The 33-year-old from Manchester defended her two world titles in style as she claimed victories in both the C5 time trial and in the road race.

In the time trial, Storey caught up with other riders quickly to take a lead of 1.37sec ahead of Poland's Anna Harkowska.

"I was a bit nervous about it as I was going for my third TT world title in a row," Storey said.

"I won the event in Beijing and it's great to go into a Paralympic year with a world champion jersey.

"Plus you get to keep it for two years and that's always a bonus.

"I think a year before London it's important to put a strong marker down and give yourself that psychological advantage."

Storey also rode a great tactical road race as she again finished ahead of Harkowska by less than a second in a dramatic sprint finish.


Britain's Crystal Lane came third in the same race 52 seconds behind Storey to make it a superb debut outing for her.

"I thought the race worked out really well and I was really chuffed when I saw Crystal coming up the home straight," Storey added.

"It bodes really well for next year and the future."

There were some strong performances from up and coming riders including that of Mark Colbourne, who clenched silver in the C1 time trial, hand-cyclist Karen Darke, who picked up two bronze medals in a strong field in the H2 road race and time trial and Simon Price, who won bronze in a tough C2 road race.

It was a tough competition for Rachel Morris in the H3 and David Stone T2 who lost their 2010 world titles in both the road race and time trial.

Morris, who rides a handbike, dislocated her shoulder in training just three weeks before Denmark but pushed through the pain to pick up a bronze in the H3 road race.

Stone also crashed in the same week and lost valuable preparation time through severe back pain but went on to pick up a silver medal in the time trial.

"Denmark has been a mixed bag for the team," said Gareth Sheppard, the British Cycling Paralympic performance manager.

"Sarah Storey produced a world class performance and our development riders like Mark Colbourne, Crystal Lane, Karen Darke and Simon Price really delivered, putting us in the mix for podium in London in events where we haven't been competitive before.

"But we've also had some bad luck in the run-up to Denmark with serious injuries to key athletes like Rachel Morris and David Stone which hampered their preparation and performance.

"Competition on the road has definitely moved on since last year.

"Now we know the depth and strength of the international field that will be in London next year, we will focus on closing individual performance gaps in key road events over the next 12 months.

"What's very encouraging is that we've never won more medals at Road World Championships and for the first time we are podium competitive in a number of new classes which puts us in a strong position for London."

America topped the medal table in Denmark as they claimed 14 medals and nine golds, while German took second with 18 medals and five golds to finish well ahead of Britain.

The Para-Cycling Road World Championships were the last major road competition before the London 2012 Paralympics and the British team will now focus on preparations for the Para-Cycling Track World Championships in February - the last track qualification event before the Games next year.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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