Track cycling star Storey wins gold on the road

BRANDS HATCH, United Kingdom (AFP) –

Great Britain’s Sarah Storey celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s individual C5 time trial road cycling final at Brands Hatch circuit. Storeyy clinched her third gold medal of the Games, taking the Paralympic women’s individual C5 time-trial title after double success on the track.

Britain’s Sarah Storey on Wednesday clinched her third gold medal of the Games, taking the Paralympic women’s individual C5 time-trial title after double success on the track.

The 34-year-old rider won the C5 individual 3km pursuit in the Velodrome last week to open the host nation’s gold account then followed up with victory in the C4/5 500m time-trial.

But she said the hard work she has put in for the road events has paid off, as she again pushed Poland’s Anna Harkowska into silver, just as she did on the track.

“I spent so much time on the road this year. The road is where all my preparation has been done, so I needed to nail this one,” she told reporters at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, southeast England.

The circuit will provide an emotional return for Italy’s Alessandro Zanardi, a former Formula One, Indy car and touring car driver, who was critically injured and had to have both legs amputated after a horror smash in 2001.

He goes in the men’s individual H4 (handcycle) time trial.

Storey’s victory comes after Olympic success for Britain’s cyclists, notably for the country’s first Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins, who took the men’s time-trial on the streets around Hampton Court palace, west of London.

“I just wanted to make sure I added my name to that list of success. I just can’t believe it,” she added after the 16km race against the clock.

“The power was there today. I was a bit worried about the cadence. I think the cadence was probably a bit high today but it didn’t matter.”

The win boosted her overall Paralympic gold medal collection to 10. Storey, who was born without a functioning left hand, won five at swimming before switching to cycling before Beijing in 2008.

In the equivalent men’s race, Ukraine’s Yegor Dementyev took gold in a confidence booster for Thursday’s C4/5 individual road race, while Czech rider Jiri Jezek took revenge over Romania’s Carol-Eduard Novak in the C4 time-trial.

Great Britain’s Sarah Storey celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s individual C5 time trial road cycling final at the Brands Hatch circuit. Storey clinched her third gold medal of the Games, taking the Paralympic women’s individual C5 time-trial title after double success on the track.

Novak had beaten defending champion Jezek in the C4 individual pursuit over 4km on the track.

Jezek, who has now won four golds in four Games, said he was stunned and had expected the Romanian to win.

“I just did 100 percent from the start and I just expected to be second, so I am very surprised. You know, winning gold in four Paralympic Games in a row is just a dream and it came true, so I’m very happy,” he added.

In the men’s individual C3 time-trial, David Nicholas added to Australia’s cycling medal tally, while Germany’s Tobias Graf and Michael Teuber struck gold in C2 and C1 class. Graf had already picked up a silver and bronze on the track.

In the women’s races, Megan Fisher of the United States saw off a challenge from Australia’s track gold medallist Susan Powell in the C4 time-trial, while compatriot Allison Jones took the C1-2-3 equivalent.

Jones said the win more than made up for her experience in Beijing, where she was denied the gold because of time adjustments based on cyclists’ impairments in the mixed classification race.

“It (receiving the gold) is going to be exciting. I lost out on the factor in 08,” she said.

“I won the race straight up and lost it in the factor, so this year to have the factor again and actually win it, oh, that was four years coming, man.”