Tobias who? The little-known Norwegian Tobias Foss stole the show from the big cycling stars and surprisingly won the world title in the individual time trial. The 25-year-old had previously won nothing apart from the Norwegian championship.
Not far from the beautiful Wollongong City Beach, Tobias Foss sat in the target area and didn’t know what happened to him. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the talent of the century Remco Evenepoel, ex-tour dominator Tadej Pogacar or world champion Filippo Ganna – the stars of the scene were all duped by the relatively unknown Norwegian in the individual time trial at the Road World Championships Down Under. With his tour de force in the Australian spring, the 25-year-old caused what is probably the biggest sensation since Bert Grabsch’s time trial title in 2008.
“It feels like a dream. I can’t believe it, it’s so unreal. I have to realize that first. I would have been satisfied with a top ten finish,” said Foss, responsible for the 34.2 kilometer long course required 40:02 minutes. He was 2.95 seconds faster than Stefan Küng from Switzerland, who was always second. Third place went to Belgian Vuelta champion Evenepoel, nine seconds back.
Former Tour Champion Pogacar (Slovenia) and the favorite defending champion Filippo Ganna (Italy) only finished sixth and seventh. The two German starters Nikias Arndt and Miguel Heidemann also played no role as 16th and 20th. “The track was faster than expected. I found my rhythm well, but unfortunately I was two or three percent behind where I would have liked to be,” said Arndt. Heidemann said: “I’m super satisfied. It’s my first World Cup with the elite.”
Nevertheless, the German team, which came with few ambitions, could be happy about a successful start. Ricarda Bauernfeind won bronze in the U23 class behind Italian winner Vittoria Guazzini and Dutchman Shirin van Anrooij. “It’s something completely new for me to be on the podium at a world championships. I didn’t really expect to win a medal. Top 5 would have been nice,” said Bauernfeind, who was the first to start on the course and thus the World Cup had virtually opened.
At the World Championships in Australia, medals were awarded in the U23 class for the first time. The riders started as part of the women’s time trial, which Ellen van Dijk from the Netherlands won in 44:28 minutes. For the 35-year-old, it was the third title after 2013 and 2021. Second and third place went to Australian Grace Brown and European champion Marlen Reusser from Switzerland.
But the highlight of the day was provided by Foss, who no expert had counted on. The 25-year-old from Tour Champion Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo Visma team has not yet won an international race apart from three titles at the Norwegian championships. At the Tour de France he was not in the squad and at the Giro d’Italia he finished 54th.
“My legs were really good. The course was challenging. It was the perfect race for me,” said Foss, dethroning Ganna. The Italian had won the title in 2020 and 2021 and actually wanted to take the next step to the record of Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara (both four titles).
