Euros 2020 – ITT Preview

By David Hunter

Plouay 25.5km ITT

We’re in Britanny, that means not a flat road in sight. This TT has plenty of little hidden ramps for the riders to deal with, it certainly isn’t straightforward and opens the door for a little surprise.

The route is similar to the new lap circuit used in Plouay, but longer. It does contain the two main climbs, but the longer route allows more climbs to be added in. At 25.6km, it’s not an overly long TT, and could throw up a surprise or two.

I think this gives a better indication of the undulating nature of the opening 16km, not much flat in there. None of the climbs can be described as that hard, in professional terms, but they are nagging. The riders have to tackle 1.2km at 4.5%, 360m at 4.8%, 1km at 3%, 870m at 5%, 520m at 5.9%, 600m at 5.3% and 1.4km at 4.2%. As I said, nothing horrible, but that’s a fair amount of climbing for a 25km TT.

Weather

Conditions should be the same for all riders. It should be cloudy sunshine with a stiff breeze.

Contenders

Victor Campenaerts – crashed hard in the recent Czech Tour, injuring his back and ribs, but he still looked in good shape during the Belgian TT championship. We all know that he’s a hugely talented rider, but Campenaerts doesn’t win enough races for me. Given his talent, he should be regularly winning TTs and he isn’t. This race is a huge opportunity for him, as many of the top TT riders aren’t here, but that also adds pressure. The Belgian will start as the favourite, can he deliver?

Stefan Küng – the other “big” name here. The Swiss rider recently defended his national title, which is a nice boost ahead of this race. The rolling nature of the course should suit him well considering he copes well in the classics. This is a great chance for him to take home his first big title.

Rémi Cavagna – the QuickStep rider is strong against the clock, he recently won the French title with an impressive display. As this isn’t really one for the purists it does give him a chance of upsetting the big two favourites. Riding on home soil will also provide him with extra motivation, something which will give him some extra watts.

Alex Dowsett – this will be a big goal for the Englishman. He’s a rider who is always there or there about in TTs, but his last win aside from his national title came back in 2017. He’s another who won’t mind the hills in this circuit, he’s previously posted some impressive results in harder TTs.

Edoardo Affini – the Italian will be heading off to Jumbo-Visma in 2021, which is a wonderful move for all involved. Affini is a brilliant TT rider, but doesn’t cope very well with climbs. Looking at this route, I don’t think it suits him particularly well, not unless he’s been working on his climbing.

Jan Tratnik – the Slovenian is your classic diesel engine. He’s normally around the top 10 in most TT races, but a weakened field will allow him to challenge for the podium. He would have to have a very good day to win gold.

Ryan Mullen – used to be a promising TT rider, but he’s failed to develop into one of the best. The Trek rider can still post some impressive results, but he needs to land a big one if he really wants to breakthrough into the top ranks.

Prediction Time

This looks like a two horse race to me, and I see Victor Campenaerts coming out on top.

David Hunter

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