Knopfle got the better of a hilly 15-km circuit to win the junior women's crown in 22 minutes and 17.08 seconds.

Fothen made it double glory for Germany as he powered to victory in the men's under-23 event, raced over 30.3km.

The highlight of the championships is the men's time trial on Thursday.

Fothen chased down the early leader Dutchman Niels Scheuneman to win in a time of 38:35.29.

The 22-year-old blasted his way past Scheuneman as he eased up coming in to the finish line.

Fothen, who recently took the European crown, will ride with the German Gerolsteiner team next season.

Germany are recognised as a major force in time trialling and Olympic road race champion Jan Ullrich has won the world title twice.

The Tour de France runner-up will, however, not race on Thursday where Britain's David Millar has emerged as hot favourite.

Under-23 men's individual time trial (30.8 km):

1. Marcus Fothen (Germany) 38:35.29
2. Niels Scheuneman (Netherlands) 18.99 behind
3. Alexander Bespalov (Russia) 21.28
4. Thomas Lovkvist (Sweden) 30.32
5. Jure Zrimsek (Slovenia) 45.59
6. Michael Creed (U.S.) 47.56
7. Viktar Rapinski (Belarus) 48.50
8. Brian Vandborg (Denmark) 1:00.92
9. Thomas Dekker (Netherlands) 1:02.27
10. Petter Renang (Sweden) 1:14.23

Junior women's individual time trial (15.4 km):

1. Bianca Knoepfle (Germany) 22 minutes 17.08 seconds
2. Loes Markerink (Netherlands) 16.52 seconds behind
3. Iris Slappendel (Netherlands) 30.93
4. Laura Telle (Latvia) 31.52
5. Magdalena Zamolska (Poland) 34.91
6. Stephanie Williams (Australia) 37.42
7. Sara Peeters (Belgium) 42.97
8. Emmanuelle Merlot (France) 43.34
9. Larssyn Staley (U.S.) 47.65
10. Chiara Nadalutti (Italy) 49.10