“I think we’ve got the best six guys we could field here on the team, and we’re mentally ready for it and also excited,” the three-time individual time trial World Champion said after the team finished a training run on the largely urban course.
“We’re feeling good. We’ve had quite a good opportunity to train together over the last four days. We haven’t done really any long-term work because this time of year it’s very hard to get six or seven guys together to train specifically for it.
“The team had a very heavy race calendar through August and the first weeks of September. So we’re happy considering the amount of time we’ve spent together.”
The 38.8km course starts north of downtown Richmond, takes riders directly though the city centre before a long run into suburban farmlands, then turns around and heads back to the downtown finish. Rogers said there are no technically challenging sections, so pacing and speed will be keys to a good result.
“Pacing is very important,” he said. “You can’t go out to slow either. Every second you lose is a second you have to make up in the later part. I think it’s just flat out from the start and try to hold on. … It’s a well-balanced team time trial circuit. It’s all about speed.”
Rogers said one of the major deciding factors on Sunday will be the wind, which had kicked up a bit during the team’s test run on Saturday.
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“It’s very different to what it’s been the last couple of days in training, even though [the course] hasn’t been closed,” he said. “The wind was very different. It will be interesting to see what the wind does tomorrow.”
Growing up in Missoula, Montana, Pat competed in his first bike race in 1985 at Flathead Lake. He studied English and journalism at the University of Oregon and has covered North American cycling extensively since 2009, as well as racing and teams in Europe and South America. Pat currently lives in the US outside of Portland, Oregon, with his imaginary dog Rusty.
