Saturday 15 October 2016 15:29, UK
Great Britain’s Lizzie Deignan finished fourth in an impressive defence of her World Championship road race title as Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen sprinted to victory in Qatar.
The 134.5km race ended in the predicted bunch finish and 20-year-old Dideriksen caused a shock by beating bookmakers' favourite Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) into second place and Lotta Lepisto (Finland) into third.
Deignan started the sprint just behind Dideriksen and Wild but could not match their power and was unable to challenge them for the win.
It was nevertheless a fine performance and result from the 27-year-old, who was not ideally suited to the flat Doha course but still rode an aggressive race with the help of her excellent Great Britain team-mates.
Dideriksen, who was world junior champion in 2013 and 2014, said: "I knew the Dutch girls would make a lead-out for Kirsten and I just wanted her wheel so bad. I fought pretty hard with some of the other girls, but I thought, 'I just want this wheel'. It paid out.
"It's a surprise for everybody. I know I am okay in a sprint, but taking the World Championships, it's unbelievable. It's really huge. I'm only 20 years old so I'm just really happy."
After the first half of the race had been played out at sedate pace, Wild's Dutch team brought it to life by launching a flurry of attacks as Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk, Annemiek van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen all attempted to split up the peloton and tire out rival teams.
However, on each occasion they were chased down by Deignan, Dani King, Hannah Barnes and other members of the British team, and the bunch consequently entered the final 45km still as one.
The United States' Amber Neben, who won the world time trial on Tuesday, then launched a solo attack and built up a lead of 50 seconds, but she was gradually reeled back in by the Dutch, who by now had turned their focus solely to setting up a sprint for Wild.
An orange wall led the peloton into the final 1km and the result looked a formality when Vos delivered Wild to the final 250m at the head of the field.
But while Deignan, now on her own, was unable to make inroads, Dideriksen conjured a searing turn of pace and snatched the rainbow jersey in the final 20m.
Women's world road race result
1 Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark), 3:10:27
2 Kirsten Wild (Netherlands), same time
3 Lotta Lepisto (Finland), st
4 Lizzie Deignan (Great Britain), st
5 Marta Bastianelli (Italy), st
6 Roxane Fournier (France), st
7 Chloe Hosking (Australia), st
8 Sheyla Gutierrez (Spain), st
9 Joelle Numainville (Canada), st
10 Jolien D'hoore (Belgium), st
