Road Worlds: Quickstep wins Team Time Trial Championship

Omega Pharma – Quick-Step won gold at the 53.2km UCI World TTT Championship on Sunday, being the fastest team at both checkpoints and finishing with a time of 1:03.17

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The Omega Pharma – Quick-Step Cycling Team won gold at the 53.2km UCI World TTT Championship on Sunday, being the fastest team at both checkpoints and finishing with a time of 1:03.17.

Photo: OPQS/Tim de Waele

Knowing they had a chance at the gold medal, the team huddled in anticipation watching BMC Racing Team as they rode to the finish. OPQS was elated when they won gold by 3.16 seconds. All of the hard work throughout the season, both riders and staff, showed in a perfectly organized performance by OPQS in the inaugural TTT World Championship. Even race commentators noted the beauty of the OPQS time trial execution.

OPQS was ahead of BMC Racing Team by 8.26″ at the first checkpoint, and when they passed the second checkpoint, they had almost 45″ on Rabobank Cycling Team. Orica-GreenEDGE passed through the 2nd checkpoint faster than Rabobank, but still 28.63″ down on OPQS.

OPQS finished with all six riders: Peter Velits, Sylvain Chavanel, Tom Boonen, Tony Martin, Niki Terpstra and Kristof Vandewalle.

Photo: OPQS/Tim de Waele

This is the 53rd victory for OPQS in 2012, in three disciplines.

“It’s super to be a part of the group — I’m proud,” Chavanel said. “It’s really a great team effort, even for the staff. After the finish it was an explosion of happiness. it was a great week preparing the TTT. We were together, working together, paying attention to all the little details. I have to thank also our staff. They were great during the entire approach to the race. We were thinking about this race for a long time. I have no world champion jersey but I’m happy as I have this gold medal! I think it’s a great discipline. Fun to do, and great to watch for the public. It’s also a great motivation for Wednesday’s race!”

“I put this victory near my biggest, along with the Classics and the Road World Championship,” Boonen said. “I didn’t expect to win a race like this, first of all because it never existed before and in the past it wasn’t our discipline. We worked a lot and now we are there. It’s a team victory even for the staff. It’s really a change of mentality going on.”

“We fought together as a team,” Martin said. “I’m really happy for all the team. We maintained always a good pace. I really enjoyed today. It was fun and I really like this idea, this TTT World Championship. The team work was once again the key to the success. This victory gives me a lot of morale for Wednesday’s race.”

“I’m happy because we won in front of my public,” Niki Terpstra said about winning in Limburg, as he is Dutch. “This finish and the Cauberg are legendary in cycling. It wasn’t our goal to arrive with six riders, but we made it anyway. Nobody wanted to give up! We really raced like a team today.”

“It’s my first time in a great race like that,” Vandewalle said. “What a feeling! When I was selected it was a great moment. I was a little bit scared but Sylvain Chavanel — my roommate — helped me to pass the emotion. I really gave everything. It will be a special memory for the rest of my career.”

“I worked a lot on the TT bike,” Velits said. “When you are on the team like that you cannot go wrong. We did a good ride, without mistakes. We were really fast on the parcour. This race is a good idea, it gives great prestige to the teams. It’s great also as a Slovakian rider. I brought a title to my home country and now I’m looking forward to the next Worlds races in Limburg.”

“Together with Steels and Schaffrath we did a great job in the last days,” Sports Director Wilfried Peeters said of the staff preparation. “A few months ago we did the first recon and we recorded everything for our riders. Then we came here again after Eneco Tour with the riders and we did the course. Then in the last days we really put everything into preparing as best as we can this race. Tom Steels put really a lot of energy into it and everything went well. It was a great team effort even on the staff side. Mechanics, masseurs, everybody on the team has to be proud of it and feel as if they are a part of this great victory.”

