The World Team Time Trial is here. Last year’s race saw Spain take out the title and once again they have put together a great squad to defend it. Lots of other teams will be in with a shout, such as the USA, France, Germany and Russia. This course goes up the Muur once, which should certainly shake things up a bit and could prove crucial to the overall result. It will be interesting to see how the teams handle this. The starting order today is: USA New Zealand Denmark Ukraine France Kazakhstan Germany Russia Switzerland Netherlands Colombia Luxembourg Slovenia Great Britain Sweden Norway Portugal Belarus Lithuania Spain Australia Italy Belgium Czech Republic
And without any further ado let’s see things kick off. USA are first out of the gate and on course. They should be fighting for a strong placing today, given their team. Phinney and Zabriskie are the obvious big names, being world champion and national champion respectively, with Zabriskie also being the newly-crowned Olympic TT champion.
And their time through the first check at 19km looks like a good one, in 26’17”. The other teams now have something to aim for but most of them are unlikely to hit that target.
Next out is New Zealand. They are not one of the biggest teams, in fact they barely made the minimum number of qualifiers. Sergent is the best TTist here. Bewley should be a good chance in the road race, so the team may also perform fairly well on the cobbled section.
And as expected not as good as America’s time with 27’09”. It does go to show just how well Team USA have gone, however.
The third team on the course is Denmark. The country is not generally renown for TT riders and today is the proof. The only bright side for this team is that several of them are okay on cobbles, so should be able to get over those without too much hassle.
Their time through the first check is 27’19”, already a minute slower than the USA.
Up next is the Ukraine. Popovych, in the national champion’s jersey, and Grabovski both provide this team with some real firepower, but the team lacks depth. They can be proud to include 4 D2 riders, all from Metinvest.
And the new second best time is 26’45”, 28” off the time of the USA, but definitely acceptable. They might well be aiming for a top 10 result.
Aiming much higher than that, however, is France, the next team out of the starting house. Coppel is one of the few riders who is riding all three disciplines and certainly both here and in the ITT he has a decent chance of taking home the win. The team around him is incredibly strong and isn’t lacking for depth. It remains to be seen exactly how they perform, however.
Through the first check they go through in 26’23” – only 6” off the time of the USA! This is already shaping up to be a great battle and most of the teams haven’t left the start house.
Next up we have Kazakhstan. This is another team lacking in depth, having drafted in three free agents to fill out the team. Kazakhstan isn’t known for its TT riders either, so they will likely struggle for most of the day.
Unsurprisingly they go through the first check in 27’13”, not last but only 6” faster than current last place Denmark.
A team we expect much more from today is Germany, who have a huge number of great TT riders to pick from. Lang headlines an illustrious team of great TT riders including Schadlich and Kittel. The hill might pose some difficulty but when it comes to the flat the Germans should just power along.
And power along they do – straight to the top of the leaderboard. The time through the first check is 26’07”, shaving 10” off the time of the USA.
Another team with some great TT riders here today are Russia, who are lead by Ignatiev, who has recently shown his strength in the Tour of Northern Europe. The problem the Russians may have is their lack of depth, with question marks over some of their team’s ability to perform over these long distances at speed.
Through the first check they put themselves well in the mix with a time of 26’21”, currently third and 2” faster than France.
Our next team may not be expected to be perform so well in this event. Switzerland have one ace up their sleave – Cancellara. Not many men can ever enter the World Championships with a serious chance to become both the RR and the TT champion, but with this course Cancellara might just be able to do it. Either way, in the TTT event, the Swiss team really lacks depth in support riders after him.
Through the first check they manage quite a respectable time of 26’44”, just a single second faster than the Ukraine who similarly lack depth.
Next up is one of the biggest favourites for today’s race – The Netherlands. The Dutch have a brilliant tradition of time trialing and they will be hoping that today they can bring home the big reward. Every single member of their team is an established time trialist and many of them are good in the hills and on the cobbles, so the terrain should be to their liking as well.
