Local amateur delivers huge surprise at Danish women’s ITT championships

“I don’t think it can get any better than this. So many people I know came here today, and to stand on the podium and look out on Limfjorden, that’s a dream come true if you’re from Aalborg,” said a widely grinning Riis Madsen after the podium ceremony, wearing her new champion’s jersey.

Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek) had won the last four ITT championships in a row and was the massive favourite going into the race that started in the centre of Aalborg before heading out on windswept roads and back to the finish in the city centre. But when Norsgaard, last on the course as the defending champion, rolled across the finish line, she was two seconds slower than Riis Madsen, turning the local rider into her hometown’s local hero.

“I beat Emma, that’s crazy. I didn’t dare dream about that. I did a controlled effort, I stuck to the plan, and the plan went great. On the way back to the finish, I could feel that I had good legs, so I could add a little bit extra, so everything was as it should be. It was great,” Riis Madsen sounded almost as if she had been expecting such a good performance.

The 20-year-old is relatively new to road cycling. In her teenage years, she practised orienteering, then switched to mountain bike orienteering and finally to ‘normal’ mountain bike racing. When she missed out on selection for the mountain bike national team, she decided to move to road cycling at age 18 and quickly made a name for herself in the Danish racing scene.

Last week, she fulfilled one of her dreams when she lined up in national team kit at the Copenhagen Sprint, but in between the Women’s WorldTour race and the ITT championships, she still had to take care of her two part-time jobs: Riis Madsen works in the local history museum’s gift shop as well as in a bike shop.

"I haven’t been doing road cycling for long, and when you’re not an established rider, it is hard to get a result like this. I’m working two jobs besides cycling, and I didn’t turn up with a big bus … I don’t have words for it. It really means a lot to be able to perform this well on a day like today, when it really matters,” she finally acknowledged just how big of an achievement her result is.

Already a local hero, Riis Madsen may not quite be finished surprising at her hometown championships, though, promising more for Sunday’s road race.

"We’ll wait until Sunday with the party. After all, there is another bike race coming up.  And then we’ll see what we’ll do on Sunday,” she finished.