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World Championships: Team Time-Trial Preview

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This year’s UCI Road Cycling World Championships will see the return of the team time-trial (TTT), but for the first time it will be contested by pro-trade teams, as opposed to the traditional national squads.
When the UCI announced this decision in 2009 there was a lot of confusion about why it had replaced the national version of the race. The reasoning behind it was that because of the high technicality and training required to be successful in the TTT it was simply too difficult for national teams to be in strong form for the race due to the limited time they spend together throughout the season. Therefore the professional trade sides get the green light to compete due to the extensive training riders can experience throughout the year, priming them for this event.
The Circuit

The event will commence for the first time since 1994 on Sunday the 16th of September in Limburg, Holland. The race will see the riders trek from Sittard to Valkenburg over 53.2km of testing terrain. The route begins with a relatively flat first 10KM before the first uncategorized climb. As soon as the riders finish their descent they hit the first major climb on the Lange Raarberg. This climb will test the organizational skills of the teams with a 4.5% gradient.
Once the riders reach the top of the climb they will have a chance to re-group and increase their speed over the hilly 18KM before the second 2.7km climb in Voerendaal. Whilst the gradient for this climb is only at 3.3%, the length will be sure to once again test the weaker climbers. Once at the summit, the teams will face a lengthy 10km descent along fairly straight forward roads before being hit by a daunting final 1.2km climb on the Caugberg, before a quick ride from the summit to the finish.
With this race being longer and more intense than what the riders have been used to this year, it may see the more endurance based teams coming to the fore as opposed to the traditional quick men on the flats.
This Year’s TTT Form & The Contenders

  • Tour of Qatar: (1) Garmin-Sharp (2) Omega Pharma-Quick Step (3) Team Sky
  • Tirreno: (1) Orica-GreenEdge (2) Radioshack (3) Garmin-Sharp
  • Trentino: (1) BMC Racing (2) Astana (3) Colnago
  • Giro d’Italia: (1) Garmin-Sharp (2) Katusha (3) Astana
  • Eneco Tour: (1) Orica-GreenEdge (2) Omega Pharma-Quick Step (3) Katusha
  • Tour of Utah: (1) Garmin-Sharp (2) Rabobank (3) Radioshack
  • Vuelta a Espana: (1) Movistar (2) Omega Pharma-Quick Step (3)Rabobank

Garmin-Sharp

Team (Provisional): Bauer, Dekker, Maaskant, Martin, Millar, Navardauskas, Rosseler, Talansky, van Summeren.
From these results in the major TTT this season, it is quite evident who the pre-race favourites will be. Garmin-Sharp has dominated the TTT stages this year with three wins and one third place to their name. What is more impressive is that these results have come with a different mix of riders, all showing their time-trailing capabilities. All of this will mean nothing though if they do not get the win on Sunday evening. On paper they have significant depth to call on, especially when Talansky and Martin may miss out on selection. It will be interesting to see how the team copes over the longer stage though, as team manager Vaughters as openly stated his team is significantly fatigued, but I guess what team isn’t at this point of the season.
Orica-GreenEdge

Team: Bewley, Durbridge, Langeveld, Meyer, Mouris, Tuft.
In their debut season, the Australian squad has exceeded any expectations they have had of them, and their TTT prowess is no exception. The squads win on the Eneco Tour, along with their reasonable performance at the Vuelta has indicated that they are coming strong at the right time of the season. With Durbridge, Meyer and Langeveld at their disposal they present a strong all round line up that will tackle the mountains with power and then use their organizational ability along the major descent leading up to the final climb. Svein Tuft has shown that he is no ITT slouch, as he won the Eneco Tour ITT stage, but it will be down to himself, Jens Mouris and Sam Bewley to produce the goods to stay with the three stronger riders. They may fly under the radar with the lack of big names, but this squad will be defiantly on the podium at the end of the day.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step

