Hermida was very confident of his chances after the last results and starting the race as the leader of the UCI Ranking. He was feeling good and the race has prooved his good form. However, just after the start, he has had a problem with his chain in one of the technical descends that has oblied Hermida to stop for a few seconds, lose the front group and go through the finish line in 12th spot. From there on, Hermida has been pushing hard, chasing the leader group composed by Absalon, Vogel and Schurter.

Hermida has been able to catch that front group after being faster than those three riders in the second and third lap. But that effort has taken Hermida to waste a lot of energies for the final part of the race. Schurter and Absalon have attacked and Hermida hasn’t been able to follow them; then he has been pulling of Vogel in order to close the 20 seconds gap, but the Swiss rider was sitting on Hermida’s rear wheel with no intention of helping him; his team mate Schurter was in front and was fighting for a gold or silver medal. The Spanish rider hasn’t been able to contact the leading group for a second time in the race and he has paid the effort, with no final punch to win the bronze medal.

Hermida explained after the race that “I have invested too much energies to get back to the front group after my problems in the first descend. It has taken me 3 laps to get to them. After that, attacks have arrived and Vogel has not been able to answer to them. I have pulled of him in the second part of the race, as the leding two were just 20 seconds away, but he has not helped me at all. If he would have just given me a one kilometer relay, we would have caught them and the final scenario would have been different. But all this effort has been the key for the final sprint. Vogel was sorry for the lack of collaboration, but that was the Swiss riders’ strategy and it has worked for them. I am happy, as 4th spot in the Worlds is not bad at all, but I feel a little bit disappointed for a race I have had to fight always from the back, wasting so many energies”.