go to other teams for new

:48:56.:48:58.

opportunities, or just a change. It is not a negative thing, riders

:48:59.:49:03.

deciding they will leave a strong team, perhaps it can be that they

:49:04.:49:07.

want a change, they want something different, women cycling is

:49:08.:49:10.

developing to the point where there is other teams and places to go,

:49:11.:49:13.

where the environment is very professional. In the past it was

:49:14.:49:18.

national funded and controlled teams that were very stable. As it becomes

:49:19.:49:22.

more professional we see there is options out there. If you are a very

:49:23.:49:29.

strong rider and you fancy yourself, opportunities are likely

:49:30.:49:34.

to be few and far between, because Marianne Vos is the big name in the

:49:35.:49:38.

sport, she is the leader of the team. The gap back to the peloton

:49:39.:49:44.

from Stella Kirn is coming down, she is not being allowed to gain too

:49:45.:49:58.

much ground. -- Spela Kern. She's very much within range. Number 40,

:49:59.:50:04.

you can see. Anna Christian. Centre of the picture. Just out of the

:50:05.:50:09.

saddle. Still in the leading group. And just in front of her, another

:50:10.:50:26.

rider. In terms of riders, maybe just below that, who could spring a

:50:27.:50:32.

surprise, would you include her? She would be in my top ten, she is a

:50:33.:50:37.

punchy rider, she can do very well. She has the power on the steep

:50:38.:50:41.

climbs. She is somebody who on the top game could match the likes of

:50:42.:50:54.

Marianne Vos and Lizzie Armitstead. She came over from South Africa to

:50:55.:50:59.

Europe, she established herself, one of those riders that would do

:51:00.:51:02.

anything to have an opportunity and probably do it the hard way. The

:51:03.:51:06.

first year she wrote the Giro d'Italia, she finished in the top

:51:07.:51:12.

12. -- Road. There is an indication that one day she could be on the

:51:13.:51:16.

podium at the Giro d'Italia. I would certainly put there in the top ten.

:51:17.:51:20.

You may remember the coverage of the women's race at the Commonwealth

:51:21.:51:23.

Games, the road race, tremendous print between her and Stephanie

:51:24.:51:29.

Cromwell of Australia for the bronze medal and the South African just

:51:30.:51:33.

managed to get it. -- Tiffany Cromwell. I did not think that I

:51:34.:51:38.

could pick it, I knew the strength of Ashleigh Moolman, I knew that she

:51:39.:51:41.

had done sprint work, and Tiffany has been sprinting well as well.

:51:42.:51:51.

They are the best of the crime is. -- climbers. INAUDIBLE

:51:52.:52:16.

Feeling quite good and quite confident, she is a rider who could

:52:17.:52:23.

possibly take a win or a medal here at the World Championships because

:52:24.:52:27.

she is a racer and she fears nothing. She has a couple of

:52:28.:52:30.

team-mates from Australia there, we senior she has the support of some

:52:31.:52:42.

of her team-mates. She was looking pretty relaxed at the hotel.

:52:43.:52:47.

Yesterday she must have spent three hours painting nails with the

:52:48.:52:52.

Australian flag. Every now completely different, very

:52:53.:52:55.

intricate, very impressive painted patterns. She had finished her left

:52:56.:53:00.

hand, I ask her about her right hand and she said, OK, that one is going

:53:01.:53:06.

to be tricky! She left it undone but when she got around to it she

:53:07.:53:09.

managed to make them both look beautiful! 20 of hours to fill when

:53:10.:53:13.

you are away on international duty, not I'm suggesting you painted your

:53:14.:53:17.

nails! LAUGHTER In terms of downtime and filling

:53:18.:53:21.

time. -- plenty of hours. You cannot go wandering around the town. The

:53:22.:53:26.

least amount of time that they can spend on their feet is the best. It

:53:27.:53:35.

can be difficult. It is a little bit easier these days, not that Wi-Fi

:53:36.:53:43.

was working particularly well in the hotel, but it is easier to be able

:53:44.:53:47.

to pass the time of day. There is only so much time in the week and

:53:48.:53:50.

today is heading into the championship that you would like to

:53:51.:53:54.

spend on the bicycle. A few little hits, maybe one or two longer rides

:53:55.:53:58.

in the week preceding the race. Other than that, a lot of time spent

:53:59.:54:06.

with roommates in the hotel. Spela Kern is 40 seconds clear. And

:54:07.:54:13.

leading the peloton over, some of the names up towards the front,

:54:14.:54:17.

Lizzie Armitstead, Great Britain, fifth place, and Tiffani Cromwell,

:54:18.:54:24.

of who we were speaking, from Australia. Ashleigh Moolman as well.

:54:25.:54:37.

And Lisa Brennauer is there, and Elisa Longo Borghini. Giorgia

:54:38.:54:44.

Bronzini is in the top 20 going over the top. Taylor, from Australia.

:54:45.:54:51.

Olds up towards the front. Emma Johansson, 24. Hannah Barnes up

:54:52.:54:55.

there for Great Britain as well. Plenty of big names towards the

:54:56.:54:59.

front. Marianne Vos, defending champion, still in the main field as

:55:00.:55:07.

well. Keeping her powder dry. We saw Warwick moved to the front for the

:55:08.:55:12.

Germans to close this gap and not let it get out too far. In fact they

:55:13.:55:17.

definitely have a plan. We have seen her on the front, it means they may

:55:18.:55:26.

be working. Trixi Worrack. -- Worrack. This could be an indication

:55:27.:55:37.

that they they are putting all of their efforts into Lichtenberg. She

:55:38.:55:51.

races -- she is an experienced rider. I wonder about Lisa

:55:52.:55:56.

Brennauer, but she has been prominent at the front of the

:55:57.:56:00.

peloton in the early stages, suggesting she is not trying to stay

:56:01.:56:03.

out of the way and save her energy quite as much. She could also be

:56:04.:56:10.

pretty tired after riding two major events, team time trial, individual

:56:11.:56:14.

time trial. Winning the both of them, she may have said, I do not

:56:15.:56:17.

want to take my chances today, I want to be a support rider. And

:56:18.:56:22.

let's race fresh legs in the German team. She should be proud of their

:56:23.:56:31.

achievements are up-to-date. Inside the last couple of calamities in the

:56:32.:56:39.

latest lab. -- last couple of kilometres in the latest lap.

:56:40.:56:51.

Spela Kern has lost a little bit of ground, gaining uphill, seems to,

:56:52.:57:00.

first 37, then 40, both times eating into the lead. No doubt she will

:57:01.:57:06.

continue to do so. In extremely difficult for an individual rider on

:57:07.:57:09.

this circuit to stay up clear. -- extremely difficult. Two other

:57:10.:57:14.

riders coming across to her. Small-group. Sometimes, you find one

:57:15.:57:21.

or two riders going up the road and then another and then another, and

:57:22.:57:25.

before you know it, you have ten or so riders, eight, ten riders

:57:26.:57:29.

upfront, and then the peloton can be in all sorts of bother. Peloton did

:57:30.:57:42.

not react specifically to the move, he is a member of a new team, from

:57:43.:57:49.

