AFP/Richmond


Powered by Australian Rohan Dennis with US hero Taylor Phinney making an inspirational comeback, BMC Racing defended the men’s team time trial crown Sunday at the World Road Cycling Championships.
Phinney, who missed 15 months after a serious crash, joined Dennis, Italians Daniel Oss and Michael Quinziato and Swiss riders Silvan Dillier and Stefan Kueng in conquering the 38.6km (24 miles) course in 42min 7.97secs.
“To win again and really put our mark on the team time trial is really big,” Dennis said.
Etixx Quick Step, featuring three-time individual world time trial champion Tony Martin and world road race champion Michal Kwiatkowski, was second, the 2012 and 2013 champions finishing 11.35 seconds off the pace with Movistar third in 42:38.08.
“We were happy with the performance but not the result,” Martin said. “The goal was to get gold.”
With Dennis powering the way, BMC seized the lead by 3.75 seconds after 10km and stretched the margin to 12.39 seconds after going 20km in 18:58.59, although Etixx Quick Step trimmed to deficit to 5.80 seconds after 30km.
“It’s surprising we lost the time at the start because we felt good there,” Martin said. “We started to gain a few seconds back. We knew it was a fight.”
But BMC pulled away at the finish, a final climb leaving only Phinney, Oss, Dillier and Dennis to cross the line and produce the winning time.
“Rohan Dennis really pulled us today,” Phinney said. “He was pulling us forward.
“This was a huge goal for us. To win it this year is fantastic. It was hard out there. But we did it.”
Phinney, back from a career-threatening 2014 crash, began his fightback last month at the Tour of Utah and followed by winning the first stage of the USA Pro Challenge.
“It has been kind of a whirlwind for me this last couple of months. I didn’t even think I was going to make this team,” said Phinney.
“It’s hard to process for me. Personally it couldn’t have gone any better over the last couple of months. I’m happy to be back.”
The 25-year-old son of 1984 Olympic road race champion Connie Carpenter and former pro cyclist Davis Phinney was hurt in May 2014 in a crash at the US road race championship, suffering a major left knee injury, a compound left tibia fracture and a severed tendon.  
“It has been a roller coaster the past couple of years,” Phinney said. “It’s surreal. It has been great. Just honored to be part of this experience.”
Australian-based ORICA Green Edge, second the past two years, missed the podium for the first time, fading late to finish fourth in 43:01.70.

Cavendish undergoes ‘successful’ shoulder surgery

British sprint star Mark Cavendish underwent successful shoulder surgery on Monday, his Etixx-Quick Step team said.
However, Etixx said the time required to recover from the operation meant the 30-year-old former world road race champion would not compete again this year.
“Cavendish underwent surgery this morning on his left shoulder, to fix a partial tear of his left AC ligament suffered as consequence of the crash during the 6th stage of Aviva Tour of Britain. This was the opposite shoulder to the one damaged at Le Tour de France in 2014,” said an Etixx statement.
The operation was performed in Wilslow, near Manchester, England.
“It has been a very difficult decision. However, after 10 days from the crash, I still had pain and I couldn’t lift or pull much weight,” said Cavendish.  
“I tried to ride my bike a few days ago on the road, but I could not put any power out by pulling on the handlebars. The surgery was necessary to avoid any problems in the near future.
“I’m so disappointed to end the season like this.”