Champagne racing in the UCI Road World Championships in Denmark

On the last and final day of the UCI Road World Championships in Denmark Mark Cavendish took the rainbow jersey in the Men’s Road Race leaving Australian Matt Goss to silver and bronze to German André Greipel.

The Men’s Road Race concluded a fantastic week of world class cycling. Today was the sprinters day – today was the crowds’ day – today was a bright and sunny day.

There was champagne racing in the Men’s Road Race and festive days for cycling fans and a big experience for the crowds gathered along the circuits. In many ways the Men’s Road Race was a classical race with brake aways, crashes, and drama and at the end just one winner: British Mark Cavendish who had worked for this title for more than three years and from the very start of the race organised his team in front of the peloton.

"I had two goals this year, the Green Jersey in the Tour de France, and the Rainbow Jersey, and next year I am going for the Olympics. I have won the Green Jersey in the Tour de France and won Milan-San Remo, but this jersey signifies the greatest thing I can get, really, I get to ride with the Rainbow bands all next year and to wear them on the sleeves for the rest of my life. Since I was 19 I have dreamed of becoming world champion, and my victory today is a result of a very good teamwork," said Mark Cavendish at the press conference after the race.

"These were one of most successful championships we have had in recent years. The crowds today were the evidence: 250.000 on a beautiful day. We had a beautiful race with unpredictably last five or six laps. A beautiful race with a beautiful winner," said Pat McQuaid, president of UCI, minutes after the Men’s Road Race.

Also the Danish Race Director, Jesper Worre, is more than pleased with the event both in terms of the sports results and in terms of the organisation: "It exceeds our expectations. This is what we have dreamed about. From a sports point of view the UCI Road World Championships have been spotless, and when it comes to the organisational aspect we have only had compliments. The Championships are a gigantic success – also for the UCI, and they can now use the great photos of Copenhagen and Rudersdal to promote cycling and the championships."

Also Sport Event Denmark that is the national sport event organisation only has positive concluding remarks on the championships: "These Road World Championships were by far the largest world championships on Danish soil ever. It was a great success in terms of spectator attention and the first feed backs from riders, officials and media are very, very positive. The world of cycling complimented the Danish organisers for the professional staging of the event and the courageous decision to stage the Time Trials in the heart of our capital," says Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark.

Results 266 km (17x14 km + 28 km)

1. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) 5:40.27 h.

2. Matt Goss (Australia) s.t.

3. André Greipel (Germany) s.t.

Massive crowds

Sunday’s start in the centre of Copenhagen and with a finish in Rudersdal had an estimated crowd of 250.000 spectators.

In total the six days of cycling gathered no less than 545.000 spectators, which was well above the beforehand estimated numbers of 400.000.

Spectators:

Monday 19. September: 30.000

Tuesday 20. September: 25.000

Wednesday 21. September: 100.000

Friday 23. September: 60.000

Saturday 24. September: 80.000

Sunday 25. September: 250.000

Mark Cavendish´s gold medal brought Great Britain to the top in the medal’s statistics after the 6 days of cycling with 10 disciplines at the UCI Road World Championships 2011 in Denmark:

Final Medal Statistics:

Gold Silver Bronze Total:

Great Britain 2 2 2 - 6

Australia 2 1 2 - 5

France 2 1 0 - 3

Germany 2 0 3 - 5

Denmark 1 1 1 - 3

Italy 1 0 0 - 1

Belgium 0 2 0 - 2

New Zealand 0 1 1 - 2

Holland 0 1 1 - 2

Schwitzerland 0 0 1 – 1

The UCI Bike City Copenhagen

The UCI Road World Championships 2011 event are part of the Bike City Copenhagen project (BCC), which HRH Crown Prince Frederik is protector for. Copenhagen is the only city in the world, which has been appointed Bike City by the UCI by now and between 2008 and 2011, Copenhagen is hosting 6 major international cycling events.

Beyond the above event, the package includes among others the World BMX Championships 2011. Behind BCC (Bike City Copenhagen) stand as strong partners as the Danish Cycling Federation, Sport Event Denmark, The City of Copenhagen, the Municipality of Rudersdal, the Municipality of Ballerup, the Capital Region of Copenhagen and Wonderful Copenhagen.

The UCI Road World Championships will take place 19 – 25 September 2011 in Copenhagen/Rudersdal.

For more information, contact: ea@sporteventdenmark.com.

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