Slovenia. BTC, development team. They look pretty comfortable.

:57:50.:58:06.

Several members of the team in the world road race championship... The

:58:07.:58:13.

Slovenian, also riding for that team. Little bit of pressure on the

:58:14.:58:27.

pedals. Lizzie Armitstead for Great Britain. Towards the front. That is

:58:28.:58:31.

where she has been for most of the way so far. Annie Last, doing

:58:32.:58:37.

reasonably well, reasonably well placed, as they come towards the

:58:38.:58:42.

line for the latest time checks. 72.8 kilometres covered. Spela Kern

:58:43.:58:46.

leading the way, maybe not too much longer. She has been ahead for about

:58:47.:58:53.

three quarters of a lap. The rest of the peloton coming across the line.

:58:54.:59:02.

British team have done well, they still have a few riders supporting.

:59:03.:59:06.

Three laps to go, we may see something happen. A few riders from

:59:07.:59:12.

each nation that may not be the favourites, but may go away, just to

:59:13.:59:17.

see... Clear indication now that the Italians are protecting Giorgia

:59:18.:59:18.

Bronzini, they are riding for her. Armitstead over the line, safely

:59:19.:59:33.

tucked into the pack. Last alongside her. Just ahead of Armitstead.

:59:34.:59:37.

Hannah Barnes just a couple of places behind. Barnes is still there

:59:38.:59:47.

for Great Britain. Christian as well still in that group. That is the

:59:48.:59:52.

situation. The Slovenians still reading. Pleasantly warm afternoon,

:59:53.:00:03.

not too hot for the riders. Little wind to speak of on the streets of

:00:04.:00:12.

Ponferrada today. The world title is at stake, will Marianne Vos win for

:00:13.:00:19.

the fourth time? She is an incredible athlete. She has been

:00:20.:00:26.

first or second every year since 2006. She was second about five

:00:27.:00:34.

years in a row at one point. Unbelievable, she is a phenomenal

:00:35.:00:36.

athlete and amazing person, the amount of emotion she has done for

:00:37.:00:40.

women's cycling and gone out of the way to juggle developing and

:00:41.:00:44.

promoting women's cycling and being at the top of her game and a leader

:00:45.:00:48.

of her team, probably does a lot of management in the team as well, she

:00:49.:00:53.

is a phenomenal person, you don't come across somebody so talented in

:00:54.:00:59.

so many areas. It is not just wrote, cyclo-cross, the track, world aren't

:01:00.:01:08.

world champion. I have seen her cheering on team-mates in races she

:01:09.:01:14.

has not been competing in. She was hosting a busload of VIPs in the

:01:15.:01:20.

World Cup. Showing them because, explaining what cycling is about to

:01:21.:01:25.

them. And standing on the side of the road, passing up bottles to

:01:26.:01:28.

team-mates. Quite a phenomenal person and very lovable, just a real

:01:29.:01:34.

great role model for women's cycling. Hectic schedule, I remember

:01:35.:01:38.

the day she came to ride in the ride London race, women's Grand Prix, on

:01:39.:01:43.

the Saturday, in August last month, she was in Belgium in the morning

:01:44.:01:48.

with a previous engagement, but Lupin, took part in a race, nearly

:01:49.:01:54.

won, beaten by Bronzini on the line. She did that to support racing in

:01:55.:02:00.

the UK. She was at the women's Tour. She decided, OK, there are so many

:02:01.:02:05.

loyal supporters in the UK, I want to get over there. She had scheduled

:02:06.:02:11.

team time trial training in Belgium, got a private jet in the afternoon

:02:12.:02:20.

to race in right London. The recruitment officers at on Friday

:02:21.:02:24.

youth centre, the voluntary army is burgeoning. Alvarez leads a few

:02:25.:03:06.

miles from Ponferrada. -- lips. This summer I was working for three

:03:07.:03:12.

months in Italy. It was really nice. I saw this and I said, OK, I will

:03:13.:03:17.

take this opportunity because we don't have an opportunity like that

:03:18.:03:25.

every day. And then I am here. Now I am talking French, then meet

:03:26.:03:30.

somebody from Germany, taught in English, somebody from France

:03:31.:03:33.

talking in French, I love that. Among the many finish line

:03:34.:03:41.

volunteers, this man has come from Cordoba to be close to his heroes. I

:03:42.:03:46.

am accompanying some of the guys from anti-doping. It is an amazing

:03:47.:03:51.

experience from any cycling fan. I wanted to be here and the only way I

:03:52.:03:55.

thought I could be here was volunteering, I took it. It is a bit

:03:56.:04:00.

like the Olympics, all of the volunteers are the ones that make

:04:01.:04:03.

it, without them we would not be here. I will remember it for the

:04:04.:04:14.

rest of my life, I our big fan of Bradley Wiggins, it is amazing. -- I

:04:15.:04:21.

am a big fan. The volunteers certainly make all of the difference

:04:22.:04:24.

in the world, these World Championships, from what we have

:04:25.:04:28.

seen, have been extremely well organised this week. They were

:04:29.:04:34.

keeping the pedestrian crossings well in order yesterday when I was

:04:35.:04:38.

at the side of the road watching the men's under 20 Three Rd race. Great

:04:39.:04:43.

job iPods rather, there is the centrepiece of the town. -- great

:04:44.:04:51.

job by Ponferrada. Still no sign as to which direction is women's road

:04:52.:04:57.

race may go. That is our leader from Slovenia. Not a particularly

:04:58.:05:04.

well-known rider, it has to be said. She is doing a good job, she looked

:05:05.:05:09.

over her shoulder and saw the peloton was close. Most riders would

:05:10.:05:12.

have given up, she put pressure on the pedals. 14 seconds is a gap

:05:13.:05:24.

between her and the peloton. Kern has shown already in this race she

:05:25.:05:29.

has a good pair of climbing legs on her and is likely to stay where she

:05:30.:05:35.

is at the front. The peloton will not be unduly concerned, they will

:05:36.:05:38.

be happy for her to be where she is at the moment, very much in range,

:05:39.:05:44.

with 50 kilometres to go here. In the Spanish sunshine. Still a big

:05:45.:05:56.

peloton. We expect something to happen on this lap, whether at the

:05:57.:06:00.

start of this crime or toward the end of the lap when it gets a little

:06:01.:06:04.

bit steeper, with only three to go you would expect there would be a

:06:05.:06:08.

few riders who want to test their legs. The Italian team, we wondered

:06:09.:06:14.

whether they would race hard from the start or surround Bronzini and

:06:15.:06:18.

get her to the finish. Her confidence will be building, though

:06:19.:06:21.

she had that maps the accident early in the race. -- nasty accident. We

:06:22.:06:34.

have not seen to what extent she was involved in that accident. She has

:06:35.:06:40.

made up a couple of minutes she was delayed, hopefully she has been able

:06:41.:06:44.

to regain composure and is very much in it once again as she hunts for

:06:45.:06:49.

what would be her third world road race title. One American sprinter is

:06:50.:06:56.

still hanging in there, interesting to see if the sprinters get to the

:06:57.:07:00.

finish. If they start to like this race up it will be very tough.

:07:01.:07:09.

