Parker backs up Paris glory with sweet silver

Lauren Parker led the ARA Australian Cycling Team’s charge on day 4 of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling World Championships, winning silver in the Women’s H3 Individual Time Trial.  

It comes after her successful Paralympics campaign in Paris where she won gold in the road race and silver in the individual time trial.  

Looking to defend her world title, Parker clocked a time of 29:17.15 across the 18.8km course, just 10 seconds off the pace of gold medallist Annika Zeyen-Giles of Germany. 

It was a valiant effort considering she had scarcely touched her bicycle since the Paris Games 18 days ago.  

“Second today. Not bad with no training,” Parker, a New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete wrote on Instagram.  

In the women’s C2 time trial, Victoria’s Tahlia Clayton-Goodie finished just off the podium at her first World Championships. Racing on a borrowed bike, Clayton-Goodie finished in 29:13.20, 10 seconds off the bronze medal.  

Fellow Victorian Emma Mickle finished fifth in the women’s C3 event, recording an average speed of 38.305km/h in a time of 29:26.89. 

This year’s World Championships also marked the final race on the international stage for one of Australia’s most decorated para-cyclists, Carol Cooke.  

Including Zurich, Cooke was competed at nine UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships since 2011, winning nine rainbow jerseys.  

True to her spirit as a force of determination and passion, Cooke rolled down the start ramp for the final time just four months after battling pneumonia in hospital and undergoing surgery on her left lung. 

She put in a courageous ride to finish fifth in the women’s T3 time trial.  

“I couldn’t be happier with my results considering where I was 4 months ago!” she wrote on Instagram. 

Earlier in the week, Alana Forster kicked off Australia’s para-cycling time trial campaign in the women’s C5 ITT. 

Finishing fourth on a challenging and demanding 29.9km course − the same as the elite women’s race won by Grace Brown – Forster said the result was “bittersweet”. 

“I emptied the tank and left it all out there on a challenging course so can’t be too disappointed!” she wrote on Instagram.  

“Grateful that the local Swiss organising committee recognise our abilities and chose the same 29.9km course as the elite women. An exciting and demanding course which was twice as long as the Paris Paralympic Individual Time Trial course!” 

Day 4 also saw the junior women race against the clock in the battle for the rainbow jersey.  

Canberra’s Lauren Bates was the best placed of the Australian riders, finishing within one minute of gold medallist Cat Ferguson (GBR). Bates’ time of 24:48.15 saw her finish in sixth, while Victoria’s Emily Dixon finished 35^th. 

Story courtesy of AusCycling