2020 World Championships - now confirmed for Imola, Italy.

[LaFlorecita]

van Aert surely has all talent it needs, but it still would be a bit of a shock to see him taking gold. The race was never on his schedule, and he has basically done no time trial training all year.

You are totally right, but nothing will surprise me anymore

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

This really should be Dennis v Ganna, but, yeah, I can’t pretend to have any idea any more either

 

[search]

what kind of bike will Dennis be on today? I guess Pinarello will not allow him to ride a non-branded BMC bike, especially at home in Italy?!

 

[tobydawq]

Probably not a Merida.

 

[search]

going by his results so far, I'm not sure he is much happier on the Pinarello

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I can understand one company’s high end TT bike just being bad or just not fitting a particular rider’s position, but I find it hard to believe the opposite, that another company’s bike is just better than all the others. Surely the competition would have just adapted / copied it. Is the BMC TT bike really that much better?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

van Aert surely has all talent it needs, but it still would be a bit of a shock to see him taking gold. The race was never on his schedule, and he has basically done no time trial training all year.

He's done 2 ITTs. How many has Dennis done? 3? 4?

 

[Climbing]

If you consider how he's been going till now, he's gonna take TT RR and all the classics.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Ganna for the win

 

[carolina]

I can understand one company’s high end TT bike just being bad or just not fitting a particular rider’s position, but I find it hard to believe the opposite, that another company’s bike is just better than all the others. Surely the competition would have just adapted / copied it. Is the BMC TT bike really that much better?

Dowsett used a specialized shiv instead of his factor bike during the europeans, because it was faster and he is not contractually obligated to use it when riding for the UK. He talks about it in his youtube channel.
The difference doesn't need to be that big between bikes. We've had differences of less then a second between riders in the past, so they'll take any advantage possible.

Either way, Dennis is using the pinarello for sure, I highly doubt Ineos wouldn't demand that in their contract.

 

[search]

He's done 2 ITTs. How many has Dennis done? 3? 4?

I was talking about preparation there, not the amount of races. Before the Belgian championships van Aert said that he hadn't touched his time trial bike in ages - and with this ITT and the Tour de France originally overlapping, I doubt much has changed about that.

Sure, he still did pretty well last week, but was still half a minute slower than Cavagna on the flat(ish) part, and is facing a different class of competitors today, having specifically prepared for it for months

 

[Blame it on the Boogie]

I was talking about preparation there, not the amount of races. Before the Belgian championships van Aert said that he hadn't touched his time trial bike in ages - and with this ITT and the Tour de France originally overlapping, I doubt much has changed about that.

Sure, he still did pretty well last week, but was still half a minute slower than Cavagna on the flat(ish) part, and is facing a different class of competitors today, having specifically prepared for it for months

Well the WC has only been assigned to Imola at the beginning of this month...
I am not sure how the TT in Martigny would have looked like and if for example Ganna would have been the topfavorite on that course?

But I get what you mean offcourse, Campenaerts was like 10 days ago already in Imola practicing on the course while Van Aert was going all out in the Tour. Sidenote however is that the course is not difficult/technical nor is it very long (shortest WC TT ever?).
It will thus not be a case of knowing every corner of the course in perfection or saving energy; it will be all out from the beginning for all riders and just go as hard as they can untill the finish (quite obvious I know ).

Looking forward to the TT though could very well be exiting.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I was talking about preparation there, not the amount of races. Before the Belgian championships van Aert said that he hadn't touched his time trial bike in ages - and with this ITT and the Tour de France originally overlapping, I doubt much has changed about that.

Sure, he still did pretty well last week, but was still half a minute slower than Cavagna on the flat(ish) part, and is facing a different class of competitors today, having specifically prepared for it for months

He was slower because he was pacing for the climb, and Cavagna wasn't.

 

[BlueRoads]

Well the WC has only been assigned to Imola at the beginning of this month...
I am not sure how the TT in Martigny would have looked like and if for example Ganna would have been the topfavorite on that course?

But I get what you mean offcourse, Campenaerts was like 10 days ago already in Imola practicing on the course while Van Aert was going all out in the Tour. Sidenote however is that the course is not difficult/technical nor is it very long (shortest WC TT ever?).
It will thus not be a case of knowing every corner of the course in perfection or saving energy; it will be all out from the beginning for all riders and just go as hard as they can untill the finish (quite obvious I know ).

Looking forward to the TT though could very well be exiting.

Yes, I'm usually not the biggest fan of time trials, but for this there are actually many contenders for the win and the podium, so I'm excited.

I was impressed by Cavagna in the Tour, but if there is a lot of wind today I guess that's not to his advantage.

 

[Eclipse]

Yes, I'm usually not the biggest fan of time trials, but for this there are actually many contenders for the win and the podium, so I'm excited.

I was impressed by Cavagna in the Tour, but if there is a lot of wind today I guess that's not to his advantage.

This is the nice thing about today. I normally struggle with TT's even when they're in a stage race, but we do have an interesting field and some genuine unknowns today so it feels less like we know the podium before they ride

 

[Red Rick]

If you consider how he's been going till now, he's gonna take TT RR and all the classics.

On a pan flat course I still have him as simply not specialist enough.

He's good enough to win them in stage races and weaker fields and on more technical/hilly routes, but on a pan flat drag race route against the hyper specialists.

I feel for him. He'll have to make due with the road race and like 3 monuments this year. Couldn't even bring yellow to Paris either. Hope CX this winter will bring his spirits back up.

 

[bob.a.feet]

BBC commentator: "Walscheid has had some success on these roads, winning a stage of the Tour of Yorkshire a couple of years ago."

What?

 

[JosephK]

To all Wout van Aert fans, I apologize. I am picking him to win this world's ITT. Thus, he has no chance.

 

[Breezy1985]

Loving this

 

[search]

Well the WC has only been assigned to Imola at the beginning of this month...
I am not sure how the TT in Martigny would have looked like and if for example Ganna would have been the topfavorite on that course?

But I get what you mean offcourse, Campenaerts was like 10 days ago already in Imola practicing on the course while Van Aert was going all out in the Tour. Sidenote however is that the course is not difficult/technical nor is it very long (shortest WC TT ever?).

the Martigny course was very similar, short and flat. So of course they didn't prepare for Imola specifically, but had a time trial on their agenda as a major goal for September for a long while, while van Aert just got notified of having the ability to ride it two weeks ago or so, in the middle of a Grand Tour. I'd be surprised if that doesn't make a difference.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Rain

 

[Volderke]

It's very windy and a bit wet. Especially the wind can change everything with respect to how well riders can control their watts and splits.

This can deliver a surprise winner.

 

[Bonimenier]

As long as it isn't as wet as during last year U23 TT everything is fine.

 

[RedheadDane]

BBC commentator: "Walscheid has had some success on these roads, winning a stage of the Tour of Yorkshire a couple of years ago."

What?

Accidentally commentating last year's race?

 

[Broccolidwarf]

It's raining at the finish