UCI Road World Championships - Best laid plans torn apart by composed prospects Antonio Tiberi and Aigul Gareeva

The women’s and men’s junior time-trials were contested over the same 14km circuit of Harrogate – the men contesting two laps to the women’s one – which sounds simple enough with marshalls, barriers and fans lining the route.

However, for the respective new world champions, there were different ways to negotiate it.

Antonio Tiberi of Italy, for instance, had barely wheeled down the starting ramp when his chain broke, costing him precious seconds as he was forced to go off the route to a waiting team car to change his bike.

Then before he had finished his first lap, he was blocked by a car and a motorbike tracking a rider further up the road, again forcing him to swerve off line.

No matter, for the 18-year-old from Rome showed terrific composure to set the fastest mark and then sat in the hotseat for well over an hour as rivals tried and failed to beat his time of 38 minutes 28 seconds.

“I was aware I had broken my chain. I was starting to think it was not my day when on the first lap there were cars and a motorbike in front of me,” smiled Tiberi, who won from Enzo Leijnse of the Netherlands and Marco Brenner of Germany.

“I had to slow down only a little bit and I was able to find my way between them.

“With what happened I thought ‘just finish the race’, so I just concentrated on the race and gave it all I’ve got.”

Earlier in the day, Russia’s Aigul Gareeva, was so focused on herself that she overshot the final turn.

Instead of a sharp right onto the steep climb up Parliament Street toward the finishing straight, the 18-year-old travelled a further 10 yards down the King’s Road than she needed to before retrieving the situation and holding on for victory by a slender three seconds.

Both storylines illuminated the second day of the championships. There can a natural lull to proceedings in these week-long events – but not when Yorkshire is playing host.

The freshness of the opening weekend is behind us and the big names of the elite races are not here until the final weekend, meaning the second day of racing attracts a mix of cycling diehards and casual observers.

Yesterday’s men’s and women’s junior time-trials were watched by those who had travelled from far and wide to support their compatriots, and interested locals casting a curious eye over the barriers to see what was happening.

People could still go about their business; diners outside restaurants on Parliament Street and workers in the shops and banks around the cenotaph were just a handful of bike lengths away from world class sporting action whizzing past them.

Teenagers walking home from their day of learning at the nearby Rossett School enjoyed the finish up Parliament Street, joining the galleries in banging the hoardings and ringing their blue cowbells as the competitiors cycled toward the finish line

Two days in and the UCI Road World Championships are becoming part of the fabric of Harrogate life; the road closures are well sign-posted and while not always convenient – when are they ever? – it is only a minor inconvenience when measured against the benefits.

Of those there are many; particularly in terms of economic impact, tourism interest and the showcasing of this idyllic spa town to the wider world.

Autumnal sunshine helped, breaking through the clouds often enough to warm those by the roadside and dry the course from the previous night’s rain.

As with Sunday’s team time-trial, the route was the same 14km circuit past the Fan Zone on The Stray, along Otley Road to Beckwithshaw, up Pot Bank and Penny Pot Lane before snaking back into Harrogate, into the climb up past Betty’s Tea Room and across the line.

Where Britain had a medallist in the women’s race in Elynor Backstedt, their male counterparts were not so successful in the men’s event.

Londoners Leo Hayter and Oscar Nilsson-Julien finished eighth and ninth respectively.

The action heads back out into the county today with the men’s Under-23s (10.10am) and women’s elite time-trials (2.40pm) starting in Ripon and beating a 30.3km path south into Harrogate.