And they manage to beat the Germans through the first check and are the first team to break 26 minutes with a tie of 25’59”. The question is – will they be the last team to break that barrier? After ten teams the leaderboard is:
Netherlands
25’59”
Germany
26’07”
USA
26’17”
Russia
26’21”
France
26’23”
Switzerland
26’44”
Ukraine
26’45”
NZ
27’09”
Kazakhstan
27’13”
Denmark
27’19”
Much less impressive is our next team Colombia who have a couple of leaders in Uran and Duarte, but at the same time riders like Betancourt have managed to talk their way onto the team. It is not known exactly what the selectors were thinking when they picked him.
Through the first check the clock reads 26’42”, putting them in a similar range to Switzerland and the Ukraine.
Let’s now turn to the front of the course again, as the USA take on the Muur. They are lead up by Kilun. Given the team’s total lack of cobbled riders this probably isn’t too surprising.
The USA continue on to the second check and set a time of 54’38”. That should be quite a good benchmark and should also give us some idea of how much effect the Muur has on the race.
Next out on course is the team from Luxembourg, who lack both TT riders and also good cobblers, making this a tough course for them. Given a few years, however, there are some promising young riders who could be good for this sort of event. Look to this country in the future.
Their time through the first check is straight on 27 minutes, putting them easily in the lower third of the race.
Behind them is another team without a great deal of hope in today’s race - Slovenia. They are another team with a fair proportion of riders from D2. Koren should be able to provide them with a fair amount of firepower but at the end of the day the riders here are mostly going to be in it just for the experience of attending the world championship and wearing their national jersey.
And through the first check their time is 27’02”, putting them in fierce competition with Luxembourg. Truly the showdown of the century.
Having a bit more hope than the previous two countries is the next team out on course - Great Britain. Most of the TT riders here are going to struggle on the lumpier parts of the course and particularly the Muur, but they will still be aiming for a top 10, maybe even a top 5 today.
Through the first check they are right where they want to be with a great time of 26’26”, only 3” slower than France. This should keep them in a good position to challenge the top of the board.
Up front again and New Zealand have gone over the Muur. They are really stretched out and a few guys are clearly hurting. Vink lead them up, so the pace probably wasn’t super hard, but it goes to show just how difficult this climb is.
Continuing to the second check, they go through in 55’47”, bleeding more time to the USA, though it looks like many of the riders just want this ordeal to end.
Next onto the Muur is Denmark, who are lead by Almblad on the way up. Clearly they have opted for the strategy of driving a hard pace up here and hoping that it pays off.
Clearly they have lost time elsewhere in this section as they can only manage 56’19” through the second check, losing another 22” to New Zealand in this middle section.
Straight behind these guys are the Ukrainian team, who set a pretty decent time which currently sits just under the middle of the table at the first check. On the way up the Muur Kotjuk takes the helm, setting a tempo that it should be easy to follow.
Their time through the second check is less stellar than was perhaps expected. They were 24” ahead of New Zealand at the first check and they maintain that same gap through the second check, with a time of 55’23”, meaning that they actually lost a lot of time to the top of the table in the middle section.
And France are next on to this brutal climb. It is Coppel himself who takes point on the way up, showing great leadership qualities. The French will be hoping to reign in some time on the USA, who were 6” ahead of them at the first check.
And reign in time they do, coming in second on the exact same time as the USA – 54’38”. There is still another half hour or so of racing ahead of them to decide this but things are looking tight!
More teams are out on course now as Sweden start off. The Swedes come into this with a remarkably underrated team, with quite a number of top time trialists such as Larsson and Johansson. Their problem will be the Muur, but that is the case for many teams.
And through the first check they seem to have been cursed by me as they can only manage 26’35”, about half way between Great Britain and Colombia.
Their fellow Scandinavians are right behind them on the road as Norway come out on course. Hushovd leads them in his national champion’s jersey but ultimately this is not a strong team. They will struggle on the flat and arguably on the Muur too. This could be a long day for the Norwegian team.
Their time through the first check is about what you would expect as they come through in 27’10”. They may just be happy to not be last at this point.
