By Gary Anderson

September 1 - Double Paralympic champion Allison Jones proved unbeatable yet again at the Para-Cycling World Championships in CanadaThree more gold medals on the final day of the World Para-Cycling Championships in Baie-Comeau saw the United States top the overall medal table with 19, including 12 gold.

Three of the American athletes bagged their second world titles of the week in the form of Megan Fisher, Jamie Whitmore and Allison Jones, while there was also a silver medal for the mixed team trio of William Lachenauer, Marianna Davis and Oscar Sanchez, while Greta Neimanas took bronze in the women's C5 race.

London 2012 champion and former Paratriathlon world champion Fisher added to her C4 time trial victory with another win in the C4 road race, finishing ahead of Canada's Marie-Claude Molnar and Susan Powell of Australia to repeat the podium from the time trial event.

Whitmore, the women's C3 time trial champion, collected her second gold medal in Canada after finishing over four minutes ahead of her only competitor, Simone Kennedy of Australia.

The third American triumph of the day was completed by double Paralympic champion Jones, who once again proved too much for competitors Tereza Diepoldova of the Czech Republic and Spain's Raquel Acinas Poncelas.

Germany saw two of its athletes secure their first World Championship titles as Steffen Warias saw off the challenge of Russian Alexey Obydennov and Fabio Anobile of Italy in the men's C3 class, while in the women's C5 event Kerstin Brachtendorf finished first ahead of Poland's Anna Harkowska and Neimanas of the US.

The USA's Megan Fisher proved she is as good on the road as she is on the track with two world titles in Baie-ComeauThe USA's Megan Fisher proved she is as good on the road as she is on the track with two world titles in Baie-Comeau

























The trio of Vittorio Podesta and double world champions Luca Mazzone and Alex Zanardi bagged Italy's seventh gold of the Championships as they powered home to clinch the mixed team relay title to complete a very productive few days for the red, white and green.

Elsewhere, an exciting five-way sprint in the men's C2 race eventually saw Venezuela's Victor Hugo Garrido Marquez just edge out South American rival Alvaro Galvis Becerra of Colombia, with Germany's Tobias Graf awarded bronze ahead of Ivo Koblasa of the Czech Republic and Spaniard Maurice Eckhard Tio.

Arnoud Nijhuis ensured there was Dutch delight on the day as he finished just four seconds in front of Germany's Michael Teuber and home favourite Jaye Milley in the men's C1 class.

Both B road race tandem titles were snaffled up by Poland.

An exciting men's race eventually saw Marcin Polak and Michal Ladosz squeak home in front Spanish pair Ignacio Avila Rodriguez and Joan Font Bertoli, while Paralympic champions the Pizzi brothers had to make do with bronze.

Alex Zanardi finished up with three world titles at the 2013 Para-Cycling World ChampionshipsAlex Zanardi finished up with three world titles at the 2013 Para-Cycling World Championships



























Iwona Podkoscielna and Aleksandra Wnuczek won their tandem race in less dramatic style, as they finished over a minute ahead of British duo Lora Turnham and Corrine Hall, who had won the time trial event earlier in the week, while Spain's Josefa Benitez Guzman and Judit Masdeu Cort claimed bronze.

The Spanish pair were the subject of a post-race complaint from New Zealand, who claimed that Benitez Guzman and Masdeu Cort had gained an unfair advantage by using riders from the men's race, which had started two minutes earlier, to create a draft, and open up a gap on the chasing Kiwi pair of Emma Foy and Gabrielle Vermunt.

The rules state that when this situation occurs, riders are obliged to become "neutral" and wait until a 20 second gap emerges between the last riders in the race ahead and the leaders in the race coming behind.

However, organisers dismissed the appeal and the race result stood, much to the disappointment of Paralympics NZ Bike head performance coach Brendon Cameron.

"The race ended in some confusion," he said.

"The girls were hesitant to join the chase because of the rules and while we cannot say for sure that they would have won a medal, it was disappointing to end the championships on this note."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
August 2013: Two more gold medals apiece for America and Italy on day three in Baie-Comeau
August 2013: US athletes power way to five golds at Para-cycling World Championships
August 2013: Zanardi takes gold as Italy dominate handcycling at World Championships