Antonio Tiberi: from worst luck to victory

At the 2019 UCI Road World Championships in Harrogate, the junior men had to complete a 27-km circuit in the time trials. There were several favourites at the start of the race, including Marco Brenner, Enzo Leijnse and Antonio Tiberi.

The Italian Antonio Tiberi had just cycled down the starting podium for the individual time trials only to realise that he had the worst luck in the World Championships in Harrogate. The 18-year-old rider immediately realised that his bike had a technical defect after the first pedal rotation. Tiberi tried to solve the problem himself but to no avail. His only option was to switch bikes.

Despite the circumstances, Tiberi kept his cool. He got off his bike in the first bend of the circuit, where the support car was waiting for him, and hopped on his spare bike. This stop cost him some thirty seconds.

At the halfway stage, he was lagging far behind the first rider, Dutchman Enzo Leijnse. Nobody could have thought at the time that Tiberi would be able to close the gap in the remaining 14 kilometres. But he did. Ultimately the Italian finished in a time of 38 minutes and 28 seconds, eight seconds faster than Leijnse. All the other favourites were unable to match Tiberi’s time. German Marco Brenner came in third, winning the bronze medal, thirteen seconds behind Tiberi.