World Championships 2015 – Team Time Trial Preview
By David Hunter
Richmond 38.8km
Welcome to the house of pain! The TTT is a beauty of a discipline. Here, 6 riders have to give it their all, in the hope of taking the gold medal. There is no other race like this one. You rely upon every member of the group and need everyone firing on all cylinders.
The route looks very fast, with only one serious climb. The race finishes with a climb of 5.8% for 300m, so nothing outrageous, but it could be decisive. The course doesn’t have too many corners either, this is a day for the powerful riders. Keep an eye out for the finishing climb, as this is where all the races finishes this week.
BMC are defending champions. They got a little lucky in 2014, with changing weather conditions. Since that point, they have started to look the part. They have won TTTs in the Dauphine, the Tour and the Vuelta. It’s been a brilliant year for the BMC boys. Their 2014 team was Quinziato, Dillier, Dennis, Oss, Van Garderen and Velits. This year, Van Garderen misses out through injury and Veltis has not been selected. Those two places have been taken byStefan Kung and Taylor Phinney. This makes it a very young squad, with an average age of 26.5. I wonder if they’ll miss the experience that the other teams possess.
The organisers have decided to cut the race by almost 20km. That will close the gaps and open the door to a number of teams. Competing at the top of the leader board, should be the usual suspects!
Etixx – The Belgians arrive with a serious looking squad. They have Terpstra, Martin, Boonen, Lampaert, Uran and Kwiatkowski. This is a scary looking team! Martin, Uran and Kwiatkowski are among the best in the world. Terpstra is one of the best over 10km. Lampaert is excellent over shorter distances and Boonen is a master of this discipline. Etixx will be expecting a big result. They have made two changes from 2014, with Uran and Lampaert replacing Vermote and Serry. These two changes certainly make them stronger, they will expect to go better than their 3rd place from last year.
Orica – 2nd for 2 consecutive years, the Aussies love a TTT. They have Hepburn, Durbridge, Tuft, Bewley, Mouris and Matthews. I particularly love the addition of Matthews to the team, given his amazing power. He and Bewley are brought into the team, at the expense of Howson and Lancaster. As usual, they have taken a wonderful approach to their preparation. All 6 riders competed together at the Tour of Alberta and have been the right side of the Atlantic for a while. There is no concern about jet lag and these boys have a tremendous team spirit. Given their dominance, it’s a surprise that they haven’t won the world title…yet!
Tinkoff Saxo – This is a squad with the potential to surprise a few. They have Rogers, Sagan, Bodnar, Valgren, Juul-Jensen and Boaro. Sagan was in wonderful form, during the Vuelta. His crash and rest period wasn’t ideal, but he should have retained his Vuelta form. Rogers won the ITT in 2003, 2004 and 2005, but it’s been a long time since his last top performance. Bodnar went well in the Vuelta, finishing 2nd to Dumoulin in the TT. This is a solid looking squad and on their day, they are capable of threatening the top 3.
Movistar – On paper, a very strong team. They have Dowsett, Malori, Castroviejo and Izagirre in their 6 man squad. However, they never seem capable of delivering on the biggest stage. So often, they fail to travel particularly well and riders might have one eye on the events later in the week. If they can get it together, they have the ability to make the podium.
Two “smaller” teams have been much improved in 2015. A new Bianchi bike has helped Jumbo take a huge step forward. They arrive with Gesink, Kelderman, Vanmarcke, Van Emden, Leezer and Tjallingii. It’s a strong looking squad, but a podium spot looks out of range.
IAM Cycling are the other squad who have improved in 2015. They have Brandle, Coppel, Clement, Hollenstein, Pantano and Saromotins. This is strong and they will expect a top 10 finish, maybe even top 6 or 7.
Some riders have their eyes on the ITT and RR. As much as they will say that they will give their all, it has been known for some to take it a little easy. This isn’t a problem for the big teams, but the smaller ones. What’s the point of going deep, when you can’t finish better than 7th?
Fatigue is another issue for some of the Vuelta riders. After looking like a broken man, can Tom Dumoulin turn it around in 1 week? This is going to be a serious challenge for him, expect him to use the TTT as a bit of training. His goals have to be the ITT and RR.
The reduction in the length of the race is really going to make it close. The top 5 teams are likely to be split be a handful of seconds, it really is going to be tight. The fast nature of the route, is perfect for the big 3 teams, as they are packed full of big engines. It is interesting to see Etixx and Orica include a rider who specialises in shorter TTs. Lampaert and Matthews have been included for their speed, the shorter distance is perfect for them. It’s also why Tinkoff are a big threat, with Sagan and Bodnar. It really is shaping up to be an exciting race.
Prediction Time
The shorter distance makes this hard to call. I’m not overly impressed with the BMC changes, I think they will lack a little experience. I love the Orica plan of bringing their whole squad to the Tour of Alberta and keeping them together. Etixx have made some good changes and should be closer than 2014. I’m going for the Aussies and their first TTT world title.
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