Lots of activity in the prep area for the final TT in the 2014 World Championships. Below: the Slovenian team took no chances and brought 4 bikes for their 2 riders to be checked.
Gabor Fejes was helped into his skinsuit before his coach pinned his race number on.
Segundo Navarrete of Ecuador has the best rear disk of any rider I've seen yet. When it gets going, it looks like a spinning Easter rainbow.
There was a good turnout to see the first rider down the ramp, Macedonia's Gorgi Popstefanov.
Sweden's Togias Ludvigsson.
Latvia's Aleksejs Saramotins.
Estonia's Tanel Kangert.
Winner Anacona paused to send one last text before focusing on the 47.1k TT course ahead of him.
Nikias Arndt, Jerome Coppel and Winner Anacona warming up.
Ireland's Nicholas Roche.
Swiss rider Silvan Dillier and Norwegian Vegard Breen.
Trade teammates Ramunas Navardauskas and Lasse Norman Hansen greeted each other with smiles and handshakes as they waited for their bikes to be checked over.
The UCI officials were mulling over Navardauskas's seat height. They said something to him and, with his customary big smile in his face, he stood as straight as he possibly could. The officials were obviously pleased with what they saw and okayed his bike. The Lithuanian then stuck around to have a conversation with the officials, something I haven't seen from any other rider yet.
Navardauskas in the start house.
I've been picking up all kinds of useful Spanish cycling terms between Ponferrada and my week at the Vuelta last month. When Hansen, an Olympic gold medalist in the pursuit, was announced, I learned that the event is called “persecution” in Spanish. Sounds a bit more aggressive.
USA's Andrew Talansky.
The Spanish flags were waving for Jonathan Castroviejo, a member of the Movistar squad who won the opening TTT at this year's Vuelta which earned him the right to wear the leader's jersey.
Canada's Svein Tuft.
Poland's Maciej Bodnar.
Great Britain's Alex Dowsett.
I like watching how all of the riders approach the 2 long minutes of waiting. There's typically lots of deep exhales and maybe one or two little last minute double checks, but Jesse Sergent takes the cake as the most fidgety rider. He checked his computer, checked his helmet, rubbed his eyes, checked his helmet again, took some deep breaths, stretched his neck, sipped his water–and that's just what I captured in photos! Riders often complain about the person holding their seat, but this guy–whoever he is–deserves a special mention for keeping Sergent as stationary as he did while the Kiwi bopped around!
American Tejay Van Garderen.
Czech Republic's Jan Barta.
Belarusian Vasil Kiryienka.
When Australia's Rohan Dennis mounted his bike, he tucked himself into the aero position and was obviously visualizing the course until the last possible moment.
Italian TT champion Adriano Malori.
Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin decided to strike a contemplative pose ahead of his countdown.
Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins looked to be giving himself a mental pep talk. A gold medal here is one of the few results that has eluded Wiggins so far in his career.
Seeking a 4th TT World Championship title, Germany's Tony Martin knew Wiggins would be his greatest threat.
Once more I hustled to the finish and caught a handful of riders coming in before Navarrete and his rear disk rolled through. He would finish in 61st place out of 63 riders.
Navardauskas slotted in at 49th place.
Talansky came in at 15th overall.
Hansen was 53rd.
Castroviejo rounded out the top 10.
Tuft finished in 28th.
Denmark's Rasmussen Quaade crashed less than a kilometer into the spcoirse when he failed to prepare for a turn in time. I haven't seen the crash, but I can imagine he hit the deck hard as his torn skinsuit and road rashed leg will attest. Still, he managed to be 13th overall.
Sixteenth for Bodnar, whose deep tan line is evidence of the cycling season's length.
At the early time checks, Sylvain Chavanel was doing well but he faded and was ultimately 17th.
Dowsett had an off day and was 20th.
Twelfth for Sergent.
Van Garderen placed 37th, while Barta, on the verge of catching the American who started 2 full minutes earlier, was 9th overall.
Kiryienka stormed in to set the new fastest time by 34 seconds.
Like Chavanel, Dennis was on fire through the first 2 time checks but he lost a little power in the end, though he still finished in an impressive 5th place. I expect he'll be on that podium at some point in the years to come.
Malori finished in 6th.
Just 3 riders remained on the course, but they were the favorites for the podium. Dumoulin charged through to shave 7 seconds off Kiryienka's time and put himself in the hot seat.
Wiggins had the lead on Martin but the time gap varied a bit depending on who was where on the course. By the final checkpoint, it was clear the Wiggins was putting in an exceptional ride. He crossed the line in 56:26, knocking a full 40 seconds off Dumoulin's time.
Martin, one of the most consistent and strongest time trialists in the peloton today, was going to fall short today. He had lost a handful of seconds here and there but they all added up. Before the German had even crossed the finish line, the commentators announced that Wiggins was the new TT World Champion. Martin finished in 2nd, a stunning 26 seconds down.
As I walked to the podium, everyone, from Rohan Dennis to the guy carrying Wiggins's bike, seemed to be on the phone, giving updates of the day's results no doubt.
If it were up to me, I'd have loved to put Tony Martin back on his familiar top step. (Sorry, Wiggo.)
A pained smile from Martin upon receiving the silver medal.
A new champion is crowned.
The podium: 1st Bradley Wiggins, 2nd Tony Martin, 3rd Tom Dumoulin.
