The same 49km course we have already seen twice will be faced by the elite time trialists today.
The big question is whether Taylor Phinney can deliver his 4th consecutive and 8th overall World title. Both Zmorka (UKR) and Würtz (DEN) represent serious competition but perhaps the climbing in the last third will tip it Phinney’s way.
Startlist
Russia’s Pavel Sivakov is the first man on the course.
The best early time comes from Stefan Kung (SWI) who, with 10 riders finished, has a 3 second lead over Sivakov.
That time holds up until the 15th finisher, Cattaneo (ITA), who goes 9 seconds better, despite being 29 seconds down on Kung at the second check.
But Ioannidis (GRE) immediately knocks Cattaneo off the hot seat, going 12 seconds faster.
Ioannidis is immediately beaten by Kämna (GER), who gets 7 seconds faster.
But that time only lasts briefly as Lecuisinier (FRA) comes home next and takes the best time down by another 6 seconds.
Then Fraile (ESP) becomes the 5th straight rider to set a new best time beating Lecuisinier by 11 seconds.
Dennis (AUS) breaks the streak falling 3 seconds short, only good enough for second.
But the next man is Dunbar (IRL) and he sets another new best time, a massive 46 seconds ahead of Fraile
Dunbar holds the best time at the finish and both time checks. Bjerg (DEN), +0’16, and Powless (USA), +0’17 come home after him and slot into 2nd and 3rd.
With half the field finished the leaderboard looks like this:
With the second rider of the weaker nations now on the course the next 13 riders don’t impact the top of the leaderboard. The best of them is Vlasov (RUS) in 6th, 50 seconds down.
Then Mano (THA) comes across in 4th (+’044)
Lammertink (NED), does a little better +0’42, while Ganna (ITA) manages only 8th (+0’48)
Dunbar’s reign on the hot seat continues as Paillot (FRA) can only tie Lammertink for 4th and Vlatos (GRE) +1’00, Sütterlin (GER), +0’54, and Gonzalez Salas (ESP) +0’49 manage only the 14th, 12th and 9th best times.
With 5 riders left on the course, including the big 3, the leaderboard looks like this:
Howson (AUS) is the next home. He slots into a 3-way tie for 4th with Paillot and Lammertink, but he has the edge on the fractions.
Mullen (IRL) is the next man to take a shot at his teammate’s lead, he was 34 seconds down at the 2nd check.
He makes up a little time but ends up in 4th, 22 seconds down.
The defending champion and time trial legend Taylor Phinney (USA) is up next. His reign might be under threat. He was ahead of Dunbar by 19 seconds at the 2nd check but 2 seconds down on Zmorka (UKR) and 13 seconds down on Würtz (DEN). He needs to gain time on them in this last segment.
He takes over the hot seat by 11 seconds from Dunbar. But is it good enough? He lost time on Dunbar in the final segment.
Zmorka is next on the course.
And Phinney’s reign isn’t over yet, Zmorka loses 10 seconds in the last segment and finishes 8 seconds down on Phinney. Würtz had more cushion.
Würtz crosses the line . . .
And we have a new champion, Denmark’s Mads Würtz matches the King over the last segment and wins his first World Time Trial Championship by 13 seconds. He has come close before with 2nd two years ago and 3rd last year but this year he gets the gold.
With age catching up with him it seems unlikely Phinney will ever win another championship but his record of 7 victories won’t be matched soon. He does finish 2nd which marks his 10th podium.
