Carlos Rodríguez, protagonist and 24th in the road race of the World Championships; Raúl García, retired with 17 kilometres to go until the end

2019 World Cycling Championships
Richmond-Harrogate (148 km)

Carlos Rodríguez from Granada was one of the great protagonists of the road race of the youth category of Yorkshire. The cyclist of the Kometa Cycling Team was involved in the first major breakaway of the race, the same one in which the winner and new world champion of the category, the American Quinn Simmons, rolled. Simmons, his compatriot Magnus Sheffield, the Briton Lewis Askey, the Czech Pavel Brittner and Rodriguez formed a quintet that led the race until with 33 kilometers to go Simmons went on the attack.

Carlos Rodríguez could not continue the attack and was finally absorbed by a chasing group in which Italy was shooting and in which Juan Ayuso was also shooting. The race would be very defined, with the American in front and a group of about 25 runners chasing the Italian Alessio Martinelli.

Raúl García ended up retiring after a great effort with 17 kilometres to go, while the American Quinn Simmons faced the last lap with a 36″ advantage over Martinelli. 40 seconds behind the Italian was the pack, in which Ayuso was still standing, with Rodriguez riding about 25 seconds behind after accusing the effort of the breakaway. A fall about 8 kilometres to the finish line eliminated Ayuso from the fight for the medals, while Simmons took the gold medal. Finally, Ayuso would cross the finish line in 23rd place at 4’55”, while Carlos Rodríguez would be 24th, 7’02” from the new rainbow.

“From the beginning I tried to be in front so that there would not be any cuts. In the main ports, due to the rain, I have been too far behind and when I tried to crown the front part, I felt the effort”, explained Rodríguez to the press service of the Spanish Cycling Federation. “When I saw Simmons leaving I decided that I had to go with them, even though I didn’t have enough strength. When I returned to the group I was out of strength and I did the last fifty kilometres as best I could. Although it wasn’t the best result I expected, I’m quite happy with my performance”.

📸 RFEC