The next team are here with something to prove. Portugal were not selected for the RR and thus this and the ITT are their only events to prove to the selecting committee that they made a mistake. Of course they don’t stand a real chance of winning either of them but they would like to make a statement.
The time through the first check is a below-par 26’56”. Still, there is plenty of time to improve.
Meanwhile more teams start to take on the Muur. Kazakhstan are up next, lead by Maxim Iglinski. Their time through the first check was not great and clearly they are just fighting it out to not be last. As such the will be looking to better Denmark’s 56’19”.
And better it they do easily, with a time of 55’56”, which looks like it might be enough to keep them off the bottom of the table.
With much more to play for Germany are the next to take on this legendary climb. They have 8” to put into the Netherlands, but this was always going to be the hardest part of the course for them. Kluge leads up, which is definitely a good move as he should be able to set a cracking pace.
And the Germans unsurprisingly take the best time at the second intermediate check, again beating the Americans and indeed putting more time into them. The new benchmark is 54’16”.
The Russians are the next up the climb, lead by Ignatiev, who is looking like he is on great form. The Russians were 2” ahead of France at the previous check but the French went up this climb incredibly fast, so they will really need to push it hard.
And push they do, as they go through the second check in 54’24”, provisionally second place. That puts them 14” ahead of both the French and also the USA, who were previous 4” ahead of them.
Cancellara takes the lead as Switzerland hit the Muur. He can’t afford to push as hard as he is capable of, because otherwise he will destroy his own team to no avail. You have to wonder if he could just ride this distance faster on his own.
The Swiss go through in 55’23”, the same time as the Ukraine. That mid-table battle continues.
And already the Netherlands hit the Muur, blazing ahead. Keizer does the pulling here even though the Dutch have plenty of good cobblers in their ranks. They may not want to tire everyone out here, in which case they have made the right choice in leader.
And they blaze through with the best time once again. Not only do they set the best time, but they destroy the previous best of Germany – the new leading time is 53’37”, which is 39” better than the time of the Germans.
And after ten teams through the second check here is the provisional leaderboard:
Netherlands
25’59”
53’37”
Germany
26’07”
54’16”
Russia
26’21”
54’24”
USA
26’17”
54’38”
France
26’23”
54’38”
Switzerland
26’44”
55’23”
Ukraine
26’45”
55’23”
New Zealand
27’09”
55’47”
Kazakhstan
27’13”
55’56”
Denmark
27’19”
56’19”
Turning back to the new teams out on course we have the team most likely to come last in today’s race - Belarus. This is the only event they have qualified for and thus almost everyone here is just in it for the experience.
And their time reflects this as they appear to just be out on a Sunday ride with a time of 27’39”, 20” slower than Denmark’s previous worst.
Somewhat better than this team are Lithuania, the next group of riders out on course. Navardauskas leads a team of mediocre time trialists, and so they will probably be aiming for a time around the middle. Special mention goes to the three D2 riders here who are happy to be representing their country.
The time through the first check is 26’38”. This puts them almost on par with Sweden and easily inside the top half of the times. The Lithuanians are clearly all working well together.
And finally, the defending champions Spain are out on course. Though none of the Spaniards are likely to win the individual time, every single rider here is accomplished in this discipline, with most of them also being proficient uphill, which should help in some of the lumpier sections. It remains to be seen how they will fare on the Muur with no cobblestone specialists, but time will tell if these men can defend their win from last year.
And through the first check, the race is one – they set the new best time with a scorching 25’56”. That’s only 3” faster than the Dutch but 3” is more than enough to win this! What a race we have in store today!
Australia is somewhat known for its time trialists, and yet they aren’t registering on most people’s radars today and it is easy to see why. Though there are a handful of real specialists such as Rogers, Ford and Dempster, the team seriously lacks depth. Things drop off considerably after their top 5 riders and when combined with the fact that most of them have never even seen a cobblestone, it is hard to see them pushing for much more than a top 10 today. They may surprise, however.