Shelley is a rider who many felt would find it difficult with the

:07:10.:07:13.

amount of climbing on this course, but she has been doing plenty of

:07:14.:07:18.

work in preparation for this to make sure her climbing is as good as it

:07:19.:07:24.

possibly can be. 16 seconds, Kern leading the way on the climb.

:07:25.:07:33.

Talking about preparation for the World Championships, the women's

:07:34.:07:36.

calendar has a couple of flat races in Holland and Belgium, leading into

:07:37.:07:41.

the World Championship. When there is a hill race, they have to decide

:07:42.:07:47.

whether to do flat, fast racing or staying in altitude in the mountains

:07:48.:07:51.

and do hill work, different athletes choosing different things. The likes

:07:52.:07:57.

of Marianne Vos chose to stay in Holland on the ladies Tour, the two

:07:58.:08:06.

are in Belgium. -- the Tour in Belgium. She has not been in

:08:07.:08:11.

altitude preparing for this race. It is possible that Marianne Vos does

:08:12.:08:17.

not consider this hilly. The Latvian was the first rider off in the time

:08:18.:08:22.

trial on Tuesday, she is hanging on Tuesday, she is hanging onto the

:08:23.:08:26.

coat-tails. Number 31 from Sweden, Emilia Fahlin, on the back of the

:08:27.:08:32.

peloton, as she was on the last lap in this part of the course. About to

:08:33.:08:40.

go past one of three Brazilian riders in this field. One of the

:08:41.:09:00.

spectators trying to get a feel for what it might be like to be in the

:09:01.:09:06.

peloton. I sense not for long. Quite amazing spectators can get so close

:09:07.:09:10.

to the athletes, riding along five metres by their sides, taking

:09:11.:09:14.

photographs. They can feel like they are a part of it. Looking at the

:09:15.:09:26.

riders who have retired, Heidi Dalton from South Africa has gone.

:09:27.:09:32.

Seeing if any of the big names have gone. Earlier we mentioned a rider

:09:33.:09:39.

who is out of the race for Belarus, she was one of the fancied riders.

:09:40.:09:47.

She fell heavily. She had a great season and prepared specifically for

:09:48.:09:50.

the World Championships, fancying her chances of being on the podium.

:09:51.:09:56.

She has stood out this year. A lot of people taking notice of how

:09:57.:10:00.

strong she is, versatile as well. Alice Barnes and Lucy Garner out of

:10:01.:10:05.

the race for Great Britain, two of the British riders out of the race.

:10:06.:10:12.

Moira abbot of the United States is out as well, she is a really good

:10:13.:10:19.

climber. Belgium lost three as a result of the crash, so did Canada.

:10:20.:10:23.

The Canadians only came with four to start with. Lizzie is down to three,

:10:24.:10:35.

last, Barnes and Christian, it may put more pressure on her, but she

:10:36.:10:40.

seems to have kept herself out of trouble until now. Being well placed

:10:41.:10:44.

in the peloton all the way through this race. It is as you were with

:10:45.:10:50.

Kern at the front of the race, just dangling in front of the peloton.

:10:51.:11:07.

Still on that grind. Not the most densely populated part of Spain, it

:11:08.:11:11.

must be said, around here, it is not close to anywhere else, even Leon is

:11:12.:11:16.

an hour and a half in the car, that is one of the closest major places.

:11:17.:11:21.

The British team are staying there. The French 100 kilometres away as

:11:22.:11:26.

well. Even if you live in Spain, it is a fair trip to come and watch

:11:27.:11:31.

these World Championships. It can be extremely difficult logistically, an

:11:32.:11:36.

hour and a half for the GB riders, if they are off earlier, it adds to

:11:37.:11:46.

the day. Early breakfast. There is a crash, let's have a look and look is

:11:47.:11:52.

involved? We peel away at precisely the wrong moment. Looked like there

:11:53.:11:56.

was an attack at the front of the peloton. It is the national champion

:11:57.:12:06.

of Italy. Seems like there was an attack of the front of the peloton,

:12:07.:12:10.

which started to stretch it out, then we had this crash near the

:12:11.:12:17.

back. She finished 10th overall in the women's Tour in the UK, in that

:12:18.:12:22.

race earlier in the year. There was the fall, caught up in that as well

:12:23.:12:29.

was Annie last. Luckily she is OK, as you can clearly see, and was soon

:12:30.:12:41.

back on the road. She looked very relaxed and calm, putting the chain

:12:42.:12:45.

back on herself and jumping on, some riders would wait for the mechanics

:12:46.:12:52.

to check out their bikes. She has taken initiative. On the mountain

:12:53.:12:59.

bikes, they do not have mechanics driving up behind them. Douglas was

:13:00.:13:04.

talking to an E in the week and said, what about the tricky

:13:05.:13:07.

descent? She said there are not any rocks on it. They have to be

:13:08.:13:12.

extremely self-sufficient, mountain bikers, when the race is under way,

:13:13.:13:17.

that is it. Right at the front of the race is an Christian, number 40,

:13:18.:13:22.

for Great Britain. And Lizzie Armitstead to her left. Armitstead

:13:23.:13:26.

looking strong and Anna Christian doing everything she can, the

:13:27.:13:31.

19-year-old, to stay with Armitstead and support her as long as possible.

:13:32.:13:38.

Still towards the back, iris of the Netherlands on the back, hanging in

:13:39.:13:45.

there. Marianne Vos in the orange colour of the Netherlands. Kern's

:13:46.:13:58.

turn at the front is over, there she is back in the main field. We have

:13:59.:14:03.

not seen much of the Japanese rider, she has come back from an Asti

:14:04.:14:08.

injury sustained in Sweden a month ago. Two riders from Japan. -- from

:14:09.:14:27.

a nasty injury. 113 is the Japanese rider, third in one of the stages of

:14:28.:14:31.

the Giro d'Italia this year. She deserves a place in the pro peloton.

:14:32.:14:37.

Top 20 finish overall in that race. She is the national champion in the

:14:38.:14:49.

road race and time trial. Everybody sensing a little bit of danger.

:14:50.:14:57.

Moving to the front is iris. On the other side of the road, was that

:14:58.:15:02.

Annie trying to come around the outside having got back into the

:15:03.:15:05.

peloton? We could do with a closer look. It may well have been, the

:15:06.:15:10.

British rider going from the back to the front. We see evidence Stephen

:15:11.:15:16.

is, she was riding off the back, she seems to be one of those who seems

:15:17.:15:20.

confident on the front or at the back out of trouble. -- even Stevens

:15:21.:15:32.

she does not look comfortable in the face. She has just made her way up.

:15:33.:15:37.

Lizzie Armitstead on the left-hand side of the screen, third from the

:15:38.:15:45.

left-hand side we look. Certainly nervous coming into the peloton.

:15:46.:15:48.

