Elite Men's and Women's World Championship Time-Trial - Preview

There are only two more days until the curtain comes up on the 2010 World Road Cycling Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

First up will be the Time-Trial where the women will compete along the same route as the men. Favourites for the title will be the multiple world champions Fabian Cancellara and Kristin Armstrong.

The course is a nice combination of undulating roads and steep climbs around the coastal area of Geelong. It won’t just be the point a squirt type route we saw in the Vuelta a Espana the riders will have to be much more tactical about their approach. The women will only get one shot with a lap of the course where the men will be completing two laps.



Elite Men’s Time-Trial
All eyes will be on the men’s time-trial on Thursday afternoon local time where the man machine Cancellara will be taking to the road. He has proved to be almost unbeatable over the past few years winning pretty much everything he has entered. In the Vuelta, though, he suffered from a very rare lack of form where he lost out to surprise Slovakian Peter Velits. He may also be distracted by the decision to leave Saxo Bank and his initial indecision about competing this year.

Along with Velits there are a string of riders who will be ready to pounce if the Swiss rider can’t find his form. Alex Rasmussen will want to show Bjarne Riis that he will be able to fill the big man’s boots at the team. German rider and Velits’ HTC Columbia teammate Tony Martin came third in last year’s event and put on a huge performance in the Tour de France.

Martin has fully recovered from the illness he was struck down with during the Tour of Britain a couple of weeks ago. It shouldn’t affect him now, but it may have had an effect on his training beforehand.

Elite Women’s Time-Trial
Wednesday will see the women take to the road first and last year’s winner Armstrong will be clear favourite despite her age. The 37-year-old will not want to follow her namesake Lance and buckle to her younger competitors. The American won last year’s event by almost a minute and previously in 2006; she also is the current Olympic time-trial holder.

To win, however she will have to beat the likes of Emma Pooley and Marianne Vos who have both enjoyed fantastic seasons in the run up to the championships. Last year’s runner up Noemi Cantele is back to get on that top spot, but to reel in the 55 seconds she lost in Switzerland could prove to be a bit too much.

Both events will be very much the masters against the students, but can the students give everybody else a lesson we will just have to wait and see.