Peter Velits WC ITT

[Vonn Brinkman]

I was scrolling through the results of the men's ITT at the World Championships, and suddenly I saw Martin Velits. He was about half way in the rankings. I scrolled down more, and to my surprise, found Peter Velits minutes behind his brother, almost at the bottom!
Only a few weeks ago he won the ITT at the Vuelta, beating Cancellara, and now he is being crushed by the whole field, only beating the two guys from Saint Kitts and Nevis and some other guys.
What do you make of that? Do you think he is simply out of steam and at Geelong to help Sagan podium?

 

[Sasquatch]

If you watched the Vuelta time trial or read about it, it was wind assisted for him. His time trial performance was overrated in the Vuelta.

 

[ingsve]

There is a huge difference between riding a ITT at the end of a three week tour and in a specialized event like Worlds. In a GT the results are influenced a lot by the riders remaining energy at that late point in the race and Velits was one of the riders that was still relatively fresh in the third week.

And as mentioned his performance was influenced by the wind quite a bit.

Another difference is that the worlds course is much thougher and if you're not in top form that will give a much bigger effect if you're tired. I'm also guessing his motivation to punish himself was higher in the vuelta than in at Worlds especially after he realizes he won't finish at the top.

 

[Vonn Brinkman]

His time trial performance was overrated in the Vuelta.

That's what I thought after I saw it, and especially after I saw the results of the Worlds.

 

[The Hitch]

If you watched the Vuelta time trial or read about it, it was wind assisted for him. His time trial performance was overrated in the Vuelta.

They did a lap. For some the wind assistance was at the beginning. For others the wind assistance was at the end. There wasnt that big a difference. The times were relatively consistant throughout and didnt suddenly improve drastically at the end Velits performance was amazing. He overperformed tremendously. I say Velits performance belongs in the clinic. Otherwise it was pure talent. But it sure as hell wasnt wind

 

[Magnus]

They did a lap. For some the wind assistance was at the beginning. For others the wind assistance was at the end. There wasnt that big a difference. The times were relatively consistant throughout and didnt suddenly improve drastically at the end Velits performance was amazing. He overperformed tremendously. I say Velits performance belongs in the clinic. Otherwise it was pure talent. But it sure as hell wasnt wind

According to cyclingnews

"the wind on the return section of the course appeared to fade"

afair everybody made the claim that Fabian lost because of the changing wind.

 

[Vonn Brinkman]

Velits' ITT at the Vuelta sure made his podium place nonetheless. He will probably be given 2nd place now that Mosquera has returned a positive...
So whatever it was, pure talent, crazy form, wind or clinic matters, that ITT was still some achievement. But I continue to be a bit skeptical after watching him at the Worlds.

 

[Pharazon]

move it to the clinic..

i'm sick of this

 

[icefire]

If you watched the Vuelta time trial or read about it, it was wind assisted for him. His time trial performance was overrated in the Vuelta.

He might have had better wind conditions than Cancellara or Millar in the Vuelta ITT, but I'm not so sure if we compare him with LuLu Sánchez

 

[van nelle]

Top top motivation compared to zero motivation - easy as that for me. Definitely not a big deal...

 

[Big Doopie]

Top top motivation compared to zero motivation - easy as that for me. Definitely not a big deal...

really?

no motivation for a world championship?

after all -- if he beat cancellera just a couple of weeks ago, why wouldn't he think he might be able to take rainbow?

 

[William H]

The Vuelta probably took quite a bit out of Velits

I'd guess he backed off once he saw he wasn't going to in the hunt for medals. No point wasting energy before the road race.

 

[Avoriaz]

Top top motivation compared to zero motivation - easy as that for me. Definitely not a big deal...

Then drop out and give someone else the opportunity to ride for their country. That should be motivation enough

 

[saganftw]

Then drop out and give someone else the opportunity to ride for their country. That should be motivation enough

there is no "someone else" in slovakia

i wonder why do people expect him to ride good TT in worlds,he s not TTist...hes like valverde,who can do good TT and ocasionally win TT or place very good,his vuelta performance was like once in lifetime TT when everything was perfect that day,wind,his condition,motivation,condition of oponents

i will be extremely surprised if he win one more TT in any pro tour stage race in future

 

[ingsve]

really?

no motivation for a world championship?

after all -- if he beat cancellera just a couple of weeks ago, why wouldn't he think he might be able to take rainbow?

Like I said above., you can't compare ITTs at the end of a GT with a specialized event. In the vuelta the difference between riders has a lot more to do with their overall condition than with their overall TT capacity. In the vuelta Velits was on good form and just like he showed in the other stages he was one of the riders that still had good energy in the last week. That was his main advantage.

And yes, fighting for a podium in a GT is huge motivation and a guy like Velits knows that he won't have a chance against the specialits in a specialists event like worlds so the motivation is not at all comparable. And even if he had started the worlds race with some hope he would soon realise that he's not going to win so the amount of effort he can put in will not be the same as if you are fighting right in the top. That's just pure psychology.

 

[Willy_Voet]

Funny that suspicion only rests on Velits. I would at least consider the other way around, to be fair

Cancellara may not have been at his best during the Vuelta, deprived of sleep, alcohol and whatnot.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Just the 1 week too late for Velits.
The 3rd week of the Vuelta was probably his peak. If the worlds were in Europe and 1 week later he'd probably have done a lot better.

Now 2 weeks later he is past his peak and probably mentally exhausted as well

 

[van nelle]

4 doopie, avoriaz - saganwtf , ingsve, DT and others explained it I think, so no need to adding to it, maybe just one thing - it's always about ideal x real world - Slovakia is a small country (from cycl. point of view), Velits family is on top of the pyramide there, WC in Australia is an expensive event for a small cycling federation, but a good occasion for officials to make a free trip etc. - you simply can't look at it like who is in the best form and with best motivation to represent his country while paying great respect to the championship - it's more like Peter is in there with his brother and Peter Sagan because they'll be doing RR, then "Who the f*** will be doing TT? Martin and ...? Peter do you want to warm yourself up before Sunday? - Ok why not..." kind of situation. You can't draw any conclusion from that really, TT on WC is important form max. 10-15 guys...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

If you watched the Vuelta time trial or read about it, it was wind assisted for him. His time trial performance was overrated in the Vuelta.

no it was not. the wind just switched which meant headwind in beginning and tailwind in the end. same thing. velits rode a remarkable vuelta itt but as often after vuelta riders who did wlel in itt there will suck in worlds itt it happens almost every year not to mention the long travel and jetlag this year