The U23 men's time trial at the World Championships was not only a test of leg strength, but also a battle against the conditions, as heavy rain created huge pools of water all over the course.

There were some spectacular crashes, including Hungary's Attila Valter sliding on the surface for about 100 meters and Denmark's Johan Preiss-Peitelsen crashing into a deep pool. Several more athletes hit the deck, but no one was seriously injured.

The scene sparked a debate over the safety of the event and whether the race should have been cancelled or postponed.

CyclingNews spoke to a number of riders as they passed through the media zone at the finish, and opinions were divided. Some felt that conditions were within raceable limits, while others felt that measures should have been taken.

"All of a sudden I was in a big puddle. I've never experienced anything like that before," said Pryce-Peitelsen. If she had not fallen, she would have been in contention for a medal.

"It was very extreme. In my opinion, it should have been stopped, at least until the pool was gone and the intensity of the rain had subsided."

Dehn was cautious in his comments, but drew ire from Switzerland's Stefan Bissegger, who crashed after only 5 km.

"It was like running into a lake. I lost control and jumped into the water like I was jumping into a bathtub. I couldn't do anything. I was okay, but still, it could have been very ugly for a lot of people," he said.

"In my opinion it should have been cancelled or something. It was crazy even before the start. In Switzerland they have waterways and the water flows, but not here. In Switzerland they have waterways and the water flows, but not here. If you are going to hold the World Championships, you should take into account the weather, which is very common."

However, there were many who disagreed. Norway's Ivar Johan Noten, who had mechanical problems several times and finished the race on a road bike too small for him, argued that bad weather is part of road cycling.

"It rains, but that's how it is. It's an outdoor sport. The course wasn't that dangerous."

"Sure, it was a little dangerous, but that's sport. You can't control the weather. If it rains and you can't race, you might as well do it indoors in a velodrome or something. It's an outdoor sport.":

Many others said the same thing. Ian Garrison of the USA, who won the silver medal, said: "The conditions made the TT more dangerous, but apart from a few downhills ...... It's hard to say.

"My philosophy is that nothing can change. I just run as fast as I can with what I'm given."

Britain's Charles Quarterman insisted: "It's good to test riders' riding skills. There was no tough track and the surface was grippy enough.

The Trek-Segafredo rider added of the nature of the challenge: "Every time you pedal, you push a little more. Every time I pedaled I had to push a little more and I had to keep my head clear to avoid big puddles because of the high lactic acid levels. It was pretty hard conditions."

As for the new world champion, by the time Mikkel Bjarg was the last rider to take the track, the rain had lightened.

"I was only informed at the start that there were puddles. Perhaps it was bad enough that the riders on the course did not tell the riders.

"They told me to hold the handlebars tight and to ride full throttle through the big puddles. I didn't have any problems. There were some bad road surfaces, so I just concentrated on keeping pedaling so I wouldn't drop my chain." [Marc Hirschi, who won the U23 road race world title last year and is already a World Tour pro with Team Sunweb, was somewhere between the two extremes of opinion. 4]

"When it rains like it did today and there are really wet sections, it's pretty dangerous," Hirschi said. 'Today we were certainly at our limit. If we were stopped, I think it would be much more difficult."