The two best
time trialists of the season, Fabian Cancellara and Bradley Wiggins are not
taking part in the World Champions this year that means we could see some
surprising names on the final podium Wednesday afternoon. Still, last year’s
World Champion Tony Martin is here and together with Vuelta España winner
Alberto Contador he is one of the big favorites.
The course
last year in Copenhagen was perfect for Tony Martin without any hills and with
plenty of parts where he could get his big engine going. This year the course
is completely different with nasty hills and many turns. According to home soil
favorite Lieuwe Westra the longest straight out part of the total 45,7 km is
about 4,5 km while the rest is a couple of hundred meters before turning left
and another couple of hundred meters before turning right. It’s a course for
riders with good bike handling skills and I think the many turns and the
undulating route will make it hard for Tony Martin to repeat his win from last
year. I’m not saying he is not going to win, I’m just saying it will be very
tough to pull it off.
My personal
winner pick for the gold medal is Alberto Contador. The Vuelta was hard - no doubts
- but he should be able to recover well and do a great race already. Before
Contador got his ban, the Olympic time trial was a big goal for him this season
and looking at the two courses I would say this one suits Contador even better.
He finished 2nd after Fredrik Kessiakoff without taking big risk on
the descent towards the finish line. Contador had best time at the check point
and if it had been a time trial for the overall win in the Vuelta I’m sure he
would have won too.
Earlier
this year I picked Lieuwe Westra as joker for the World Champion time trial and
after his insane time trial in Post Danmark Rundt (where he beat Geraint Thomas
with 19 seconds over just 14,5 km) I would say he seems ready. Normally Westra
is better in the short time trials but on home soil and with the hills in his
favor I think he will be able to get a very good result. It won’t be easy
getting on the podium, but I think he can do it on a good day.
Another
outsider for the podium is Tejay van Garderen. In the team time trial TJ went
so fast over Cauberg that Phinney couldn’t follow and that probably cost BMC
the win. Both Phinney and TJ have high hopes for this time trial but I think TJ
has the best chance of a medal - mainly because of the hills. It also depends
on the weather. A strong tail wind will minimize the influence of the hills and
that would mean Taylor Phinney finally could step up on the podium after his
two 4th places at the Olympics. Both Americans have a good chance,
but I’ll go with Westra and TJ as my podium jokers.
Winner pick:
Alberto Contador
Jokers: Lieuwe
Westra & Tejay van Garderen
