Pinotti: The secret to TTT success is racing without ego

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At 14:48 local time today [Sunday], Rohan Dennis will lead BMC Racing down the start ramp in the team time trial at the World Championships, with a gold medal and title-defending performance the main goal.

Dennis will be joined by Taylor Phinney, Daniel Oss, Manuel Quinziato, Stefan Kueng and Silvan Dillier as the American squad set about their title defence, with Orica-GreenEdge and Etixx-QuickStep their principle rivals.

However, behind the red and black BMC train is Marco Pinotti, their experienced time trial coach. The Italian, a former rider for the team and handy time trialist in his day, will orchestrate the performance from the team car and should BMC retain their title, much of the success should be ushered in his direction.

Cyclingnews managed to catch up with the Italian for a brief moment after the team’s recon ride on Saturday and asked what the key factors were in determining team time trial glory.

“It’s really a simple recipe for a team time trial,” he said.

“It’s like the mixture for a cake. The main point is that they need to race as a team and not as individuals. You can’t just make a cake with eggs or flour, you need everything - and in this case everyone - to come together, so that you have the perfect balance.”

BMC have certainly spent enough time preparing their ingredients in the kitchen. They held a specific team time trial training camp in Belgium just before the Tour of Britain, while Rohan Dennis has spent the last six weeks in North America, honing his form with a steady diet of altitude training and racing. The team also arrived in Richmond with a spare rider in Peter Velits, the only man to win gold in the TTT in each of the last three years. The Slovak did not make the final six-man team but, such is the calibre of BMC’s depth, the reality is that he would walk into most - if not all - of the TTT squads here.

It’s not all about strength, however, according to Pinotti: “So you know six strong guys aren’t going to make the best cake if you know what I mean. It’s about behaving like a team and putting the team in the forefront of your mind. That means everything that you do out on the road has to be an action that has your teammates in mind. It’s racing without any ego.”