The Road World Championships get underway with the team time trial. If recent editions are any indication, the TTT should be a thrilling way to kick off a big week of cycling: the margin of victory for the men’s TTT in 2012 was only 3 seconds, and in 2013 things were even closer: Omega Pharma – Quick-Step beat out Orica-GreenEdge by just 1 second for the title.
The Route
The 2014 parcours is a bit more demanding than the profile faced by the TTT squads in 2013. 57.1 kilometers in length, it is mostly flat, but it does have a few bumps along the way. A string of ups and downs lead into the short but steep Alto Pieros at around the halfway point, and a high-speed downhill follows. With roughly 15 kilometers to go there is another uphill drag that starts at a low gradient and then kicks up a bit towards the end of the ascent crested with roughly 3 kilometers to go, after which comes a fast descent and then a flat finish.
Both the first and the final few kilometers are beset with twists, turns, and roundabouts, but most of the long journey in between is on wider roads without too many technicalities, which will allow the bigger engines to really get going in the middle of the route.
The Contenders
Last year’s two top finishers figure to feature prominently again. OPQS comes in as a slight favorite, though the team makeup has changed considerably since they last made a run at Worlds. Tony Martin still leads the way with a very talented Michal Kwiatkowski also returning. The impressive Kristof Vandewalle (now riding for Trek) is among those who won’t make a repeat bid for OPQS, but new additions like Niki Terpstra should help pick up the slack. Martin and Kwiatkowski will handle the scattered climbs and the technical stretches better than most time trial specialists in attendance, boosting the team’s chances. Orica-GreenEdge should put up a serious fight, however. Veteran Svein Tuft has continued to lead the OGE TTT squad to successes this year (they won the opening team time trial in the Giro d’Italia) and younger talents like Michael Hepburn and fast-rising Damien Howson make for a very solid group of specialists. They may not have any individual riders who currently qualify as stars in the time trial right now, but the team discipline is about more than raw power, and Orica-GreenEdge takes the TTT very seriously. They will have one of the most cohesive units on the course.
Trek should put in a strong challenge, with Fabian Cancellara, the aforementioned Kristof Vandewalle, and a sharp Jesse Sergent making the start. Their Vuelta performance was underwhelming, but Spartacus should be in much better form with the World Championship Road Race rapidly approaching.
BMC is without Taylor Phinney, but newcomer Rohan Dennis and a very strong Silvan Diller should complement Tejay van Garderen and company nicely. I think they’re more likely to deliver a performance along the lines of their Giro TTT (where they were 3rd) than their Vuelta TTT (where they only managed 9th).
Team Sky has underperformed in just about every major TTT they’ve undertaken in 2014, but the collection of talents they bring to Ponferrada can’t be ignored. With Bradley Wiggins leading and Geraint Thomas, Dario Cataldo, and an in-form Vasil Kiryienka also on the team, Sky will have a fighting chance at victory. They were 3rd in 2013, the only team within half a minute of the two leaders.
Movistar, with Ion Izagirre, Adriano Malori, and Alex Dowsett, should be in the mix. Astana hasn’t landed many big team time trial results in 2014, but they have a strong group of chrono specialists here. Giant-Shimano could surprise, with several very talented young time trialists in their unit, among them Tom Dumoulin, Chad Haga, and Tobias Ludviggson.
VeloHuman Top 3 Favorites
Winner: Omega Pharma – Quick-Step
Podium: Orica-GreenEdge, Trek Factory Racing
Be sure to follow @VeloHuman on Twitter for live race analysis, and stay tuned for previews of the ITT and Road Race World Championships.
-Dane Cash
Photo by Sean Rowe.
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