Unleashing a sprint which effectively destroyed his rivals, Pierre Henri Lecuisinier ensured France’s second gold medal in 24 hours when he won the junior world road race championships this morning.
The eighteen year old was one of six riders who went clear on the penultimate lap, with his team-mate Guillaume Martin (France), Martijn Degreve and Rob Leemans (Belgium), Steven Lammertink and Ivar Slik (Netherlands) also there. They worked well together to open a solid lead, and while Slik was dropped on the final lap, the others then fought it out for the win.
Leemans attacked just outside a kilometre to go and looked to be on his way to a rainbow jersey, but faded on the drag up to the finish line. Martin chased to keep the gap as small as possible, then Lammertink passed Leemans with approximately 200 metres to go. This prompted the Belgian’s team-mate Degreve to play his own card, but Lecuisinier was biding his time and pulled well ahead when he hit the jets.
He crossed the line well clear of Degreve and Lammertink, roaring with delight and punching the air, while behind the bunch overhauled Leemans and Martin and fought it out for the minor placings. Florian Senechal (France) led the chasers in three seconds later, edging out Erik Zabel’s son Rick (Germany), Roman Ivlev (Russia), the Norwegian Daniel Hoelgaard and Nicolas Marini (Italy).
Lecuisinier’s win from a break proves that the relatively flat circuit in Copenhagen doesn’t always ensure a bunch sprint. “It is a very good day..I am so happy. I would say thanks to all the French team,” he beamed before the jersey presentation.
“It is a very good job today for the French team…with the under 23 win yesterday, it is good for French cycling.”
He played things perfectly in the finale, keeping cool when Leemans attacked. “I knew I was fast in the sprint so I waited for it,” he said.
Early break precedes decisive move:
A very fast opening lap of over 46 kilometres per hour saw the formation of a thirteen man breakaway group. Four of the French team were present, namely Pierre-Roger Latour, Alexis Gougeard, Pierre Henri Lecuisinier and Romain Faussurier, the Danes Rasmus Lund and Emil Vinjebo, Daan Myngheer (Belgium), Alberto Bettiol (Italy), Matthew Holmes (Great Britain), Oskar Nisu (Estonia), Tobais Derler (Austria), Tormond Jacobsen (Norway) and Juriy Vasyliv (Germany).
These had a 36 second lead over the peloton at the end of that 14 kilometre circuit, but one lap later just two of those remained out front; Gougeard and Myngheer. Holding a 24 second advantage at that point, the gap there remained below a minute for the next four laps.
Going over the start line for the seventh time, change was starting to happen. The duo had been joined by seven others, namely Calvin Watson (Australia), Jon Dibben (Great Britain), Jacobsen (Norway), Daniel Hoelgaard (Norway), Matej Mohoric (Slovenia), Adrien Legros (France) and Richard Dijkshoorn (Netherlands). However the peloton was just four seconds back, and things regrouped after this point.
That lull was very short lived, with the day’s winning move going very soon after this. Pierre Henri Lecuisinier, his French team-mate Guillaume Martin (France), Martijn Degreve and Rob Leemans (Belgium), Steven Lammertink and Ivar Slik (Netherlands) all joined forces to open a 21 second lead by the bell.
The peloton chased hard but those out front were combining well, aided by the fact that the French, Belgian and Netherlands riders had two each there. The bunch’s momentum was affected slightly by a crash which claimed over ten riders and left Dylan Groenewegen lying prone on the ground.
The Italian team drove the chase along while ahead things were stretching out in the break. The French riders pushed the pace on one of the short drags on the circuit, putting Leeman and Slik out the back. The former was able to rejoin, but the Dutch rider never managed to get back to the other five.
Final kilometres sees break beat bunch:
Behind, the Australian team was trying to get organised but the peloton was clearly not working as hard as the break. The Italians then came to the front to add some impetus. With 6.5 kilometres left, the gap was still 24 seconds and, realising the race was slipping away, the British riders also added some oomph to the pursuit and helped bring the gap down to 13 seconds with two and a half kilometres left.
Leemans wasn’t planning on waiting around and kicked clear with one and a half kilometres remaining. He had a two second lead going into the final kilometre and was looking good, but on the long drag up to the finish line he began to fade.
Martin chased for his team-mate, helping to keep Leemans close, and then with 200 metres left Lammertink played his card and opened his sprint. He closed up on Leemans, prompting Degreve to kick hard and try to win it for Belgium, but Lecuisinier was well in control. As the Belgian accelerated, he also increased his speed and then kicked hard, moving decisively clear.
He thundered home, yelling with delight as he scooped gold, while Degreve and Lammertink took silver and bronze. The other two riders were gobbled up by the bunch inside the final metres, and fourth and fifth went to Florian Senechal (France) and Rick Zabel (Germany).
The result saw France take its second consecutive gold medal, showing that the future is looking to be a bright one for the country.