The men’s juniors covered 135.6 km and 2016 meters in the start menu with their WC, spread over 8 rounds on the fairly technical track in Wollonggong. Where a hill (Mount Pleacant) along 1.1 km with a slope of 7.7% will most likely affect the trip, along with rainy weather. The team that has the starting no. 1-5 due to gold last year for Per Strand Hagenes, consisting of Jesper Stiansen (Kristianand CK), Kasper Haugland (Lillehammer CK), Jørgen Nordhagen (Lillehammer CK), Johannes Kulseth (Ringerike SK) and Mikal Grimstad Uglehus (Bergen CK) . Norway fielded 4 juniors the first year, and one junior last year.

The Norwegian boys’ goal and plan was to make it a tough race, and keep Johannes Kulset and Jørgen Nordhagen at the front of the field.

Early in the first round, Jesper Stiansen (Kristiansand CK) suffered an unfortunate puncture, but made it back to center court and helped Johannes Kulset back to center court at the same time. In the second half there was a two-man break with Romet Pajur from Estonia and Pavel Novak from the Czech Republic. Jørgen Nordhagen was at the other end of the main court on the hill for the second time. When crossing the goal in the third round, the break has 24 seconds. On the third lap, an intermediate break formed with five drivers. Four of the five Norwegians were fine on center court at passing, while unfortunately it seemed that recovery after a puncture was too costly for Stiansen, who was 3.19 seconds behind. Jesper Stiansen retired on the third lap, but he did a solid job pulling Kulset onto the court after tumbling. In an interview with Tv 2, he said that it was a busy day with things turning upside down at the start.

From a chasing group of 5 riders, 4 eventually made it to the leading duo and then formed a six man break, none of the Norwegian riders. In fourth, the gap to center court was 49 seconds, with Antonio Morgado chasing all the way into the break. The four Norwegians are still good on the main court. Morgado quickly realized it was taking too much effort, and returned to center court.

Halfway through the race and fourth climb up the hill, our Jørgen Nordhagen was with us during the tough ride up the hill. Main field has increased his pace and is starting to squeeze into the offense. Up on the hill, the main square is divided into groups, with Nordhagen sitting in the first. When knocked out in the fifth round, Nordhagen were in group 2, 32 down by half. Uglehus sits in the fourth group at 1.16 down, and Kulset is just behind there again at 1.30 down. Haugland went 2.05 behind on pass. World speed champion, Joshua Tarling from Great Britain, rolled early in the first lap and unfortunately had to retire at the finish line.

Nordhagen put his strength to good use, and going up the hill for the fifth time we saw Nordhagen drive hard and ensure group two exploded strong. He has driven smart so far in the race, and has plenty of power to get over the top of the hill. Only six riders managed to keep up with the Norwegian. On the way to pass, the distance to the pass shrank sharply. With three laps to go, the gap dropped to 27 seconds between the break and group 2. Uglehus was 2.41 seconds behind. Kulseth and Haugland trailed by 6.25 going past the finish in the 6th round.

Few riders managed to get in the group to Nordhagen and the distance to the distance continues to shrink. Immediately after boarding, we saw Nordhagen take the lead, and were constantly looking to undermine the competition. Climbing Mount Pleasant, Nordhagen rode solo into the pass, and it became a tighter group. At the end of the hill is a mound, but Nordhagen is alert. The field stretched out, and a few struggled with speed over the hill. The rain held off at first, but with 45 kilometers to go it started raining.

With two laps remaining, Austria’s Eckerstorfer crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of 15 drivers, with Nordhagen sitting pretty beside him. Uglehus went 5.27 behind. Haugland and Kulset withdrew. The car involved in a rollover at the start of the race. So it seems Nordhagen is Norway’s only remaining hope in the medal race.

As in the previous round, it raced hard against Mount Pleasant in the final time, and struggled a bit with its pace. Morgado from Portugal passed another mound on the hill, and the field stretched out. On the section that descends and exits onto a flatter section, tight groups of 5 form, with several smaller groups immediately behind which gradually work their way up.

On approaching the finish line on the final lap, the tactical play began, and it was clear that some were looking to get rid of the strong Nordhagen before it sloped on the final lap. There were clashes from several riders, and once again it was Morgado who found the gap. When passing, he has a time difference of 12 seconds with 7 drivers, including Nordhagen. The Portuguese racer improved on the last lap, and with 10 kilometers to go he had 25 seconds. Morgado gave his all, but behind him sat 12 hungry junior riders. Nordhagen sits comfortably on wheels as he enters ´´the tempo hill´´. At the entrance to Mount Pleacant, Morgado had 22 seconds to enter the field. Nordhagen responded to Herzog’s shove in the middle of the ground. Over the hill, Morgado pulled away, and Herzog in second pushed up and got an opening to Nordhagen. The gap to Herzog is growing, and it looks like Nordhagen is in contention for bronze against French Gruel.

With four kilometers to go, Morgado took a seconds lead on the fast-moving Herzog. Nordhagen and Gruel were visited by several riders and it looked like it would be a tough battle for bronze for Nordhagen as the strong sprinter came to the Norwegian and Frenchman.

Herzog closed the gap on Morgado with another 2.8 kilometers to go. A golden duel seems to have taken place between Herzog and Morgado. In the match for the bronze medal, there were 11 racers left.

Herzog attempted a 1.5km spike, but Morgado closed the gap. A sprint battle ensued between the two, and in the sprint, German Emil Herzog was the strongest and became world junior champion. Portugal won its first medal in the junior class. There was also a sprint match for the bronze medal. There, Belgian Vlad Van Mechelen became the strongest.

Unfortunately, Nordhagen doesn’t have much to show for the sprint, and will be No. 1. 13 at joint start.

This is certainly a very good performance for a first year junior fighting for a medal in his first WC. Cycling season is over, and we wish her all the best in ski season! Mikal Uglehus eventually became No. 42.

Congratulations to the medalists!

Published September 23