Through the first check their time is a very strong 26’26”. That’s the exact same time that Great Britain managed, which should incite the Aussies on to push that little bit harder.
Moving ahead to the Muur, the Colombians now take it on. This is a nation known for its climbers and certainly not for its classics men. Most of the riders here would just be happy not to fall off their bikes. Pedraza leads them up.
They all stay together over the top and quickly get back into a proper rhythm. T his sets them up for a solid time of 55’11”, meaning that they actually put more time into the Swiss.
The riders from Luxembourg are the next up this iconic climb. They are lead up there by Kirchen, who may not be wearing this jersey for too many more years.
And they have managed to gain a considerable amount of time on the Swiss, now only sitting 4” behind them with a time of 55’27”. This has tightened up the middle of the table battles for pride quite a lot.
Another team vying for these mid-table positions is Slovenia, who sat only 2” behind Luxembourg at the first check. They are lead up the Muur by Kocjan.
This was clearly a mistake as through the second check they have lost huge chunks of time and can only manage 55’54”, 27” slower than Luxembourg and meaning that they are overtaken by New Zealand and almost Kazakhstan.
The third last team to leave the gate house today is Italy. They are not a country with a deep pool of time trialists, rather having a lot of hard men who can handle multiple types of terrain. As such the team produced here is weak for such a large cycling nation. They will probably hope for a top 10 but that might still be optimistic for the blue squad.
Through the first check their time is 26’28”, only 2” slower than Australian and Great Britain, which is very respectable.
The second last team out is Belgium – the squad who will have all the pressure of performing on home ground. They do not have a lot of time trialists to choose from apart from Cornu, but the country produces tons of cobblestone riders and puncheurs, which should be put to good use on a course like this. The home advantage might also benefit them.
And what a huge surprise as the Belgians beat the USA and take provisional fourth place! Their time is 26’09”, only 2” slower than the Germans and certainly far exceeding expectations.
Finally, our last team for the day is the Czech Republic, who have Kreuziger to lead them and no one else really to help out. The biggest joy they will take today is that as the last team out they cannot be overtaken by anyone else. This could be a very long day for them.
Through the first time check they can only manage a rather anonymous 27’07”. And here are the complete results through the first check:
Spain
25’56”
Netherlands
25’59”
Germany
26’07”
Belgium
26’09”
USA
26’17”
Russia
26’21”
France
26’23”
Great Britain
26’26”
Australia
26’26”
Italy
26’28”
Sweden
26’35”
Lithuania
26’38”
Colombia
26’42”
Switzerland
26’44”
Ukraine
26’45”
Portugal
26’56”
Luxembourg
27’00”
Slovenia
27’02”
Czech
27’07”
New Zealand
27’09”
Norway
27’10”
Kazakhstan
27’13”
Denmark
27’19”
Belarus
27’39”
And now back up the front of the race to see Team GB on its way up the Muur. They were very strong through the first check so let’s see if they can keep that up. The pure Time Trialist Wiggins leads them up.
They get to the second time check in 54’37”, putting them 1 second ahead of both the USA and France and provisional fourth through this point. Could the British riders be on their way to a podium place today?
Next up the Muur today is Sweden, who are lead by their top TT rider Larsson. They will have to shut down some time on the other teams if they want to hit a top 10 result today.
Through the second check they manage a time of 54’42”, putting them just 4” shy of the USA and France. This might be enough to put them in the top 10 for the moment and will certainly give Australia and Italy plenty of work to do to maintain their position.
Norway are up next, lead up the climb by Hegreberg. They should have some work to do to avoid being one of the very bottom teams.
Their time is 55’49”, enough to overtake Slovenia and close in on New Zealand, aiming for a lower-middle table finish.
Following hot on their heels are Portugal. Leading them up the climb is Costa, who is most certainly not known as a specialist on this sort of terrain. It wouldn’t be surprising if they lose some time here.
And though they lose a few seconds, 55’26” should be enough to keep them roughly where they are on the table right now.
Another team likely to stay right where they are on the table is Belarus, who will most likely struggle here as well. Their big name Kiryenka leads them up.