They are starting to fight for position. A little bit of looking

:15:49.:15:53.

around going on. We have not seen any of the big names show their face

:15:54.:15:56.

at the front. The Dutch team starting to move up on both sides of

:15:57.:16:05.

the peloton, left and right. The ride in the Blackadder disappointing

:16:06.:16:08.

time trial, she was not on the podium this year, though she was the

:16:09.:16:16.

past few years. -- the ride in the black had a disappointing time

:16:17.:16:26.

trial. Let's face it, she has proved so many times in the past she can do

:16:27.:16:32.

that. Looks like it might be the Dutch. Started to put the pressure

:16:33.:16:38.

on going into the descent, they realised everybody was at the front,

:16:39.:16:42.

let's start to put some speed into the peloton, stretch it out and get

:16:43.:16:48.

other people out of place, out of position. I get the feeling the race

:16:49.:16:54.

might be on. This is the last part of the climb until they go over the

:16:55.:16:57.

top and get the descent, where we have seen the peloton get stretched

:16:58.:17:03.

out. The Germans are there, well placed with two riders. USA as well.

:17:04.:17:09.

The Germans have had a good race to this point, they are losing their

:17:10.:17:13.

numbers. They have done a lot of work in the first part of the race.

:17:14.:17:20.

Becker was leading. Looks like they are supporting her. They have done a

:17:21.:17:26.

lot of work in the first part of the race. The whittling down process may

:17:27.:17:37.

start in earnest over the next few kilometres. Lizzie Armitstead moves

:17:38.:17:46.

up to the second wheel. She has that beautiful style, a lot of people say

:17:47.:17:49.

the toughest thing about racing with her is that she does not show any

:17:50.:17:54.

expression on her face or in her body until she gets under immense

:17:55.:17:58.

pressure, her composure does not change at all, she has a beautiful

:17:59.:18:03.

pedalling style. It is difficult to see if she is feeling the pressure

:18:04.:18:07.

because she really can keep her composure to the real death. She has

:18:08.:18:12.

watched everything so far, maintained her concentration through

:18:13.:18:16.

this race without having to show her face. She really has been well

:18:17.:18:23.

positioned. Italians moving up on this descent. It is not overly

:18:24.:18:29.

technical, but when they are travelling at this speed in close

:18:30.:18:35.

proximity, it can be. Is that Bronzini on the front or second

:18:36.:18:39.

place? Bronzini in second place, after the accident early on, she may

:18:40.:18:44.

have decided she needs to do the descent at the front and as to the

:18:45.:18:48.

team-mate to lead. It is likely that is her team-mate, known for her good

:18:49.:18:53.

descending skills. You can see the length of the peloton, they are

:18:54.:18:58.

getting stretched out. A great mix in the Italian team, former world

:18:59.:19:06.

champions. A wealth of experience and talented young riders. Everybody

:19:07.:19:15.

getting around that bend in one piece, fortunately. So far so good

:19:16.:19:19.

in the women's race, that corner has proven to be quite a problem in

:19:20.:19:24.

other races. It has taken several riders out over the past few days,

:19:25.:19:32.

it really has. A little look around to see if there is any damage.

:19:33.:19:45.

Tatiana keeping the pace quite high on the front. She was seventh in the

:19:46.:19:49.

World Championship last year will in 2009 she won the world title. The

:19:50.:20:00.

Italians have a good run at the World Championships. They pull it

:20:01.:20:05.

together, ride well as a team. Does not matter who wins from the Italian

:20:06.:20:10.

team. At the World Championships, they do an aptitude test before they

:20:11.:20:14.

go away, put it together. They have been consistent since 2009. It is a

:20:15.:20:21.

big thing for the Italians, perhaps more so than some of the other

:20:22.:20:25.

nations. In the lead ups to the World Championships. The team

:20:26.:20:30.

announcement, there is a lot of talk, build-up, the unity of Italy

:20:31.:20:35.

and the opportunity to wear the jersey. Absolutely, you have these

:20:36.:20:40.

riders on different proteins through the season, but they do favours for

:20:41.:20:45.

each other through the year because they have to ride together at the

:20:46.:20:49.

World Championships. Italy has been the heart of cycling for a long

:20:50.:20:53.

time, it is prestigious to be part of the Italian national team for the

:20:54.:20:58.

World Championship. If it stays like this for another couple of laps we

:20:59.:21:03.

will see the most liked for scrap on that one kilometre descent with five

:21:04.:21:09.

kilometres to go. Not much road and everybody will want it. Lizzie

:21:10.:21:15.

Armitstead getting out of the saddle. The further into this race

:21:16.:21:19.

we go and the more they have left in their legs, it means the fireworks

:21:20.:21:23.

will be bigger and brighter on that last lap. The descent will be worth

:21:24.:21:28.

watching. I would not want to be writing it. Still a tightly packed

:21:29.:21:37.

peloton. Number 40, right in front of the camera, and a Christian. --

:21:38.:21:50.

Hannah Christian. Hannah Barnes, 39, towards the back for Great

:21:51.:21:57.

Britain. Stevens to the left of our screen. She likes to be on the

:21:58.:22:02.

front. Or a couple of metres of the back. Germany still controlling

:22:03.:22:10.

things up towards the front of the peloton, as they have done for much

:22:11.:22:18.

of the race. They have really shown strength and depth today from the

:22:19.:22:23.

word go. The first lap. But riders up on the front, showed intent. They

:22:24.:22:28.

have stuck to it all the way so far. Of the big favourites, who would be

:22:29.:22:34.

the happiest so far at this stage of the race, for the race to be like

:22:35.:22:40.

this? Bronzini would normally be very content because she is the

:22:41.:22:46.

sprinter of this race. Shelley is another sprinter. Bronzini is the

:22:47.:22:48.

only one who has been able to challenge Marianne Vos in a

:22:49.:22:51.

head-to-head sprint, she will be feeling very happy it has been quite

:22:52.:22:56.

controlled until now, she will only be a little disappointed she had to

:22:57.:23:00.

do so much work earlier in the race to come back from that accident.

:23:01.:23:04.

Will be interesting to know what the effects of that crash are. I think

:23:05.:23:11.

Lizzie Armitstead would certainly have hoped for it to be a little bit

:23:12.:23:15.

harder, I think, especially as we go into this late stage of the race,

:23:16.:23:19.

she would want a lot more people under more pressure. Lizzie

:23:20.:23:23.

Armitstead said in her interview earlier she is not coming to a World

:23:24.:23:27.

Championship feeling more confident. She said no wider in this peloton is

:23:28.:23:33.

in condition to drop me from their wheels, it indicated she would race

:23:34.:23:37.

defensively and try to follow the moves, back herself in a sprint with

:23:38.:23:41.

whichever riders come to the finish. Here she is controlling at the

:23:42.:23:45.

front, looking around. Stretching her legs, having a look, seeing who

:23:46.:23:52.

is there. She will not want it to be an easy race to the line, she wants

:23:53.:23:57.

to take the sting out of the legs of Bronzini. She is quite fast, you

:23:58.:24:02.

would put her in the top five of speed in this peloton. No facial

:24:03.:24:06.

expression, she gave everybody the look. She is a master of the

:24:07.:24:13.

straight face. She looks great and probably in this case is feeling

:24:14.:24:16.

great as well. From the British point of view, coming into this

:24:17.:24:22.

championship with the best year of her career. In very good form.

:24:23.:24:27.