BMC Racing Team Second In World Team Time Trial
The BMC Racing Team rode to a silver medal performance in Sunday’s world team time trial, conceding the gold to Omega Pharma-Quick Step by 3.23 seconds in the 53.2-kilometer race against the clock.

On board their BMC timemachine TM01s, the team of Alessandro Ballan, Philippe Gilbert, Taylor Phinney, Marco Pinotti, Manuel Quinziato and Tejay van Garderen was together at the base of the final climb. But near the top of the Cauberg, the 5.8 percent gradient of the 1.2 km climb took its toll.

Photo: PhotoSport International. uk usa asia.

“I knew when I looked back that I was the fourth rider and I was going to have to dig as deep as possible and limit our losses,” Phinney said. “I slowed the team down a little bit over the top but in this situation you have to accept how painful it’s going to be and then push through it and hope the finish line comes quickly.”

The minimum four riders (Ballan, Gilbert, Phinney and van Garderen) came to the finish line together to stop the clock at one hour, three minutes and 20 seconds. “This hurts a little bit, especially since it’s a world championship,” BMC Racing Team President/General Manager Jim Ochowicz said. “It was something we prepared well for obviously, with the results you saw. But it’s a good start to the week for the team. So we have a lot more to look forward to.”

Aussies are Third
ORICA-GreenEDGE rounded out the podium at the team time trial at the Road World Championships on Sunday. The six-man squad covered the 53.2 kilometer course in 1:04:07. The Australian outfit claimed the bronze medal with an average speed of 50.25 kilometers per hour.

“The boys were happy to earn a medal, but we came here to win,” said Sports Director Matt White. “We weren’t good enough to take the win on the day. We gave it everything and executed our plan well, but two teams went faster.”

At the first time split, ORICA-GreenEDGE remained within striking distance of the race win. Gradually, the gap between the top times widened. At the finish, Omega Pharma-Quickstep had put 47 seconds into the bronze medalists. BMC took silver three seconds behind the victors.

“We needed to increase our general speed through the middle section,” noted White. “There’s not much else we did wrong. It was little details here and there that add up. Technique wise, I’m happy with how the guys rode.”

ORICA-GreenEDGE crossed the line with four riders, the fourth of whom determines the team’s time. “We knew Sam Bewley had limited preparation coming off the track,” explained White. “His job was to give 100% in the first 35 kilometers, and he did well with that. Jens Mouris is the biggest guy in the WorldTour, so we weren’t counting on him getting over the Cauberg with the group. Our time trial specialists — Svein Tuft, Luke Durbridge and Cameron Meyer – gave huge turns towards the finish, and Sebastian Langeveld gave everything he could to match their efforts.”

White is pleased to see the team time trial return to the Road World Championships. “It’s a great event,” he said. “We haven’t seen it at the World Championships for 18 years, and it was only ever raced by nations. It was a good choice to bring back the event and showcase this particular discipline. We’re proud to come away with a bronze medal in the inaugural trade team event.”

Result
1 Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:03:17.17
2 BMC Racing Team 0:00:03.23
3 Orica GreenEdge 0:00:47.06
4 Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:04.73
5 Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:08.13
6 Movistar Team 0:01:18.57
7 Katusha Team 0:01:18.81
8 Radioshack-Nissan 0:01:21.22
9 Sky Procycling 0:01:32.33
Edvald Boasson Hagen, Alex Dowsett, Juan Antonio Flecha, Sergio Luis Henao, Ian Stannard & Geraint Thomas

10 Garmin – Sharp 0:01:35.13
11 Astana Pro Team 0:01:44.97
12 Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:01:48.21
13 Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:48.35
14 Rusvelo 0:02:14.08
15 Ag2R La Mondiale 0:02:26.14
16 Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:30.86
17 Lotto Belisol Team 0:02:32.98
18 Team Argos – Shimano 0:03:01.65
19 Itera – Katusha 0:03:09.53
20 Team Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:03:13.40
21 Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:03:17.71

 

 

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