Omega Pharma, Specialized win team time trials

VALKENBURG, Netherlands (AFP) –

Omega Pharma’s Belgian Tom Boonen (R) and Netherlands Niki Tepstra (L) react after winning the Men’s Team Time Trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Valkenburg.

Belgian team Omega Pharma on Sunday won the team time trial title at the world cycling road race championships, becoming the first winners of the new event.

The team, led by German individual time trial champion Tony Martin, saw off US rivals BMC by 3sec over the 53.2km course in a new event for the championships.

Helping Martin to victory were Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, Slovak Peter Velits, Belgian pair Tom Boonen and Kristof Vandewalle and Dutchman Niki Terpstra.

Third place went to Australian outfit Orica – silver medalists in the women’s race earlier – who finished 47sec off the pace.

“I put this victory near my biggest, along with the Classics and the Road World Championship,” Boonen said.

“I didn’t expect to win a race like this, first of all because it never existed before and in the past it wasn’t our discipline.

“We worked a lot and now we are there. It’s a team victory even for the staff. It’s really a change of mentality going on.”

Martin believes the win was the perfect tonic ahead of the road race on Wednesday.

“We fought together as a team,” Martin said.

“We maintained a good pace. The team work was once again the key to the success. This victory gives me a lot of morale for Wednesday’s race.”

German team Specialized won the inaugural women’s team time-trial event.

The victorious team, led by 2008 world time-trial champion Amber Neben of the United States, completed the 34.2km course between Sittard/Geelen and Valkenburg in a time of 46min 31sec.

Specialized finished 24 seconds ahead of Australian team Orica, who boasted the top two finishers in the 2011 individual time-trial in the form of Germany’s Judith Arndt and Linda Villumsen of New Zealand.

Apart from Neben, 37, Specialized’s line-up also featured another American, Evelyn Stevens, Dutchwoman Ellen Van Dijk, and German trio Charlotte Becker, Trixi Worrack and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg.