There was little surprise about the nationality of the newly-crowned world champion, but Marco Mathis was, by some distance, the least heralded of the trio of German riders who placed in the top four of the under-23 time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Doha on Monday afternoon.
The proof, in this instance, was in the contracts. Maximilian Schachmann, who repeated his silver medal from Richmond a year ago, will ride for Etixx-QuickStep in 2017. Fourth-placed Lennard Kamna, bronze in Richmond and junior world champion in Ponferrada, has already signed with Sunweb-Giant next year.
By contrast, Mathis, who has raced for Continental outfit Rad-Net Rose Team for the past four years, has no contract for next season. A rainbow jersey, however surprising, changes his negotiating hand considerably.
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“I have no contract for next year, but any WorldTour team is a dream for me. I have had no talks with other teams, so we must see,” Mathis said. “I’m very surprised about this victory but I’m very happy. The weather was crazy, crazy hot, but it was a nice race and nice course here in Qatar so I’m very pleased.”
Mathis’ race almost came undone when he narrowly avoided being side-swiped by an ambulance during his effort, and in the confusion that followed, he even briefly found himself riding in the slipstream of a leading car until a semblance of order was restored.
Speaking to reporters about the incident after the race, Mathis felt that he had gained no advantage, but seemed unaware of how perilously close he had come to a serious accident. “I took the risk and kept going, and the ambulance pulled over,” he said.
Third man
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