Wiggins scores silver as Martin wins Worlds time trial

Elite men time trial photo gallery by Graham Watson>>

German Tony Martin won the 2011 World Championship elite men's time trial in Copenhagen on Wednesday with a dominant display of riding against the clock.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins sensationally beat defending world champion Fabian Cancellara on the flat, twisting 46.4km course to take silver, with the Swiss rider having to settle for bronze.

Cancellara realised that he was chasing the silver medal and took several risks on some of the later corners, at one point running into the crowd barriers and coming to a standstill. Wiggins, on the other hand, measured his ride perfectly and at no point looked like a man under pressure.

The strength of Martin's World Championship-winning ride was underlined by the time gap between him and second-placed Wiggins - one minute and 15 seconds. Cancellara finished 1-21 behind Martin.

Britain's other represenative in the event, David Millar, placed seventh at 2-45. A remarkable result given his lack of racing over the past month due to the birth of his first child.

Wiggins' silver is Britain's third medal of the championships in Denmark so far after Elinor Barker won silver in the junior women's TT and Emma Pooley clinched bronze in the elite women's TT on Tuesday.

Wiggins placed third overall in the Vuelta a Espana earlier in September behind winner Juan Jose Cobo and his Sky team-mate and fellow Brit Chris Froome. He crashed out of the Tour de France in July, breaking his collarbone, but made a swift recovery to place so highly in both the Vuelta and Worlds.

Elite men's time trial as it happened: CW's live text coverage>>

Results

UCI Road World Championships 2011: Elite men's time trial, 46.4km

1. Tony Martin (Ger) in 53-43.85

2. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) at 1-15.83

3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) at 1-20.59

4. Bert Grabsch (Ger) at 1-31.76

5. Jack Bobridge (Aus) at 2-13.86

6. Richie Porte (Aus) at 2-29.54

7. David Millar (GBr) at 2-45.62

8. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) at 3-18.52

9. Alexandr Diachenko (Kaz) at 3-19.76

10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) 3-30.59

David Millar

Fabian Cancellara

Bradley Wiggins

Tony Martin

Tony Martin in rainbow stripes, with Bradley Wiggins (left - second) and Fabian Cancellara (right - third)

Tony Martin, happy with gold

Related links

Road World Championships 2011: Cycling Weekly's coverage index

Road World Championships 2011: Latest news

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LIVE: Men's time trial as it happened

Arndt finally wins Worlds time trial gold

LIVE: Women's time trial as it happened

Wiggins and Millar tipped for success in time trial

Christian closes successfull day at Worlds for GB

Barker's unexpected silver medal ride

Wiggins previews Worlds course with medal in mind

British juniors gain pro experience at World Championships

British world champs team announced

The Worlds' top teams: Nine strongest squads

Italy to rely on Bennati and youthful Worlds squad

Renshaw left out of Australia's Worlds team

Cavendish heads British Cycling's Worlds long list

Britain up to seventh in UCI World Rankings

Cavendish previews Copenhagen Worlds course

Project Rainbow Jersey: Britain's bid for Worlds title

Road World Championships 2011: Reports

Pooley claims bronze in women's time trial

Dibben gets top ten in junior men's time trial

Under-23 men TT: Durbridge wins title for Australia

Junior women TT: Barker takes silver for GB as Allen wins

Road World Championships 2011: Photos

Elite women time trial

Junior men time trial

Under-23 men time trial

Junior women time trial

Road World Championships 2011: TV guide

British Eurosport coverage schedule

Related links

World Championships 2010: Cycling Weekly's coverage index

External links

Copenhagen 2011 official website