And unsurprisingly it is the slowest time so far with 57’01”, putting them 41” behind Denmark.
Looking practically fast by comparison is the next team Lithuania, who actually did alright through the first check. Kondrotas leads them up the climb and, as with the other teams, they are fairly stretched out.
And through the second check their time is 55’13”, meaning that Colombia overtakes them in the standings and they slip further away from a top ten.
Now it is the chance for the defending champions Spain to show what they have got. They set the best time through the first check. Up the climb they are lead by renowned cobblestone specialist Contador and then they power on over the flats.
And their time through the check is 53’40”, putting them 3” behind the Netherlands in second place. This was always likely to be their weakest point, so they might still have a chance. This is an incredibly close race!
Australia is next up the Muur, with Dempster taking point. They were on the same time as the British at the last check so this could be a very good time if they ride just as well as they did.
And their time is 54’38”, putting them exactly equal with both the USA and France and only 1” slower than GB. Even the lower top 10 are providing us with intrigue today.
Italy are up next, with TT specialist Malori leading up the Muur. They were in tenth at the first check so they will want to keep high speed to maintain their top ten position if only for the sake of pride.
They manage a time of 54’41”, keeping them just one second faster than Sweden and thus in the top ten at the second check.
Another team vying for a strong position are the Belgians, who surprised everyone with their fourth place at the first checkpoint. This is the leg they will probably like best with several decent cobblestone riders. In this case it is Van Goolen who leads them up.
Their time is 54’11”, which in fact puts them in third place at the moment, 5” faster than Germany and 13” faster than Russia. The home town advantage is really helping out here!
The final team up the Muur are Czech Republic, who are lead up the climb by their cobbled man Stybar.
Their time is 55’47”, which is enough to elevate them out of the bottom five and put them just behind New Zealand. So with all the teams having finished the second check here are the standings:
Netherlands
25’59”
53’37”
Spain
25’56”
53’40”
Belgium
26’09”
54’11”
Germany
26’07”
54’16”
Russia
26’21”
54’24”
Great Britain
26’26”
54’37”
USA
26’17”
54’38”
France
26’23”
54’38”
Australia
26’26”
54’38”
Italy
26’28”
54’41”
Sweden
26’35”
54’42”
Colombia
26’42”
55’11”
Lithuania
26’38”
55’13”
Switzerland
26’44”
55’23”
Ukraine
26’45”
55’23”
Portugal
26’56”
55’26”
Luxembourg
27’00”
55’27”
New Zealand
27’09”
55’47”
Czech
27’07”
55’47”
Norway
27’10”
55’49”
Slovenia
27’02”
55’54”
Kazakhstan
27’13”
55’56”
Denmark
27’19”
56’19”
Belarus
27’39”
57’01”
Let’s pause there for an ad break. Our coverage of the race will resume after these messages...
And our first team to finish is the USA, who have ridden a very solid race so far. They were tied for time with France and Australia for seventh place. Caldwell is starting to struggle on the back here, but only the first five riders are needed.
And their time is 1h22’54”, which will give us a good benchmark to measure the other teams against as they come across the line. Time will tell if it will be good enough to secure their current seventh place.
Next up is New Zealand. They were languishing down the bottom of the table last time and are trying to avoid a bottom 5 finish here. Vink, who led them up the Muur, starts to fall off the back along with Bennett. So New Zealand will only have 6 riders to get to the finish with.
Their time across the line is 1h24’25” and it remains to be seen if that will be good enough to avoid falling any further.
Denmark is the third team to finish up on this course, and miraculously they have all stuck together. They were coming second last previously so their time clearly wasn’t great but at least they aren’t going to be getting super tired.
Their time is 1h25’17”, which is hardly setting the world alight.
The fourth team to approach the line are the Ukraine. Kostjuk and Djuckja are both really struggling here. The Ukraine were one of the middle table teams just hoping to put a good time in and maybe even finish in the top half.
