SYDNEY (Reuters) – Tobias Foss said a perfectly executed race was behind his shock gold medal in the road cycling world championships time trial on Sunday, even if he could not quite believe what he had achieved in claiming the rainbow jersey.
The Norwegian, whose previous most high profile win was at the Tour de l’Avenir in 2019, said his expectations had not been high before he took on the world’s best riders in the Australian city of Wollongong.
“I have to say, if I were top 10 today, I would be really, really satisfied, top five I was hoping for,” Foss said.
“To wear that jersey will be really, really special. I will try to honour it a best I can, and I will try to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Foss will be only the second Norwegian to wear a rainbow jersey won in an elite race after Thor Hushovd, who triumphed in the road race at Geelong in 2010 the last time the championships were held in Australia.
The 25-year-old said the 34.2-km Wollongong course, which featured 24 corners on each of the two laps of a circuit around the suburbs and up into the coastal hills of the city, had suited him.
“There was no real time to rest or to put down the power, you had to be really technical and push through the corners,” he added.
“It was really about using the terrain and going hard where the gradients were a bit steeper and taking a rest where it went a bit faster.
“I had really good coaching and we prepared really well and so it was a perfectly executed race.”
Foss was the 39th of the 50 riders to go out, which left him with a long wait as the likes of twice Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, Vuelta a Espana winner Remco Evenepoel and double defending champion Filippo Ganna completed the course.
“I wouldn’t say I’m the guy with the most confidence, I really didn’t believe it until it was over,” said Foss.
“I put everything out there today, I couldn’t have done anything better. I had to be satisfied and then the other guys had to do their race. But man, this is unbelievable.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Christian Schmollinger)
