Howson claims u-23 TT crown

Florence - Australian Damien Howson has dominated the world championship under-23 time-trial on Monday as he led home the field by 57secs over Frenchman Yoann Paillot with Danish 2012 Olympic omnium champion Lasse Hansen a further 13secs back.

The 21-year-old covered the 43.5km route between Pistoia and Florence in 49mins and 49secs to better his bronze medal showing last year at Valkenburg, Netherlands, when Russia's Anton Vorobyev rode to gold.

The Adelaide native is a renowned time-trial specialist although he also finished second during the Australian championship youth road race earlier this year.