Feeling confident and quite bullish about her chances. Everybody else

:24:28.:24:33.

knows that, we saw she'd probably manage a pedal reference before the

:24:34.:24:45.

rest of the riders reacted. -- pedal revs. Tiffany Cromwell fifth over

:24:46.:25:04.

the crest from Australia. Bronzini will be happy enough at the

:25:05.:25:26.

moment with the way this race is panning out. What a race it promises

:25:27.:25:29.

to be over the closing couple of laps, 40 kilometres to go. This is

:25:30.:25:35.

the descent where there was a spectacular crash early in the race.

:25:36.:25:46.

A little bit calm now in the peloton, starting to bunch up,

:25:47.:25:50.

nobody really wanting to take up the pressure on the front. Are they

:25:51.:25:58.

waiting for the last lap is Marianne Vos going to wait for that last

:25:59.:26:03.

climb to kick? That is often enough for her. If she is on top form and

:26:04.:26:07.

the rumours are not true she is struggling, nobody can match her

:26:08.:26:13.

kick. If you get five or six seconds over the top, she can descend like

:26:14.:26:18.

no one else in the peloton. If she is on form that is probably her

:26:19.:26:22.

most... She does not want to be isolated and make wrong moves. To

:26:23.:26:27.

get over that line with a gap must be her plan. They might send a Dutch

:26:28.:26:33.

rider of the road on the last lap and let the other nations chase that

:26:34.:26:37.

down. Marianne Vos has a kick nobody can match. Do you feel Armitstead

:26:38.:26:43.

would wish to be alone coming into the finish or not too unhappy in a

:26:44.:26:47.

group? Depends on the combination of the group. With Lizzie's sprint, she

:26:48.:26:57.

tends to wait and react from the other riders. She is a fast rider,

:26:58.:27:03.

wants up to speed, but her kit is not that good. -- kick. If she wants

:27:04.:27:10.

to go head-to-head with one or two other riders who have a sprint, she

:27:11.:27:16.

needs to take control and put her move in first in the closing couple

:27:17.:27:20.

of hundred metres to get a gap. Once she is up to speed she is quick and

:27:21.:27:25.

has that track pedigree from earlier on. It is the initial getting up to

:27:26.:27:31.

speed. We look at the Italian is putting pressure on the front.

:27:32.:27:45.

Looking around to check who is there. Going back to Lizzie and the

:27:46.:27:57.

finish, she would certainly much prefer to be in this position here,

:27:58.:28:04.

on the final lap, away on her own with a good, probably at this point

:28:05.:28:11.

around about ten seconds, advantage. 10-15 seconds over a small group

:28:12.:28:16.

behind, that would be what she would be fairly guaranteed depending on

:28:17.:28:21.

who is left in that group behind. If it is a small group she is with, she

:28:22.:28:26.

definitely needs to go on the offensive and take control in the

:28:27.:28:30.

sprint. She is towards the front of the race as per usual. Two to go.

:28:31.:28:38.

There is Armitstead in the middle, just in discussion... She looks

:28:39.:28:46.

fairly comfortable at the moment. She should certainly be happy with

:28:47.:28:50.

how the race has panned out for her thus far. I am sure she will be

:28:51.:28:55.

hoping there is a little bit of animation the next couple of laps

:28:56.:28:58.

because she wants to create a situation where the likes of

:28:59.:29:01.

Marianne Vos and the stronger riders need to close some gaps and she can

:29:02.:29:04.

benefit from that. A situation where the likes of Marianne Vos and the

:29:05.:29:07.

stronger riders need to close some gaps and she can benefit from that.

:29:08.:29:10.

Rider Johansen, one of the punchier riders.

:29:11.:29:15.

Emma Johansson will not be far away, right behind us, the direction of

:29:16.:29:23.

where the climbs are, there is a rather unfriendly looking thundery

:29:24.:29:27.

clout... On the horizon. We will hope that does not start to pour

:29:28.:29:34.

down on the riders. And make life more difficult for them over the

:29:35.:29:39.

closing couple of laps. If it does it will certainly play a part. A

:29:40.:29:44.

part that we do not really want to see, on these roads especially. Big

:29:45.:29:56.

peloton still together. As they come up towards the line. For the

:29:57.:30:02.

Netherlands, Iris Slappendel, she has done a great job to get back in

:30:03.:30:09.

and be a main player. 91 kilometres in the bags for these riders. Annie

:30:10.:30:15.

Last and Lizzie Armitstead, up towards the front of the peloton.

:30:16.:30:19.

Hannah Barnes and Anna Christian towards the back. Now the race is

:30:20.:30:24.

on, the United States begin to animate the road race, with two to

:30:25.:30:32.

go. The Netherlands on the front of the peloton, just trying to take

:30:33.:30:35.

control of that. One of the riders from the USA,

:30:36.:30:59.

trying to break away. Just over two laps to go.

:31:00.:31:06.

Alison Powers has made the move, we are being told, who crashed heavily

:31:07.:31:16.

earlier in the race. We need to get back down on the road, just for

:31:17.:31:19.

confirmation that it is Alison Powers.

:31:20.:31:29.

Here she is, circling the centre of the town. She has a decent little

:31:30.:31:43.

gap, I do not think it will come to much, but it will put pressure on

:31:44.:31:46.

the peloton, lining them out and setting themselves up, not before

:31:47.:31:51.

too long they will hit the first part of the circuit where it hits

:31:52.:31:54.

the climb, that will be a bit of a sting in the legs for a lot of

:31:55.:31:59.

riders. She is a strong rider and an individual time trial. Triple

:32:00.:32:07.

national champion in the United States, Alison Powers. Winning the

:32:08.:32:12.

criterion, the individual time trial and the road race for the USA, very

:32:13.:32:15.

strong rider, she has got to get there. Very disappointed with her

:32:16.:32:19.

time trial early in the week, finishing eighth. Probably hoping

:32:20.:32:25.

for a medal or a top five, that is what we would have expected, very

:32:26.:32:29.

visibly disappointed with that. She has not given up. Perfect excuse

:32:30.:32:34.

with a big crash like that, to pull the pin on such a hard course, but

:32:35.:32:38.

not specifically suited to her style of riding. She is making the most of

:32:39.:32:43.

it. Before we have mentioned they have several cards to play, the

:32:44.:32:47.

United States. She is the first of them here. She could be setting

:32:48.:32:53.

things up nicely, Stevens. A little bit lighter than she was at the

:32:54.:32:58.

start of the race, she has lost a little bit of Bach, she will be

:32:59.:33:02.

climbing better. If it comes down to a sprint, then hanging onto Giorgia

:33:03.:33:07.

Bronzini's back wheel, I am sure that we will see Olds. 11 seconds is

:33:08.:33:13.

the gap. It has gone up to 12 seconds for

:33:14.:33:24.

Alison Powers of the United States. It has thrown out the peloton, this

:33:25.:33:28.

is the point on the circuit where we can see, visually, there is not an

:33:29.:33:32.

awful lot of recovery, the home straight seems to be the only spot

:33:33.:33:36.

on the circuit where the riders have the most of it, and they can relax a

:33:37.:33:41.

little bit, get in the wheels and recover and take a little bit of

:33:42.:33:47.

food and drink on-board, the rest of the time they are chasing, and this

:33:48.:33:50.

is what Lizzie Armitstead was hoping for. Much more of this ilk on this

:33:51.:33:56.

section of the circuit. A lot of pressure on a lot of riders. .

