2017 Bergen WC ITT, 31km with hilltop finish

[Red Rick]

The whole course will be 28km of rolling/flat before a murito at the end.

http://www.uci.ch/road/news/article/207-uci-road-world-championships-spectacular-men-elite-individual-time-trial-course/

I don't think I even want to know why this is happening

 

[silvergrenade]

The whole course will be 28km of rolling/flat before a murito at the end.

http://www.uci.ch/road/news/article/207-uci-road-world-championships-spectacular-men-elite-individual-time-trial-course/

I don't think I even want to know why this is happening

If the Murito is long enough and steep enough it will bring out Rohan Dennis, Domoulin, Froome as favorites. Froome wont ride the WCs though

 

[Red Rick]

The whole course will be 28km of rolling/flat before a murito at the end.

http://www.uci.ch/road/news/article/207-uci-road-world-championships-spectacular-men-elite-individual-time-trial-course/

I don't think I even want to know why this is happening

If the Murito is long enough and steep enough it will bring out Rohan Dennis, Domoulin, Froome as favorites. Froome wont ride the WCs though

Forgot to add, it's around 3.5km at 9.1, a little over 300m in vertical gain.

 

[Billie]

wc prologue riding

WC TT should be atleast 66 kms / 1h30 but preferable over 80 kms and close to 2 hours of riding

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

wc prologue riding

WC TT should be atleast 66 kms / 1h30 but preferable over 80 kms and close to 2 hours of riding

Back in the day, maybe. But the WC should be a long TT, not a mid length effort. An hour minimum.

 

[WheelofGear]

Will Valverde compete? A TTT win (sort of..) and two 2nd places in ITTs in a row.

With the Muro and short length, he could podium.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Dumoulin will win this easily.

 

[Gigs_98]

If the race is 60 km long and finishes with this ramp it would be okay. The ITT in the Olympics last year was very hilly as well but still won by a guy like Cancellara who beat clearly better climbers like Dumoulin, Froome and Dennis. But in a 31 km long TT a 3 km long climb with such a steepness will have a huge impact.

 

[42x16ss]

I don't like it. The finish doesn't need to be there and the race is barely half as long as it should be.

The cynic in me suspects that this is set up for a Froome rainbow jersey.

 

[Velolover2]

It's Dumoulin vs. Roglič.

Froome is not participating as far as I know. Needs some rest between the Tour and Vuelta.

I think it's too hard for Rohan. A 9,1% at 3.5k is a pretty brutal climb.. a short mountain. The climb and short course is a massive disadvantage for the specialists. Is there any more hills in it?

Lots of GC non-specialists could top 3. Porte, Valverde, Thomas, Pinot, Ion Izagirre, Zakarin, Alaphilippe.

 

[Velolover2]

Dumoulin will win this easily.

Primož Roglič is a challenger these days. Especially when it's under 30k.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Laughable route for a rainbow ITT.

 

[Red Rick]

I don't think it will have that big of an effect. Especially the more flyery TT'ists shouldn't have too much problems limiting their losses. Dumoulin got pretty close in a way tougher TT in the Tour.

Think it's Dumoulin vs Dennis vs Roglic.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Only acceptable if they do two laps of the flat section, circuit TTs have gone out of vogue but obviously they did them in Rio, in Mendrisio, in Madrid. 31km is a farce for a World Championships TT. 45km should be bare minimum, preferably 50-60.

 

[deValtos]

I understand the logic behind shortening TT's in the Grand Tours (though I disagree with it) but 28km for a WC ??? What ???

Disagree with the big hill too. T Mart will be pissed.

 

[Ricco']

I can be wrong but I think the original route included two laps of a circuit before going to the final hill. Anyone else have the same idea?

31 km is just ***, one of the biggest attractives of the ITT WC was the length, something that distinguished that race day from any time trial on any race of the calendar. Now we have a TT that could be present on any week-long stage race of the calendar.

 

[Netserk]

It is two laps. https://bergen2017.no/courses/time-trial/elite-men/

Normally though, they don't do the same laps as the road race, but an extended version. Not here.

 

[Gigs_98]

I actually think that a hill at the end of an ITT isn't such a bad idea since it adds to the suspense. (Let's say Martin and Froome are both riding it and Martin is leading by 20-30 seconds before the climb. In a usual TT nobody would lose this much time but with a climb at the end the winner will be uncertain much longer) Moreover I think a bit of climbing should be part of WC ITT routes, but it has to be in the right proportion. 3 kilometers of relatively steep climbing on a 59 km long route would be completely okay, but I think 3 kilometers at 9% on a 31 km long route is too much.
Besides that, even if the race wouldn't end with this climb, the route would be way too short.

 

[Ricco']

Aw okay, for some reason I missed the part where they will do two short laps, I thought it was going to be 2 laps of about 25/30 km's.

Curious to see what my man Jungels will do here, 30 k's is better for him than 60 (I think), the colder conditions suit him better than the hot of Qatar and the climb towards the end favours him compared with the flat specialists. If he and his team do a right preparation (instead of what happened last year), could be an outsider for the medals, I think.

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Is there a reason why people are doing their usual crying about the route today? The course is known for six months. Lisbon 2001 was also very short, difficult and entertaining. Won by Ulle, who was a worthy world champion. So I am happy with the short distance and and interesting approach. That's far more entertaining then 50-60 boring Panzerwagen kilometers.

Would love to see Froomey to go for it and then win Innsbruck road race. Just kidding.

 

[Googolplex]

Didn't Ponferrada suggest a bit similar course (a bit longer, but the climb was a bit longer too), but it was rejected?

 

[Max Rockatansky]

Re:

Didn't Ponferrada suggest a bit similar course (a bit longer, but the climb was a bit longer too), but it was rejected?

They did. Maybe to offer Alberto a great chance.

 

[silvergrenade]

Is there a reason why people are doing their usual crying about the route today? The course is known for six months. Lisbon 2001 was also very short, difficult and entertaining. Won by Ulle, who was a worthy world champion. So I am happy with the short distance and and interesting approach. That's far more entertaining then 50-60 boring Panzerwagen kilometers.

Would love to see Froomey to go for it and then win Innsbruck road race. Just kidding.

+100000!

 

[Supimilian]

Can't believe they allowed this climb to be honest. It is an extremely unrythmic and hard 3,5km, and not just simply a "3.5km @ 9.1%" effort.
As for the distance they could just do another lap for a cool ~45km distance. It's a bit strange, but the favorites will probably be mostly the same.
T Martin would probably have preferred the 3 laps with no climb though...

 

[hazaran]

I guess Froome might parachute in for the ITT then DNF the RR..