Alex Dowsett and Movistar on the podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alex Dowsett with Movistar manager Eusebio Unzué after the team finished third
Movistar riding to third under the Richmond sunshine (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Movistar cross the line in third place(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Movistar on the 2015 Worlds TTT podium in third place(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Alex Dowsett played an integral part in Movistar's third place in the World Championships team time trial on Sunday. The former UCI Hour Record helped the team secure a podium place behind winners BMC Racing and runners-up Etixx Quickstep. The result represented Movistar's best ever performance in the Worlds team time trial.
"We rode as a team and rode well together," Dowsett told Cyclingnews.
"I'd say that it was one of our better time trial performance. I was all right but struggled a bit in the first half. Then when the roads became a bit tougher I was able to contribute a lot more and then before the climb to the finish it came over the radio that I should go flat out before the final climb and then sit up. I just went as hard as I could."
He also started his first Tour de France but was unable to reach Paris due to illness. Yet, in the second half the season he has rallied and since his move from Team Sky several years ago he has started to flourish in his new Spanish home.
"This is up there with the top ones in terms of wins. It's obviously nice to do well when it's solo but it's really cool being up there on the podium with my teammates. It's pretty special. A podium was our aim today and we knew that QuickStep and BMC would be hard to beat but we can all be very happy with how we performed," he said.
"It's been a good year. I had really rough period, I guess, after the Tour de France and before this but next year I'm just looking forward to getting going. I want to have a winter without having to train for the Hour Record. I think that will stand me in good stead and I'm really excited about next year. This really tops off the year for me."
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On Wednesday Dowsett will race in the individual time trial, where he his hoping to at least finish within the top ten.
"I'm just going to go out there and do whatever I can do. Like I said before a top ten and anything better than that would be a bonus. You have to have good legs on the day and there's a selection of us that can all beat each other."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