:33:57.:34:03.

Downhill through the town before they see the castle in the distance.

:34:04.:34:07.

That will mark the four kilometre mark in terms of this lap. More less

:34:08.:34:13.

Mark King the start of the five K climb up to the top of

:34:14.:34:20.

Confederacion. -- five kilometre climb. Alison Powers's move will be

:34:21.:34:23.

in the function of a strong team finish. Which nations will chase?

:34:24.:34:36.

She will hand in a little gap. The USA looking to draw the sting of a

:34:37.:34:43.

few others. Great move for the USA. It looks as though it is going to

:34:44.:34:47.

put pressure on the other nations if they leave it too much longer, she

:34:48.:34:48.

is a very strong rider. Definitely the rider from the United

:34:49.:35:07.

States that is leading the way, looked like the Dutch riders were on

:35:08.:35:12.

the front. There is one of them. Not wanting this to get out of reach.

:35:13.:35:16.

Trying to contain it as best as possible. . This is always a tough

:35:17.:35:29.

one, when a rider has gone clear and you know there are degree as a time

:35:30.:35:35.

trialist. She is a diesel type rider, she can stay out there for a

:35:36.:35:39.

long time and if the gap becomes too big and out of sight, and they do

:35:40.:35:44.

not pick up the pace soon enough, could be a very dangerous move. The

:35:45.:35:48.

Dutch are the ones to potentially respond on the front of the peloton.

:35:49.:35:58.

At the moment it is about 12 seconds, the gap to Alison Powers.

:35:59.:36:05.

Looks like it might be more than that but it is not. At least one of

:36:06.:36:09.

the riders from the Netherlands is on the front of the peloton.

:36:10.:36:13.

Effectively out of the race, Amelia, she goes past our common territory

:36:14.:36:20.

session. The question is, which nation will take it up? 60 riders in

:36:21.:36:26.

the front of the group at the moment. 21 seconds is the gap at the

:36:27.:36:32.

moment. Lizzie Armitstead, still in a good position for Great Britain,

:36:33.:36:37.

up towards the front of the race. Meanwhile... Down in the pits in the

:36:38.:36:41.

finishing area, Jill Douglas has been speaking with Lucy Garner. You

:36:42.:36:47.

are carrying a bit of damage, after the crash, you were down twice. I

:36:48.:36:53.

was only down once actually but yes, it was a silly crash, I'm very

:36:54.:36:59.

annoyed. There was no chance I could get on the cars, they will not let

:37:00.:37:03.

me. I put in a big effort to get back, I managed to get back but then

:37:04.:37:07.

I was totally dead when I got back. For me to have done my job well, I

:37:08.:37:12.

needed no mistakes and yes, it went wrong. Huge crash involving half the

:37:13.:37:18.

field, pretty dramatic. I came down shortly afterwards and there were

:37:19.:37:22.

bodies everywhere, it can be so dangerous out there. Pretty

:37:23.:37:29.

dangerous. If you go in at full pelt and there is people a bit nervous,

:37:30.:37:33.

that is what happens. Disappointing to see you come out at this stage,

:37:34.:37:37.

but Lizzie Armitstead is still there, with Hannah as well. Lizzie

:37:38.:37:45.

looks like she is flying, all of the girls in there for her, she is

:37:46.:37:48.

flying and it looks like she could have it, she is looking very good.

:37:49.:37:53.

Jill Douglas, with Lucy Garner, not her day-to-day, but a very young

:37:54.:37:59.

rider, very promising rider. Twice the world junior road race champion.

:38:00.:38:02.

There will be better days ahead for her surely. She sounds disappointed

:38:03.:38:11.

she could not have done more. Two-time junior world champion. She

:38:12.:38:15.

is mixing it up with the best sprinters in the world. Very

:38:16.:38:19.

well-known in the peloton as one of the fastest in the world at a very

:38:20.:38:23.

young age, she would have liked this opportunity to see what she could do

:38:24.:38:27.

on a tougher circuit, really. Looked like a very heavy fall, early in the

:38:28.:38:32.

race, you could see that at the time. A bang on the right-hand side

:38:33.:38:41.

of her body. And we saw pictures of Alison Powers, she had a fall. Looks

:38:42.:38:46.

like the peloton is keeping it in check. She has done a lot of work

:38:47.:38:51.

today for the Germans, just setting the pace. The former team time trial

:38:52.:38:58.

gold medallist at the championships. The Spanish showing their faces. Ana

:38:59.:39:03.

Sanchez, Riding for the same professional team as Becker. They

:39:04.:39:09.

are taking up the pace. One of the riders from Finland still hanging in

:39:10.:39:18.

there, not sure which one it is. Poland as well, represented. At the

:39:19.:39:25.

front of the peloton. Ukraine as well. Two or three Polish riders.

:39:26.:39:30.

Russia coming to the front. A bit of pressure on. Lizzie Armitstead will

:39:31.:39:37.

be a little bit happier now. Riders jostling for position, coming

:39:38.:39:39.

through, trying to get clear of the wheels ahead. Trying to grab

:39:40.:39:57.

bottles. She is a bit of a diesel, she can sit there and tapped out

:39:58.:40:01.

this rhythm all day long. She got out of the saddle with a little

:40:02.:40:04.

discomfort, perhaps because of the fall, she is not a rider that likes

:40:05.:40:09.

racing in Europe, she has said that very vocally, she does not like the

:40:10.:40:13.

European style of racing, she spends most of her time racing in the USA.

:40:14.:40:19.

This is a position that she will be very well acclimatised to, being off

:40:20.:40:24.

the front, getting into rhythm. You can see the peloton in the

:40:25.:40:28.

background, keeping her in check. On the front, the Russian rider, but we

:40:29.:40:32.

will have to wait and see which one it was. Number one for the

:40:33.:40:38.

Netherlands, Amy Peters, just sliding back a little bit. Amy

:40:39.:40:43.

Peters was second in a World Cup race in Sweden only last month. Just

:40:44.:40:48.

beginning to lose a little bit of contact. Just hanging on. If the gap

:40:49.:41:01.

is not big, you can see the dark cloud in the distance, heading

:41:02.:41:05.

straight for it. Usually comes back together. There is a couple of flats

:41:06.:41:12.

on the way up. This could be a bit of a move. Who is it at the front?

:41:13.:41:21.

It could be Hannah Barnes, it could be Anna Christian, we will get a

:41:22.:41:26.

better picture in a moment. Lizzie Armitstead is obviously said she

:41:27.:41:28.

would like a harder race than this is, she wants to take the

:41:29.:41:33.

initiative. Alison Powers has been overtaken here very quickly.

:41:34.:41:38.

The peloton is animated here. Another of the riders from the

:41:39.:41:45.

United States making a move. Alison Powers has made her efforts of the

:41:46.:41:49.

day, as soon as she has finished, there is another coming, and one of

:41:50.:41:51.

her team-mates. My guess is that that is the young

:41:52.:42:08.

rider, Anna Christian. Just behind these riders.