Team: Boonen, Chavanel, Martin, Terpstra, Vandewalle, Velits.
Speaking of teams full of big names, Omega Pharma boasts one of the most formidable line-ups for this year’s Championships. Similar to Garmin-Sharp, the team’s results this year have come with a variety of different riders. Three second places would have also given the team confidence heading into the race, but there is one significant aspect that may contribute to their downfall. My problem with this team is the pre-occupation several riders will have with the other events taking place over the Championships. Tom Boonen is a favourite for the RR whilst Chavanel and Martin are ITT specialists. It will come down to how these riders are feeling, as I believe they may have set their sights on bigger things in Limburg.
Team Sky ProCycling

Team (Provisional) : Boasson Hagen, Dowsett, Flecha, Froome, Henao, Porte, Rogers, Stannard, Thomas.
Brad Wiggins aside, this is possibly the strongest outfit the British team could produce. Whilst the final make up of the team is uncertain yet, all those preliminary riders named would do a strong job for the team that has already experienced significant success this year. My issue with the team is the potential for them to go with too many climbers and not enough quick men. Whilst the circuit does include three categorized climbs, it is the descent from the Bergesweg that may be where this race is won and lost. Although being one of the World’s best ITT, Chris Froome looks to be struggling after the Vuelta, and as a result he may be sacrificed for fresher riders such as Rogers and Thomas. They will either win this by a mile or fatigue significantly.
BMC Racing

Team (Provisional): Ballan, Bookwalter, Gilbert, Morabito, Phinney, Pinotti, Quinziato, Schar, van Garderen.
Despite no major results since their win in Trentino, BMC possess significant ITT talent on their roster and may be a dark horse leading into the Championships. Taylor Phinney is a world class time-trialist, whilst van Garderen and Gilbert have shown that they are no slouches. What concerns me though is that they have only been successful on very short TTT stages this year, and that their main man Phinney is not a noted climber. A lot will rest on the shoulders of young van Garderen , with the the three climbs vital if they want to challenge for the podium. If he, along with Pinotti, can deliver, Phinney and Gilbert should be able to eat away large amounts of time on the descents. Will either dominate or flop.
Rabobank

Team: Boom, Clement, Flens, Gesink, Kelderman, LL Sanchez
Consistently in the top five on the shorter circuits, the team is an unknown quantity on the longer courses. Lars Boom as contributed significantly to their strong results on the short-flat races, but a lot will rest on the shoulders of Gesink to bring the team up to pace on the climbs. Luis-Leon Sanchez has decided against contesting the Road Race later in the week, so I suspect he will bury himself for the Dutch outfit who will be extremely motivated to put in a dominant showing in front of their home crowd.
The Others

I cannot see many other teams producing strong results come Sunday, although there are a few teams that may exceed expectations. Radioshack-Nissan, despite having had a horrendous year, and being without Swiss ITT ace Cancellara, will still put out a strong team featuring the likes of Jens Voigt, Tony Gallopin and Hamair Zubeldia.
Movistar and Katusha are in the same boat in regards to results this season. Both have had some reasonably strong results, combined with some shockers. For the Russian Katusha team, their second in the Giro is significant result given the distance it was in comparison to the other TTT held this year. They also have a very set line-up which will be headed by Denis Menchov. Movistar won the Vuelta TTT, but that was on a very short course in front of a home crowd, so the result cannot be taken as a significant one looking forward. Their line-up is strong with Castroviejo, Costa and Guitierrez, but the potential for fatigue from the Vuelta will probably see them out of top 5 contention.
Vacansoleil and Astana have also put out strong line-ups throughout the year and may surprise a few by challenging the top 5.
Predictions

Personally, I think Orica-GreenEdge have got the goods to win this one, and no that is not blind patriotism. They have the form; they do not have any significant fatigue, and their main man Cam Meyer withdrew from the Vuelta early to prepare for the championships. Garmin-Sharp are my tip to come in second simply due to their potential to fatigue. And finally I think BMC will surprise many to take the last podium spot.
Full team lists can be found here: http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjM2NTc=
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