Thriller to the last km

It was an intense battle to become the world champion in this year’s RWS

What a finale it has been in this year’s championship! Due to the large time difference from Australia to the last teams participating from Canada, the podium was not finalized until the last Canadian cyclist had logged their kilometers.

In the team competition, the team from Hverdagsrehabilitering Hvaler, Norway, and Harbison Moss Vale, Australia, followed each other closely from the very first day of the championship. It almost couldn’t have been any closer.

When the cyclists from Australia finished their last meters on Friday morning, (Norwegian time), the Hvaler team had a real challenge. But with 56 available cyclists throughout the day, they managed to beat their competitors — nearly at the finish line.

In total, 333,230 km were cycled in this years RWS

Note: An indoor exercise bike generates more kilometers than an outdoor bike.

Stepping Up to 1st place

Last year, Åke Wassberg from Lura boas in Norway pedaled his way to a 2nd place behind the six-time world champion, Norman Coté from Bruyere Village in Canada.
This year, the competition was against a different cyclist from Bruyere. When Åke’s competition ended at 4 p.m. Norwegian time, the Canadian still had several hours left until it was 4 p.m. local time in Ottawa. However, it wasn’t enough hours, and Åke can now call himself world champion.


Winner from England

Ruth Varcoe, who became world champion last year, did it again in dominant fashion. She ended up 1,100 km ahead of her closest competitor from Furuset Senior Center. The cyclist from Dunkirk Memorial House also had the most kilometers in the competition, regardless of category.

Top 3 Teams

  1. Hverdagsrehabilitering Hvaler, Norway — 34,873.0 km
  2. Harbison Moss Vale, Australia — 33,513.8 km
  3. Bruyere Village, Canada — 17,056.1 km

Top 3 Women

  1. Ruth Varcoe, Dunkirk Memorial House, England — 6,070.2 km
  2. Cyclist, Furuset Senior Center, Norway — 4,902.6 km
  3. Cyclist, Villa Bruyere, Canada — 4,100.7 km

Top 3 Men

  1. Åke Wassberg, Lura boas, Norway — 4,365.3 km
  2. Cyclist, Bruyere Village, Canada — 4,140.1 km
  3. Cyclist, Harbison Moss Vale, Australia — 4,067.1 km

You can see the final results here:
https://roadworlds.com/results

Find previous years’ winners here:
https://roadworlds.com/en/article/history-champions