:42:09.:42:16.

The Polish rider peeling off. The Israeli and rider on third wheel. --

:42:17.:42:29.

the Australian rider. Bronze medal in Commonwealth Games, only got her

:42:30.:42:34.

citizenship in the last year. At least three riders out the back

:42:35.:42:38.

here. Really will begin to whittle down from behind. The New Zealander

:42:39.:42:45.

at the front on the right, Linda Williamson. Good to see Anna

:42:46.:42:53.

Christian getting as involved as possible in the race. And now we can

:42:54.:42:58.

see a fuse box of rain. There we go... This will be nervous times.

:42:59.:43:04.

You can see the rain on the lens but also on the road, not raining on the

:43:05.:43:10.

Finnish road but at the back of the circuit... -- finish line. And if it

:43:11.:43:14.

is wet on the descent, do not go and make a cup of tea, that is all that

:43:15.:43:20.

I can say. This is going to put the cat among the pigeons. Sizeable

:43:21.:43:26.

spanner. -- and now we can see a view spots of rain. There will not

:43:27.:43:31.

be many riders who will have been watching weather like this. Lizzie

:43:32.:43:34.

Armitstead would be one of them, she says that she likes wet weather, at

:43:35.:43:39.

the Commonwealth Games she said she would to rain. She does not get

:43:40.:43:43.

rattled by the rain, she is quite comfortable. You did not mind it in

:43:44.:43:49.

London in the Olympics either, fairly damp that day, getting the

:43:50.:43:55.

silver medal behind Marianne Vos. What a race that was. They could be

:43:56.:43:59.

the only two in the peloton that are happy that it rained.

:44:00.:44:08.

Looking comfortable in the middle in the black up towards the front,

:44:09.:44:18.

Linda Villumsen. You have different types of athlete, she is switched

:44:19.:44:23.

on, bit of a jackpot, you do not know what you are going to get. Well

:44:24.:44:28.

positioned at the front, and that is an indication that she is doing

:44:29.:44:34.

nicely. Trying to make life more difficult for everybody else.

:44:35.:44:37.

Looking like Anna Christian again, first world championship, one of the

:44:38.:44:41.

youngest, perhaps the youngest in the bike race, great to see her out

:44:42.:44:48.

there. Great ride. Is that Katrin Garthwaite on her wheel? Actually it

:44:49.:44:52.

is Rachel, the silver medallist from a couple of years ago. There is a

:44:53.:44:57.

lot of looking around going on. Meanwhile, Linda looking very

:44:58.:45:03.

comfortable in the black of New Zealand. Inside the last 30

:45:04.:45:19.

kilometres of the race. -- Katrin Garfoot. There is going to be some

:45:20.:45:26.

fighting, the gaps are going to open up even more, from the front to the

:45:27.:45:30.

back, an awful lot further than it has been on the laps previous.

:45:31.:45:36.

Lizzie Armitstead upfront, alongside Anna Christian, on the right-hand

:45:37.:45:43.

side as we look. Still tightly packed up. Another move going on the

:45:44.:45:51.

right-hand side of the road. Anna Christian and Lizzie Armitstead

:45:52.:45:55.

there, interesting to see who these ones are. The second is in a

:45:56.:46:01.

strolling rider. Germany bringing it back... Hannah Barnes on the

:46:02.:46:06.

front... A lot of criticism about the British national team but they

:46:07.:46:10.

have done quite well to get this far into the race and be the ones that

:46:11.:46:13.

are animating it with less than two laps to go. Katrin Garfoot,

:46:14.:46:20.

Australia. The Australians, with Rachel and Tiffany Cromwell and

:46:21.:46:23.

Katrin Garfoot, all of them in good position. And the Finnish rider in

:46:24.:46:31.

good position. We still have not seen much from Emma Johansson today.

:46:32.:46:35.

Fair to say there is a lot less in the peloton at the top of this crime

:46:36.:46:40.

going over then there were at the bottom. -- at the top of this

:46:41.:46:50.

climb. A couple of Ukrainian riders having a dig at the front and marked

:46:51.:46:54.

closely by the United States... Look at the weather now, absolutely

:46:55.:46:59.

horrible. It has completely changed, it has really turned this race on

:47:00.:47:03.

its head. But at the finish, as dry as a bone. So far, so good. That

:47:04.:47:08.

could be Shelley Olds, the American on the second wheel, and if it is,

:47:09.:47:13.

looking very comfortable for a sprinter to be this comfortable at

:47:14.:47:15.

this stage in the race. Just taking her time off the back,

:47:16.:47:27.

Mexican rider, Veronica. As the road heads up... An awful lot of standing

:47:28.:47:34.

water on the flatter sections of the road. Australia now on the front.

:47:35.:47:40.

High-performance manager of Israeli said that Rachel is in the form she

:47:41.:47:44.

was in two years ago when she was second to Marianne Vos, in Holcombe

:47:45.:47:49.

Burke. May have been right. -- Falk and Berg. She has been plagued by

:47:50.:47:57.

injury and misfortune, and an accident with a car earlier this

:47:58.:48:01.

year, but coming into form at the right time for the championships. --

:48:02.:48:12.

Valkenburg. Looking very strong here, making a move off the front,

:48:13.:48:17.

on the shiny wet roads. And they are going to be slippery, this has put

:48:18.:48:20.

an awful lot of pressure on the other teams. Which one is going to

:48:21.:48:25.

take it up? Which one is going to try to contain the mood? The

:48:26.:48:28.

Australian rider is back in the peloton, they can sit there, on the

:48:29.:48:34.

wheels, a bit of spray on their face, but they can relax a little

:48:35.:48:39.

bit. When these breaks go, Lizzie Armitstead will be banking on the

:48:40.:48:42.

Germans, the Italians, the Dutch and the United States to respond. Great

:48:43.:48:52.

move by Rachel, not the most confident, we will see her lose a

:48:53.:48:58.

little bit of time. Lottie Becker when the rain came down there may

:48:59.:49:02.

have been a bit of extra motivation to do something on the ascent, a

:49:03.:49:06.

little bit of leeway on the descent. We will keep a close eye on this,

:49:07.:49:13.

particularly the right-hander. None of the riders have done the descent

:49:14.:49:17.

in the wet in the week either, so this is going to be a new experience

:49:18.:49:23.

for a lot of the riders. How much traction on the tyres? At least she

:49:24.:49:33.

can pick her own line, she is not being overly harassed by anybody

:49:34.:49:39.

around her or affected by anybody around her. It is a lot slower and a

:49:40.:49:43.

lot more cautious going around the bend. . That was a deep breath, she

:49:44.:49:50.

is happy to be at the bottom of the descent, now she has got to work

:49:51.:49:54.

pretty hard to put the pressure on the other riders, she is very loyal,

:49:55.:49:58.

loves to ride for her team-mates, prides herself on being one of the

:49:59.:50:09.

most strongest and reliable domestiques in the line-up. The

:50:10.:50:15.

nature of the descent, with the weather changing, has really changed

:50:16.:50:20.

things. Still dry at the finish, we hope that it was just a passing

:50:21.:50:23.

shower. Disappearing off in the other direction. Rachel Neylan is

:50:24.:50:30.

coached by Bradley McGee, I heard him giving her a pep talk, she has

:50:31.:50:35.

moved to Sydney, to training during the Australian summer, under the

:50:36.:50:48.

guidance of Bradley McGee. Rachel Neylan, striking out inside the

:50:49.:50:53.

final 25 kilometres. Plenty of riders in contention, air handful of

:50:54.:51:01.

seconds behind. -- a handful. Lizzie Armitstead behind.

