Ryan Boyle claimed the first world title of his career, winning the MT2 time trial at the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Maniago, Italy.
MANIAGO, Italy – Team USA put on a performance in the town of Maniago, Italy, securing four gold medals and one bronze medal on day two of competition at the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships.
Paralympic silver medalist Ryan Boyle (Monroe, Connecticut) won his first career world title in the MT2 time trial (22:13.83), improving from his second-place finish at last year’s world championships. Boyle completed the 13.6-kilometer course more than 40 seconds faster than the next-best finisher from Great Britain. Also winning a world title in the WT2 time trial (25:13.22) was two-time Paralympic silver medalist Jill Walsh (Syracuse, New York), who claimed her first world title since 2015.
Continuing her dominance on the road was two-time Paralympic champion Shawn Morelli (Saegertown, Pennsylvania), who won her third-straight world title in the WC4 time trial (20:48.86).
Despite shattering his brake in the first lap of the race, six-time Paralympic medalist Oz Sanchez (San Diego, California) raced to the gold medal in the 27.2 km MH5 time trial (39:10.02) to conclude the night in grand fashion. The win marks his first world title since 2011.
Also adding to Team USA’s medal count was two-time Paralympic medalist Jamie Whitmore (Somerset, California) who earned the bronze medal in the WC3 time trial (21:36.13).
With two days of competition remaining for the road race and team relay, Team USA has already surpassed its gold medal count of three from the 2017 road world championships with four in Maniago.
ADDITIONAL TOP-10 FINISHES ON FRIDAY
4th: Billy Lister (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) - MC1
5th: Samantha Bosco (Upland, Calif.) - WC5
7th: Todd Key (Scottsdale, Ariz.) – MC1
8th: Freddie de los Santos (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) – MH5
9th: Jennifer Schuble (Homewood, Ala.) – WC5
OVERALL MEDAL COUNT
Team USA: 7
Ryan Boyle: gold (MT2 time trial)
Shawn Morelli: gold (WC4 time trial)
Oz Sanchez: gold (MH5 time trial)
Jill Walsh: gold (WT2 time trial)
Alicia Dana: silver (WH3 time trial)
Will Groulx: silver (MH2 time trial)
Jamie Whitmore: bronze (WC3 time trial)
QUOTES
Ryan Boyle
On how his game plan came together to get the gold medal...
“It went astoundingly well. I came into this very prepared. I didn’t take it lightly, so I’ve been on my bike and in the gym tremendously since my last victory (at the world cup in Emmen). I knew that the target on my back only got bigger; now I need to stay on top.”
On how long he’s been chasing a world title…
“For seven years or more. It feels surreal. It’s a dream come true. When I heard it, I really had to try to hold back my emotions. It was such a great feeling.”
On how he found out he won the race…
“They took me over to the leaderboard and told me to look at it. I saw my name displayed in big, bold letters at the top and I just lost it.”
Shawn Morelli
On her secrets to success for three-straight time trial world titles…
“Hard work, staying motivated about your training, and just keep working. Every year you have to gain something to stay in the front, so you have to make sure you’re making those little gains everywhere.”
On what she’s focused on the past couple years…
“Technique, skills and power. It’s the whole picture – there’s not just one thing that will make you successful. Having a coach that understands you and your disability helps. That’s what gives you the most success.”
On what it would mean to sweep both events…
“I don’t really think about it yet. I’m sure it would be an awesome feeling. There’s people here that focus primarily on road racing, whereas I focus primary on time trial-ing, so we each will have an advantage in the various races. We’ll see what happens and how it plays out.”
Oz Sanchez
On winning his first world title since 2011…
“It’s a great satisfaction. It sort of was a picture-perfect race for me. I lost my brake about a half kilometer into the race. Brakes slow you down. Sometimes winning is all about who slows down less, so I guess no brakes is better.”
“I knew I was coming in as an underdog, but I’m extremely methodical. I’ve been dealing with a lot of injuries. I was slow to come onto the aerodynamics game, but I did all the numbers and knew I was a contender. I just snuck under the radar, and I’m good with that.”
On how he overcame the hurdle of shattering his brake…
“I knew for the most part I didn’t need my brake. I’m really good at technical cornering, so I was more worried about if the broken brake was going to cause an accident. I was trying to get it off without scrubbing a bunch of speed, so I just kind of shoved it up, bit it off with my teeth, pulled it out and tossed it. I felt liberated because inhibition left with that brake, and I think that worked out for the better.”
Jill Walsh
On how long she’s been chasing the gold medal in the time trial…
“I’ve been chasing this since I started in 2014. Every year we meet to talk about goals, and every time my goal is, ‘I want to win the time trial.’ I’ve said that every year. If you win the time trial, you are the fastest. You’ve done it. If you’re in the road race, there’s all kind of strategy - do you have a teammate, or are you drafting - so I wanted to prove to myself that I could win a time trial because it’s just you and the clock.”
On winning alongside Ryan Boyle…
“I’m so stoked to be with Ryan. It was icing on the cake. Before I even won, my day was made when I heard he won.”
LIVE STREAM
A live stream of the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships can be found here.
RESULTS
Full results from the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships can be found here. Follow U.S. Paralympics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updated information during the event.