Their time is 1h23’53”, which seems fairly slow compared to other teams like New Zealand, who they would want to be performing much better than. Regardless, they are now provisionally second.
The French are in a very close battle for sixth place with multiple other teams such as America, who have already set the current best time of 1h22’54”. Champion is struggling at the back of this train but the other seven can probably push on faster on their own.
And push they do, as they set a new best time of 1h22’35”, a full 19” faster than the USA. This may even be good enough to have a shot at a top five position overall.
Out next on course is Kazakhstan, who were also in the fight at the bottom of the table, sitting in third last place previously. Kashmov is losing contact at the back of the line, but they may still be able to move fast without him.
Their time at the end is 1h24’40”, only 15” slower than New Zealand, which just serves to show how weak the time of the Kiwis is.
Germany is the seventh team to approach the finish. They were fourth at the previous time check and have been riding well all day. They were in contention for a podium place today, sitting only 5” behind Belgium. Muller is proving to be the only weak point in this team and they are riding well together. They are close to the Kazakh team, but just fail to catch them on the run in.
Their time at the end is a good one, enough for the new provisional best time! Their time is 1h22’30”, which is 5” faster than France. They were 22” ahead of them at the previous check so in fact this has been a fairly slow final leg for the Germans.
One of the competitors for the top 5, Russia, were in fact in fifth place at the second intermediate point. Kolesnikov and Bespalov are both struggling here, which could slow the team down somewhat, but they are still a chance for the top 5 placing. Certainly they will be aiming for the times of France and Germany.
And their aim appears to be good as they come through in a time of 1h22’36”, 1” behind France and 6” behind Germany. Unfortunately for the Russians this may push them out of the top 5.
The Swiss team are up next. They were fighting for a top half finish but their lack of depth really is showing through as Dillier and Frei start to fall off the back. They were tied with the Ukrainians at the second check.
Their time is 1h23’40”, which puts them 13” ahead of the Ukrainians. This was clearly a good leg for them. Cancellara did a lot of great work pulling the team along.
Our tenth team to come to the end are the Netherlands, who were leading at the second check. All of their riders are still contributing, though Van Winden is taking particularly short turns. Clearly the long distance is hurting him.
And their time is unsurprisingly the new best, with a time of 1h21’31”. That’s 59” faster than Germany! Will Spain be able to match this?
Up now are Colombia, who were half way through the rankings at the second check, pushing on surprisingly well considering their lack of depth. Unsurprisingly Betancourt has fallen off the back, not being even close to a TT rider.
Their time is 1h23’30”, which is about what they need to do to maintain their current position so they will be pleased with that, particularly given the huge lack of depth in this team.
Looking remarkably ragged is the next team out on course, Luxembourg. Heymes, Jungels and Kirsch, the three young guns on the team, are all struggling here and that leaves a lot of work for the others to do to make up for them. They were safe from the fight for the bottom of the table at the second check, but with these three falling off the back it might slow them down considerably.
1h23’58” proves to be enough to hold off New Zealand, who were behind them at the previous check, and so Luxembourg saves some face here. Half of the teams have now finished, but there are several more big squads to come.
Slovenia is not one of them. They were right near the bottom of the table at the previous check and so they will be hoping to pull this together. Unfortunately, Mugerli, Polanc and Sribar all drop off the back, which should hurt their team’s chances.
And their time is 1h24’23” which means that they move ahead of New Zealand. Clearly the dropped riders were just slowing everyone else down. This will likely move them out of the bottom five overall.
Great Britain are up next and they are still a chance for a top 5 here but they will probably have to do at least a time of 1h22’35” to manage it. That could be tough. Only Burke is showing signs of slowing however. They go past a couple of the dropped Slovenians in the final kilometre, showing how close they were coming to the team in front of them.
And their time is disappointingly 1h22’40”, which puts them provisionally fifth but with Spain and Belgium both still to come as well as Australia, that is likely to drop.
Now is the time for Sweden, who have ridden a very good race thus far, sitting in eleventh place after the second check. They will be really pushing hard to try to get that valuable top ten placing. Ljungblad was been thrown out the back, but he wasn’t doing too much as it stood, so the others carry on as they were.
