The Elite Men's Worlds time trial is on!
Five rider groups to contest demanding circuit, full list of rider's start times
The first Elite Men's event of this year's World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland, gets underway on Thursday at 11.30am Central European time (CET). The individual time trial promises a spectacle, as the very best riders of the discipline will fight for the rainbow jersey on a demanding circuit of 16.6 kilometres, to be raced three times, for a total of 49.8 kilometres.
After a first, flat three kilometres on the Via Vignalunga - the home stretch of the 1971 road race won by Eddy Merckx - the road turns on a gentle descent of a little more than two kilometres into the village of Capolago.
The riders will then keep their momentum on a flat road between Capolago and Riva San Vitale for almost two kilometres before the first uphill stretch starts, lasting 700 metres.
After a further level section and a gentle one kilometre false flat, a tough 650 m ascent follows at Rossa di Rancate, including gradients of up to 10 percent. The last six kilometres back to the finish will take place on long straight roads with only a few uphill sections.
The riders contesting the race against the clock are divided into five groups of 13 riders each, with the last group including 14 riders. Starting times of each group are 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm, with the last rider expected in the finish around 4.45pm CET.
The favourites of the event will be showing off their excellence in the final group. Riders like Alexander Vinokourov, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Svein Tuft (2008 silver medal), Bradley Wiggins, Gustav Larsson (fifth last year), two-time time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara and the reigning rainbow jersey Bert Grabsch will be the last riders to tackle the course, with Grabsch getting underway at 3.43pm CET.
Of the final 14 riders in the final group, four ride for Team Columbia-HTC, three for Garmin-Slipstream, and two each for Saxo Bank and Astana. Katusha, Rabobank and Quick Step are represented by one rider each.
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Startlist for the Elite Men's World time trial Championships:
66 | James Weeks (St Kitts and Nevis) | 11:30:00 |
65 | Jarmo Rissanen (Finland) | 11:31:00 |
64 | Rida Cador (Hungary) | 11:32:00 |
63 | Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Colombia) | 11:33:00 |
62 | Branislau Samoilau (Belarus) | 11:34:00 |
61 | Cameron Wurf (Australia) | 11:35:00 |
60 | Gabriel Sorin Pop (Romania) | 11:36:00 |
59 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (France) | 11:37:00 |
58 | Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Portugal) | 11:38:00 |
57 | Matias Medici (Argentina) | 11:39:00 |
56 | Zoltan Madaras (Hungary) | 11:40:00 |
55 | Bartosz Huzarski (Poland) | 11:41:00 |
54 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spain) | 11:42:00 |
53 | Reginald Douglas (St Kitts and Nevis) | 12:30:00 |
52 | Eugen Wacker (Kyrgyzstan) | 12:31:00 |
51 | Jose Ragonessi (Ecuador) | 12:32:00 |
50 | Jay Robert Thomson (South Africa) | 12:33:00 |
49 | Gregor Gazvoda (Slovenia) | 12:34:00 |
48 | Pavol Polievka (Slovakia) | 12:35:00 |
47 | Eduard Novak (Romania) | 12:36:00 |
46 | Magno Prado Nazaret (Brazil) | 12:37:00 |
45 | David Mc Cann (Ireland) | 12:38:00 |
44 | Tom Zirbel (United States Of America) | 12:39:00 |
43 | Ervin Korts-Laur (Estonia) | 12:40:00 |
42 | Juan Carlos Lopez Marin (Colombia) | 12:41:00 |
41 | Rubens Bertogliati (Switzerland) | 12:42:00 |
40 | Erik Hoffmann (Namibia) | 13:30:00 |
39 | Matti Helminen (Finland) | 13:31:00 |
38 | Adam Hansen (Australia) | 13:32:00 |
37 | Jerome Coppel (France) | 13:33:00 |
36 | Martin Garrido Mayorga (Argentina) | 13:34:00 |
35 | Christopher Froome (Great Britain) | 13:35:00 |
34 | Fredrik Ericsson (Sweden) | 13:36:00 |
33 | Lars Ytting Bak (Denmark) | 13:37:00 |
32 | Jeremy Vennell (New Zealand) | 13:38:00 |
31 | Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spain) | 13:39:00 |
30 | Koos Moerenhout (Netherlands) | 13:40:00 |
29 | Maciej Bodnar (Poland) | 13:41:00 |
28 | Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan) | 13:42:00 |
27 | Raivis Belohvosciks (Latvia) | 14:30:00 |
26 | Dmytro Grabovskyy (Ukraine) | 14:31:00 |
25 | Sebastian Lang (Germany) | 14:32:00 |
24 | Martin Velits (Slovakia) | 14:33:00 |
23 | Dominique Cornu (Belgium) | 14:34:00 |
22 | Andriy Grivko (Ukraine) | 14:35:00 |
21 | Artem Ovechkin (Russian Federation) | 14:36:00 |
20 | Ignatas Konovalovas (Lithuania) | 14:37:00 |
19 | Tiago Machado (Portugal) | 14:38:00 |
18 | Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) | 14:39:00 |
17 | Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) | 14:40:00 |
16 | Marco Pinotti (Italy) | 14:41:00 |
15 | Aleksejs Saramotins (Latvia) | 14:42:00 |
14 | Thomas Danielson (United States Of America) | 15:30:00 |
13 | Mikhail Ignatiev (Russian Federation) | 15:31:00 |
12 | Lars Boom (Netherlands) | 15:32:00 |
11 | Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan) | 15:33:00 |
10 | Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia) | 15:34:00 |
9 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) | 15:35:00 |
8 | Frantisek Rabon (Czech Republic) | 15:36:00 |
7 | Svein Tuft (Canada) | 15:37:00 |
6 | Sébastien Rosseler (Belgium) | 15:38:00 |
5 | Tony Martin (Germany) | 15:39:00 |
4 | Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) | 15:40:00 |
3 | Gustav Larsson (Sweden) | 15:41:00 |
2 | Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) | 15:42:00 |
1 | Bert Grabsch (Germany) | 15:43:00 |