World Championship 2025: Men’s ITT, September 21

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I think it's normal, that Küng likely lost a bit of focus this year. He signed for a new team early, got sick before the Tour, then became father again... so what's the point in going deep tp prepare for a WC that doesn't suit him anyway. Could be a totally different story agian next year.

 

[Peyroteo94]

"Far from" is a stretch when he finished in the top 10 in 3/5 and as said... two were relatively short and one at the end of a GT.

I also dont count Malhao or an MTT in Suisse as a good representation either. Nor is this one today ideal for him.

But do you know what his Kung's specialty? Short TTs.

 

[Salvarani]

But do you know what his Kung's specialty? Short TTs.

His last win in an ITT. Chrono des Nations 41km.

Second in ECC ITT. 31km.

Won in Madrid. Vuelta stage. 24,6 km.

Suisse nationals. 30,8 km.

Does he knows it is his specialty?

 

[Peyroteo94]

His last win in an ITT. Chrono des Nations 41km.

Second in ECC ITT. 31km.

Won in Madrid. Vuelta stage. 24,6 km.

Suisse nationals. 30,8 km.

Does he knows it is his specialty?

Disturbing facts, very classy.
Like I said previously, his main strenght are TTs around 25km or under. You can search the post
He has 22 wins in TTs. 9 over 26 km, 6 are Nationals... 2 are in Chrono des Nations.
His biggest wins in TTs were TTs way shorter than what he will race today so it's normal to expect Pogacar to be 2' faster than Kung.

 

[KZD]

First of all I am really happy with the route, while I like flat TTs in major Championships its good to alternate them with hillier ones from time to time. Too bad Vingegaard and Roglic aren't racing and also Ganna who despite his size tends to climb well in these sort of gradients.

I still think Remco is the favourite, he had a long time to prepare for this and these sort of climbs should be good for him to stay in the aero position. Being a largely untechnical route should also play into his hands.

Pogačar comes close though, he also had a long time to prepare for this and showed in the Tour that he can time trial close to Remco but in a one-day race, I just don’t think that he time trials as well as Remco unless this was a Bergen 2017 sort of route which this isn't.

I don't think Vine can win but I see him finishing on the podium, he climbs well and if Pogačar doesn't have a good day I see him taking silver.

Armirail and Plapp are likely top5 finishers too.

Finally, I am curious to see Del Toro and Seixas. Del Toro is usually better in hillier time trials but I think this one could be a bit too long for him. Still, he should top10 this. Regarding Seixas, I really love his decision of skipping the under23 where he probably would have been the favourite to race in the elites. The route should suit him so I hope he gets a top10 which would be a massive result for a 18 year old.

 

[Salvarani]

Disturbing facts, very classy.
Like I said previously, his main strenght are TTs around 25km or under. You can search the post
He has 22 wins in TTs. 9 over 26 km, 6 are Nationals... 2 are in Chrono des Nations.
His biggest wins in TTs were TTs way shorter than what he will race today so it's normal to expect Pogacar to be 2' faster than Kung.

It doesnt seem very factual to say short ones are his specialty. And drawing the line at 25km to say it it is ”short” is another stretch.

His biggest wins has been normal or longer ITTs.

Today is neither here nor there and something I am not disputing.

 

[Red Rick]

Long (Dutch) article about CdA. Fitting for the ITT later today

https://archive.is/jIZOE

So weird how it's supposed to be informative but then you have Campenaerts spouting some absolute nonsense in there.

That said, I'm not that sure how accurate the given numbers are, but the surprise for me would be that Vermeersch would be that low given how big he is, especially considering he's not even that great of a TTer.

Also, I wish they would tell us much more about CdA on road bikes in different positions, because to me it's a very underrated part of road races, and it's interesting to me that TT bikes would be that much more aero.

 

[Peyroteo94]

It doesnt seem very factual to say short ones are his specialty. And drawing the line at 25km to say it it is ”short” is another stretch.

His biggest wins has been normal or longer ITTs.

Today is neither here nor there and something I am not disputing.

But was the line I establish in my initial post.
But this is not the point, the point is Kung has been underwhelming this season in TTs and there is really no debate here. Zero wins, he is getting beaten by riders worse than him in TTs and his shape right now looks off so it's very possible he will not top5 this TT.

 

[Salvarani]

But was the line I establish in my initial post.
But this is not the point, the point is Kung has been underwhelming this season in TTs and there is really no debate here. Zero wins, he is getting beaten by riders worse than him in TTs and his shape right now looks off so it's very possible he will not top5 this TT.

I think you are exaggerating and that he has not been so terrible as you make it out to be.

However, I don’t dispute the claims about his chances today as said.

 

[Jan the Man]

Remco for the win for me.

Pog and Vine competing for 2nd and 3rd. With the cobbled section at the end I will go for Pog.

Gap between Remco and Pog - 25s vine 40s back is my guess

 

[yaco]

Watching the women's ITT suggests this is a tough course. The climbs are very much grinding.

 

[Red Rick]

Watching the women's ITT suggests this is a tough course. The climbs are very much grinding.

I wouldn't judge until you get the top women.

 

[Berniece]

So weird how it's supposed to be informative but then you have Campenaerts spouting some absolute nonsense in there.

