Scanlon settles for 13th place

CYCLING: Provisionally third at the end of his test, for a while yesterday it seemed that Mark Scanlon was set to take a bronze medal in the under-23 world time trial championships.

However, the Sligoman's hopes of his first podium finish since winning the junior event four years ago came to nothing in the end, frustrated by a wave of riders who edged past his time for the 33.7 kilometre test.

Scanlon eventually finished a creditable 13th in the race against the clock, just 35 seconds off the bronze medal of Sergio Paulinho, but with 10 riders between himself and a medal he may well wonder what would have been possible with time trial-specific training.

In the past five weeks the Sligoman has competed in lengthy professional races as part of his successful trial with AG2r; quality workouts, but physiologically quite different from the demands of the individual time trial.

That Scanlon is in the form of his life is unquestionable, but yesterday's result did not fully reflect his current condition. The ambitious young rider will look to Friday's road race with heightened determination to do well.

Quickest yesterday was the Lithuanian Tomas Vaitkus, who screamed around the course at an average speed of over 51 kilometres per hour to post a time of 38 minutes 40.8 seconds. Silver went to the Russian Alexandr Bespalov, with Sergio Paulinho of Portugal completing the podium placings.

Scanlon's Irish team-mate Dermot Nally finished 32nd, fractionally under three minutes and 10 seconds off the winning time.

"Mark wasn't down at all about his performance," said team manager Ciarán McKenna afterwards. "Friday's road race might well suit him better, but the risk is that the flat course will make the event a little bit of a lottery, with regard to picking the right breakaway."

Next up of the Irish world championship squad are Nicolas Roche and Theo Hardwick, who compete in the junior time trial this morning, and elite woman Geraldine Gill who has her own race against the clock in the afternoon.