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Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen crowned women’s world road race champion

Lizzie Deignan fourth as 20-year-old pips Kirsten Wild to gold

Former junior world champion Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) sprinted to victory in the elite women’s road race to ensure Boels-Dolmans will boast the women’s world champion in their number for the second consecutive season.

The 20-year-old Dane beat pre-race favourite Kirsten Wild in the final sprint, with Finland’s Lotta Lepisto rounding off the podium as Great Britain’s defending champion Lizzie Deignan finished fourth.

Dideriksen, a trade team-mate of Deignan’s, was not expected to be among the contenders, and admitted she had only targeted a top-ten place, but she stunned Wild to pull on the rainbow bands.

Amalie Dideriksen outsprinted Kirsten Wild in Doha to win world road race gold (pic: Sirotti)

Both Wild and Dideriksen were involved in a crash earlier in the race, but both returned to the peloton with little trouble as the race was subdued early on.

A lone break by Japan’s Eri Yonamine from the flag gave the peloton a rabbit to chase, and Switzerland’s Nicole Hanselmann joined Yonamine up the road on the Pearl-Qatar circuit.

With the Netherlands already forcing the pace and riding aggressively on the front of the bunch, the gap never looked too threatening, however.

There were still 70km to race when the duo were swept up as Amy Pieters, Marianne Vos and Anna van der Breggen all putting in strong digs to gradually thin the bunch out.

Amber Neben, the world time trial champion, looked to get a gap on more than one occasion and the American was next to go solo as she finally escaped the clutches of the Dutch riders.

Her lead stretched out as far as 50 seconds at one point, and it was only when other teams started to join the Dutch on the front that it came back down – Neben being caught at the start of the final lap.

An illegal bike change cost Russia’s Olga Zabelinskaya a shot at victory – she took a bike from the side of the road, rather than a team vehicle – though the Russian continued to race despite instructions from the race jury.

Dani King put in an attack for Great Britain on the final lap, which briefly caused a split, but with the Dutch in control a sprint finish became inevitable with Wild and six team-mates readying themselves for the finale.

Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen will wear the rainbow jersey next season (pic: Sirotti)

She went early, into the wind, and looked to be en route to a gold medal and the rainbow jersey, but Dideriksen came off her wheel to snatch victory.

Lepisto took third, with Deignan just outside the medals after a spirited defence of the rainbow jersey.

UCI Road World Championships 2016: women’s road race – result

1) Amalie Dideriksen – Denmark – 3.10.27hrs
2) Kirsten Wild – Netherlands – ST
3) Lotta Lepisto – Finland
4) Lizzie Deignan – Great Britain
5) Marta Bastianelli – Italy
6) Roxane Fournier – France
7) Chloe Hosking – Australia
8) Sheyla Gutierrez Ruiz – Spain
9) Joelle Numainville – Canada
10) Jolien d’Hoore – Belgium

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