Germany's Bert Grabsch stormed to victory in the men's time trial at the World Road Championships on Thursday. Grabsch completed the 46km course around the lake in the Italian town of Varese in 52 minutes 01.60 seconds with Canada's Svein Tuft taking silver and David Zabriskie of the United States finishing third. Last year's winner and Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland pulled out on Sunday because of tiredness. The championships end with the men's elite road race on Sunday. Neben wins women's event Amber Neben of the United States was the surprise winner of the women's time trial world championship on Wednesday, as Olympic champion Kristin Armstrong only managed a disappointing fifth. Neben was not even picked to race the time trial at the Beijing games and put the effort of a whole season into the 21.5-kilometer ride through the sun-dappled hills surrounding the lakeside resort of Varese, finishing in 33 minutes, 51.35 seconds. “I was just hoping that David would slay Goliath,” Neben said. Neben edged Austria's Christiane Soeder of Austria by 7.56 seconds. Germany's Judith Arndt, the 2004 road race champion, took bronze, 21.77 seconds behind the winner. Neben, 33, clinched the biggest win of her career after just missing out on the podium at last year's world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, when she finished fourth. Weeks later, she was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer on her back. However, the disease was in the early stages and only required a limited surgical intervention that did not affect her racing. Armstrong sought a unique time trial double by adding a world title to her Olympic gold but never mounted a challenge. Double former champion Karin Thurig of Switzerland finished sixth. Neben was among the early starters and then had to sit anxiously and wait as all the favorites tried to beat her time.