That said, I'm not that sure how accurate the given numbers are, but the surprise for me would be that Vermeersch would be that low given how big he is, especially considering he's not even that great of a TTer.

Also, I wish they would tell us much more about CdA on road bikes in different positions, because to me it's a very underrated part of road races, and it's interesting to me that TT bikes would be that much more aero.

What nonsense did Campenaerts say? I don’t know enough about the topic.

They mentioned CdA on road bikes briefly. That it’s around 0.45

 

[Brullnux]

Hard for me to say someone was Pogacar's biggest rival but yeah Pidcock was the closest rival of Pogacar that day.

? Biggest competitor and closest competitors are synonyms.

 

[Red Rick]

What nonsense did Campenaerts say? I don’t know enough about the topic.

They mentioned CdA on road bikes briefly. That it’s around 0.45

That Evenepoel would do 70kph if his CdA was 0.15. It's an absurd exaggeration on a subject where people don't know enough to realize it's an exaggeration.

I don't think it was mentioned that air resistance doesn't scale linearly with speed, but rather increases much faster, which is also pretty poor thing to leave out.

 

[Berniece]

That Evenepoel would do 70kph if his CdA was 0.15. It's an absurd exaggeration on a subject where people don't know enough to realize it's an exaggeration.

I don't think it was mentioned that air resistance doesn't scale linearly with speed, but rather increases much faster, which is also pretty poor thing to leave out.

During pan flat Belgian NC ITT he apparently went 68km/h, according to Pauwels who was in the car behind him. I don't remember weather conditions though, it'll probably be with some wind in his back.

 

[Peyroteo94]

? Biggest competitor and closest competitors are synonyms.

What I tried to say is Pogacar didn't have a rival.

 

[Red Rick]

During pan flat Belgian NC ITT he apparently went 68km/h, according to Pauwels who was in the car behind him. I don't remember weather conditions though, it'll probably be with some wind in his back.

That's gonna be either a slight downhill section or a gust of tailwind. It wouldn't take a very steep downhill section to reach that either.

We don't see flat time trials really approaching 60kph just yet, so it doesn't really pass the sniff test whatsoever.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Yeah, like in SB when Pogacar completely destroyed him in 18 km after kissing the ground.
Pidcock is nowhere near the level of Pogacar.

None said that Pidcock will finish the race with Pogacar only that he will be the biggest competitor (i.e. silver medal). After the Vuelta I think it's possible. Still, there are guys named Carapaz and Evenepoel so we will see.

 

[Cycling111]

First of all I am really happy with the route, while I like flat TTs in major Championships its good to alternate them with hillier ones from time to time. Too bad Vingegaard and Roglic aren't racing and also Ganna who despite his size tends to climb well in these sort of gradients.

I still think Remco is the favourite, he had a long time to prepare for this and these sort of climbs should be good for him to stay in the aero position. Being a largely untechnical route should also play into his hands.

Pogačar comes close though, he also had a long time to prepare for this and showed in the Tour that he can time trial close to Remco but in a one-day race, I just don’t think that he time trials as well as Remco unless this was a Bergen 2017 sort of route which this isn't.

I don't think Vine can win but I see him finishing on the podium, he climbs well and if Pogačar doesn't have a good day I see him taking silver.

Armirail and Plapp are likely top5 finishers too.

Finally, I am curious to see Del Toro and Seixas. Del Toro is usually better in hillier time trials but I think this one could be a bit too long for him. Still, he should top10 this. Regarding Seixas, I really love his decision of skipping the under23 where he probably would have been the favourite to race in the elites. The route should suit him so I hope he gets a top10 which would be a massive result for a 18 year old.

Seixas can´t compete in the U23 category because he has a professional contract.
The regulations have changed this year

 

[Red Rick]

None said that Pidcock will finish the race with Pogacar only that he will be the biggest competitor (i.e. silver medal). After the Vuelta I think it's possible. Still, there are guys named Carapaz and Evenepoel so we will see.

Let it go man, I could say Andy Murray was an okay tennis player and he'd just go "he could never compete with Pogacar on a 200 km multi mountain stage"

 

[Cycling111]

Watching the women's ITT suggests this is a tough course. The climbs are very much grinding.

I'm getting the opposite feeling; the best times aren't as slow as expected. The first cyclists had a very low level, so the perception was different.

 

[HashRouge]

Just watching the women's and it's interesting to see the course in action. These long, gradual climbs will surely favour Remco? It looks like they spend a lot of time climbing, but mostly not very steep, so you'd think Remco will really get the benefit from his insane aero position. I suppose factors we can't be sure on are how the altitude and the heat will affect different riders.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Let it go man, I could say Andy Murray was an okay tennis player and he'd just go "he could never compete with Pogacar on a 200 km multi mountain stage"

Not sure about that man, not sure...Djokovic once (when biking) challenged Pogacar and the Slovenian hasn't dared to do it yet.

 

[Red Rick]

Not sure about that man, not sure...Djokovic once (when biking) challenged Pogacar and the Slovenian hasn't dared to do it yet.

We both know Rogla crashing into a tennis players' lambo is the much more likely crossover