Norway's Soren Waerenskjold celebrates on the podium after winning the men's under-23 individual time trial cycling event at the UCI 2022 Road World Championship in Wollongong on September 19, 2022. Photo: AFP

Norway's Soren Waerenskjold took the first place in the men's under-23 individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia on Monday.

The 22-year-old, who races for Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, came first with a time of 34 minutes and 13.40 seconds, thanks to an average speed of over 50 kilometers per hour (km/h). Waerenskjold succeeded to make it the second gold in a row for Norway, after his countryman Tobias Foss surprised all by winning the men's elite individual time trial competition on Sunday.

Denmark was looking for a fifth consecutive men's U-23 title after Mikkel Berg won three in succession from 2017 to 2019 followed by Johan Price-Peterson in 2021.

It looked likely to happen again in 2022 as Carl-Frederik Bevort delivered a 49.542km/h average to take the lead in 34:52.79. 

The 18-year-old recently finished top-10 in the individual time trial at Denmark's Elite National Championships, but he ranked only sixth in Monday's race.

Belgium's Alec Segaert was second just ahead of pre-race favorite, Britain's Leo Hayter, who won the Giro d'Italia Giovani U-23 earlier in the season.

Segaert got off to a good start, being the fastest through the first check, but dropped behind on the second check before making up time in the final leg to score in at second.

The eight-day event, held from September 18 to 25, will see 11 world-class cycling races around the streets of Wollongong and surrounding suburbs.

Wollongong was named a UCI bike city in February 2021, the only one in the southern hemisphere. 

The 2022 UCI Road World Championships will also be the 101st edition and only the second time the championships have been held in the southern hemisphere. 

Xinhua