Their time is a strong-looking 1h22’47”, which actually puts them ahead of the USA, who clearly completely collapsed in the final leg.
Next up we have Norway, yet another team hoping to avoid a bottom five result here. Haavardsholm is struggling and drops off the back. There is clearly some earnestness in their pedalling.
Their time of 1h24’33” keeps them ahead of Kazakhstan but doesn’t move them further up the table and so they are sadly resigned to a bottom five finish here.
Moving back up to the middle of the table, Portugal are out on course. They were narrowly ahead of Luxembourg at the previous check and just behind both Switzerland and the Ukraine. If they can overtake these two then there is a hope for a top half finish if a couple of other teams fail to perform well. Reis and Carvalho are not able to keep up with the other six riders here, so start dangling around the back.
Their time of 1h23’48” is good enough to overtake the Ukraine, but they will almost certainly be kept out of the top half now.
And we have our first overtake of the race! Lithuania overtake a decimated team from Belarus. The Lithuanians have lost Striska only, while the Belarusians have lost Papok and Orudjev and all the others are riding noticeably slower than the other teams. If Lithuania can finish better than 1h23’30” then they will overtake Colombia and get a top half finish.
And they do it! Their time is 1h23’26”, which puts them into 12th place overall. Belarus remain in last place with their time of 1h25’54”.
Behind both of these teams is an even bigger one, however. Spain are looking hungry for their title defence and the pace is incredibly high. Abal is actually struggling to match some of the others over this distance. They are looking to beat the time of 1h21’31” set by the Netherlands.
And their time? 1h21’58”, 27” off the pace of the Dutch riders. This means that the Netherlands are all but guaranteed the win now! The Spaniards will have to be content with a likely second place. Given the nature of the course, some of them probably burned too much on the cobbles and this cost them at the end of the course.
Australia are the next team to approach the finishing line. They were in the tough fight for the lower top ten places but given the strong performance put in by France it isn’t out of the question that they could get a fifth place here. The whole team seem to still be working well here.
And their time of 1h22’48” isn’t good enough to overtake most of their competition and in fact sees Sweden overtake them, but it will certainly sit them in the top ten at the end of the day and it is good enough to overtake the Americans.
The next team to come through are the blue-clad team of Italy. They will seek to overtake the USA as well and thus move into the top ten. The whole team are working here as well, so there should be some strong legs for a sprint to the line. It is either that or the pace has been knocked off a notch due to fatigue.
And it turns out it was the latter as their time is 1h23’19”, 25” slower than the USA but still good enough to beat Lithuania behind them. They will have to be content with an eleventh place.
Belgium are the next team out. They were third at the second time check and will be hoping to hold on to that podium as it seems unlikely that they will move up to second. They have to beat a time of 1h22’30” to hold off the Germans. Kaisen and Goddaert will not be able to help, however, as they just sit in the slip stream.
And their time is... 1h22’28”, just 2” faster than the Germans and good enough to form a surprising third place. Riding on home soil clearly helped the team a lot, as did the course.
And our final team are the Czechs, who are well down the ladder. Hosek, Vesely and Paprstka all fall off the back leaving only five riders to come in together. This will not help their attempts to improve their position.
And indeed the time of 1h24’32” is only barely enough to hold on to fifth last place.
And with that the World Championship TTT concludes. The Netherlands take the win over Spain, with Belgium in third place. Only 26” separated third place and the USA, who were in tenth. What a close race that was! And here are the final times:
USA
New Zealand
Denmark
Ukraine
France
Kazakhstan
Germany
Switzerland
Netherlands
Colombia
Luxembourg
Slovenia
Great Britain
Sweden
Norway
Portugal
Belarus
Lithuania
Spain
Australia
Italy
Belgium
Czech Republic
Russians are the next up the climb, lead by Ignatiev, who is looking like he is on great form. The Russians were 2” ahead of France at the previous check but the French went up this climb incredibly fast, so they will really need to push it hard.
