Demare shows way to the rainbow in French 1-2

Arnaud Demare gave a glimpse of what will be required to win cycling's coveted rainbow jersey when he claimed a deserved gold in the men's under-23 road race at the road world championships on Friday.Sprint specialist Demare, a trainee with the French professional team FDJ, led a French one-two with compatriot Adrien Petit taking the silver ahead of Britain's Andrew Fenn after 168 km of racing. "I can't believe it," said Demare."For Adrien to get silver is just the icing on the cake." The under-23 men used the same 14 km circuit in the suburb of Rudersdal which will be used by the elite men in their 266 km race on Sunday, when they tackle it 17 times after a 28 km ride from the centre of Copenhagen.And more than one contender for Sunday's big event was watching the race to gauge which tactics will best be employed on the mainly flat course whose uphill finish has so far kept the field guessing.Michael Hepburn, who took bronze in the time trial earlier in the week, had been one of the big favourites for gold.But despite his Australian team being omnipresent throughout, they were reduced to virtual bystanders by the time the home straight came into view and they were swamped by rival teams. Earlier, Demare and Petit -- a first-year professional with Cofidis -- had played a waiting game, sending teammates up to the front in a bid to stymie potential attacks. Demare kept his cool, even when having to deal with two bike changes. "I suffered mechanical problems twice, which meant I had to change bikes but I didn't panic," said Demare, who succeeds Australian Michael Matthews as the road race under-23 champion."My teammates waited for me each time and took me back to the bunch. After that, we played it cool. We didn't make any attacks but made sure to control the breakaways that did go." The French team's tactics allowed them to save precious energy, and on the final corner leading to the home straight Demare and Petit were among the leading riders as Australia ran out of juice.That put them in position, and when they pulled to the front once on the rising, 400-metre straight leading to the finish line they were unchallenged. "They got it spot-on," admitted Fenn, who added that it will take precision timing from the elite men if they are to get it right on Sunday. "It's a hard finish to judge, especially when there is a strong headwind. They (French) came from behind on an uphill finish and when that happens it's not easy to get past." English-born Fenn, a former track cyclist who rode for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and is a former winner of the junior Paris-Roubaix, had to dig deep in the final metres to hold off Germany's Rudiger Selig.He added: "I'm happy because the team rode really well, so we deserved to get a medal today. I'm just disappointed it's not gold."