:51:02.:51:10.

It is fair to say this race is well and truly on, a lot different than

:51:11.:51:17.

the previous laps we have seen. 24.3 kilometres remaining.

:51:18.:51:25.

She has had her fair share of injury, Rachel Neylan, she had an

:51:26.:51:32.

accident in 2012, after she was silver at the World Championships,

:51:33.:51:36.

against Marianne Vos, it felt like a win, because she was so dominant in

:51:37.:51:41.

2012. Second at the World Championships, very impressive.

:51:42.:51:46.

Megan Guarnier, of the USA, and Charlotte Becker of Germany, they

:51:47.:51:50.

have dropped out of the back of the main chasing group as you can see,

:51:51.:51:55.

but as you can see, it is a few seconds, the gap, or Rachel Neylan.

:51:56.:52:01.

Last time check we had ten seconds. That is what it is now. Lizzie

:52:02.:52:04.

Armitstead, on the front. She's looking around, she may be

:52:05.:52:13.

looking for team-mates to pick up the pace, nobody else picking it up,

:52:14.:52:17.

she would like to keep it higher, she does not want to many fresh

:52:18.:52:23.

legs. Just behind Lisa Brennauer, the American, Shelley Olds, we did

:52:24.:52:26.

not expect her to get this far into the race. On the lest of your -- on

:52:27.:52:32.

the left of your screen, from New Zealand, the five-time World

:52:33.:52:34.

Championship medallist in individual time trials. A couple of French

:52:35.:52:40.

riders there as well. Up towards the front. Back at the front of the

:52:41.:52:46.

race, Rachel Neylan. As Rachelle the saying, silver medallist a couple of

:52:47.:52:49.

years ago. Quite bullish and confident yesterday, in the

:52:50.:52:55.

Australian press conference, head of the race, sitting alongside Tiffani

:52:56.:53:02.

Cromwell. -- as Rochelle was saying. -- Tiffany Cromwell. Not holding

:53:03.:53:16.

much back. With two very strong team-mates back in the peloton,

:53:17.:53:21.

every reason to give 100%. She will either work out our own advantage or

:53:22.:53:24.

set up the team for the best advantage. Interesting she is

:53:25.:53:28.

wearing a skin suit, a lot of riders choosing to do that in road races

:53:29.:53:33.

rather than big shorts and jersey, she has the skin suit on. In terms

:53:34.:53:40.

of the benefit you would accrue over a long race. Yes, certainly. -- bib

:53:41.:53:51.

shorts and jersey. Bradley Wiggins averaged 50 K pH, and so speed

:53:52.:53:56.

anything above 15, 20 K pH and you are... Aerodynamics plays a part...

:53:57.:54:01.

We are on the climb but you can see the speed at which they are going

:54:02.:54:05.

up. It played such an important part. This is what Lizzie Armitstead

:54:06.:54:09.

would like to happen, the Italians have bitten, they have decided they

:54:10.:54:15.

need to leads the race and straightaway, Lizzie Armitstead is

:54:16.:54:19.

following. Third at the World Championships last year, leading the

:54:20.:54:25.

chase, Rozelle Ratho. Probably for the likes of Giorgia Bronzini. --

:54:26.:54:31.

Rossella Ratto. Busy Armistead has sensed the danger, she would like to

:54:32.:54:35.

contribute to this, she is on a mission. Trying to see if Marianne

:54:36.:54:38.

Vos is in the leading group, there is a Dutch rider but I do not think

:54:39.:54:43.

it is boss... Yes, it is Marianne Vos who is there. And you can see,

:54:44.:54:48.

all of the big names, beginning to appear at the front of the race.

:54:49.:54:57.

Lizzie Armitstead leading the way. -- I do not think it is Marianne

:54:58.:55:01.

Vos, guess it is Marianne Vos actorly. Well represented the Tour

:55:02.:55:07.

group, tapping off the climb. Fortunately the roads look try once

:55:08.:55:12.

again. They say that is the moment where you can get a puncture, when

:55:13.:55:15.

the road goes from being wet to being dry, that is when you pick up

:55:16.:55:20.

things. Lizzie Armitstead bouncing on the bike, hopefully she does not

:55:21.:55:23.

have a puncture, that would be devastating. At this point, even the

:55:24.:55:27.

neutrals would say this would be so far behind you. The riders you are

:55:28.:55:32.

with, travelling so fast, you really do lose ground if you have a

:55:33.:55:37.

puncture or a mechanical. You can see the gaps opening up from the

:55:38.:55:40.

riders at the front, this small group of the front of what is left

:55:41.:55:44.

of the peloton. Lizzie Armitstead in the thick of it. Creating this, she

:55:45.:55:50.

is... So far, so good, really is to plan for her, she has got to keep

:55:51.:55:56.

the pressure on, she wants to keep the race fast.

:55:57.:56:01.

15 riders at the front of the race, they are about 20 seconds clear, we

:56:02.:56:05.

understand. Closing few minutes of the

:56:06.:56:19.

penultimate lap here. Lizzie Armitstead, enhance the rainbow

:56:20.:56:22.

jersey. Only three British women have ever been world champion

:56:23.:56:27.

before: Beryl Burton, twice in the 1960s, Maggie Jones in 1992 and

:56:28.:56:34.

Nicole Cooke, 2008. And Lizzie Armitstead looking to join that

:56:35.:56:40.

company. Cannot be many more than a dozen or so riders... 17 riders in

:56:41.:56:47.

the lead group. As they fly down the dissent. Emma Johansson, second

:56:48.:56:52.

wheel, we have not seen much of her today, but along with Marianne Vos

:56:53.:56:55.

and Lizzie Armitstead, we thought she would be there in the final

:56:56.:57:01.

moments. 20 kilometres remaining, strung out, finally getting the

:57:02.:57:05.

selection here, in the women's road race World Championship, as the

:57:06.:57:10.

defending champion, Marianne Vos, we have not seen much of her, she

:57:11.:57:14.

begins to show her face at the front. On the dissent. The next time

:57:15.:57:19.

they come down here, the race is going to be very much on, and

:57:20.:57:23.

Marianne Vos, leading the way, 17 riders at the front of the race. --

:57:24.:57:38.

on the descents. It is all to play for, and Lizzie Armitstead, Great

:57:39.:57:39.

Britain, still in the hunt for gold. STUDIO: Coming towards the end of

:57:40.:57:50.

the coverage on BBC One but we will not miss anything, we will be going

:57:51.:57:54.

straight over to BBC Two for the culmination of this. In Northern

:57:55.:57:57.

Ireland, it will be until 5:30pm that you have got to wake but for

:57:58.:58:00.

the moment on BBC

:58:01.:58:02.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS