News Story Date : 23 October, 2009

Sarah Storey Wins Gold in Bogogno

Congratulations to Sarah Storey who has scooped 2 Golds in the 2009 UCI Paracycling World Road Championships in Bogogno, Italy.

A report from ‘British Cycling’ on the events of days 2 and 4 - the days Sarah won her medals - in Bogogno written by Sarah’s husband and fellow Paralympian Cyclist, Barney Storey stated;

Day 2

Sarah Storey claimed Great Britain’s first gold medal and rainbow jersey for these championships. Sarah rode a strong race and looked controlled throughout the 19.4km test. Last off in the field, she caught 2nd place rider Greta Neimanas in the last kilometre to claim the gold medal. The time trial is an event Sarah has been targeting this year and she was very pleased to capture gold. It is interesting to note that her time would have placed her in the top 15 riders in the men’s event, very impressive.
This victory came after a difficult start to her World Championships when a training crash may have compromised her race. Whilst riding back from the road course on a training day earlier in the week, a pedestrian stepped out in front of Sarah causing her to fall. This left her with cuts and bruises just at a time when a bike rider doesn’t need them. Sarah battled through this crash to capture her rainbow jersey.

British Cycling spoke with Sarah after the event:
“This is 3rd time lucky for me! I was second in the world champs in 2006, then couldn’t ride the road in 2007 world champs due to a broken collarbone, so this really is great to win! My coach Gary Brickley was giving me time checks on race radio and telling where to go hard, easier, etc. It was important not to push the corners too much when I knew I had an eventual healthy winning margin from Gary’s time checks. The crash I had earlier in the week threatened to cause me a problem for the race, but I managed to ignore the pain and push on to the victory. Having this rainbow jersey is very special.”

Day 4

The Women’s road race was an early start, with the riders setting off in slightly colder conditions than the past few days, but the weather soon warmed up just as the racing did too! The women’s race was 6 laps of the 9.7km circuit, with the final climb playing a significant part before they descended back towards Bogogno and the last few tricky corners. Sarah Storey found her legs on the first ascent and then attacked properly on lap 2 of the race up the climb, with the bunch unable to match her speed. This then left Sarah alone for the remaining 4 laps of the race. Despite a valiant chase from two chasers from USA and Australia, Sarah gradually built her lead lap by lap, before crossing the line 1 Min 45 secs up on the rest of the field.

This was Sarah’s second gold medal of the championships, which has been an amazing championship’s for the LC1 rider who has dominated her category, despite an unlucky crash earlier in the week whilst out training.

British Cycling spoke to Sarah about her amazing achievements:
“I’m delighted to win this morning, it was tricky with a small bunch and trying to produce the element of surprise with my attack. I just tried to use my strength on the climb, perhaps went a bit sooner than the race plan, but was confident I had the strength to finish it off!”

Read more about Sarah Storey on her Inspirational Speakers profile page here

Click here to read the full report from British Cycling