A "too greedy" corner sees Magnus Sheffield out of contention for medal on debut Elite World Championships

The World Championships saw several riders in the Elite ranks, one of them being Magnus Sheffield who turned 20 years old recently, but has not been chosen to ride at his under-23 level. He finished 17th on the day, however that doesn't reflect the performance he put in. 

"I think it's tough because I put in a lot of work into the season. I've had a lot of success and I really wanted to come here and come away with a result. I felt like I started really well, I just got a bit too greedy in one of the corners," Sheffield said. The INEOS Grenadiers rider started of his time-trial strongly with a sixth best time in the first intermediate sprint, and fourth in the second. 

Sheffield was well within contention for a surprise medal at the race, until he wasn't. On one of the left-hand corners of the technical circuit, the American overcooked it and crashed into the barriers, losing important time, but equally as important, losing his momentum. 

"I tried to cut it a bit too much in the apex. You're always trying to balance not coming in too hot but carrying the momentum out of the corner," he described. "I just came in too hot and came out too wide and wasn't able to right myself. I hit the barrier quite fast but was able to get back on my bike and finish. I'll probably be quite sore but I still have the road race to look forward to."

"I just have to use this as a learning experience for the future. I have a long career ahead and this won't be the last time - I just have to not be too down on myself," he said on what he took from it. The result comes as a disappointment for the youngster who has recently won the time-trial and finished second in the GC of the Tour of Denmark, hinting at great form which he's shown in Wollongong. He will be riding the Mixed Relay and Road Race later this week, albeit surely with more modest ambitions. 

"I think my preparation was really good coming into this race. I felt really confident. I felt like a lot of the pressure coming into this was the expectations I put on myself. I've done quite well in a lot of these other time trials. It's really important just to ride inside your ability and slowly increase the speed. That's the art of time trials, you're on that limit," he concluded.