They’re back: our cycling experts have dusted their crystal ball and handed out their stars for the World Time Trial Championship. This afternoon you will discover on our platforms – One, Radio 1 and sporza.be/app – whether they were right.
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Filippo Ganna (Ita, 25, Ineos Grenadiers)
Noblesse oblige: the defending champion is and remains the top favourite, although he has lost his aura of invincibility. Last year he won the time trials almost on order, also at the World Championships in Imola. This year a prize has already slipped through his fingers.
He was only 4th in the Italian championship, Tokyo was a disappointment with a 5th place and silver was his share at last week’s European Championship in his own country.
At 82 kilograms for 1.93 meters, the Italian powerhouse should be able to blow everyone away on the flat Flemish roads, but is this the very best version of Ganna? Over a distance of more than 40 kilometers, his time trial record is rather meager.
It is certainly one of his last appointments on the road. After Sunday he will ride the mixed team time trial on Wednesday, but he will (in principle) skip the road race and Roubaix with a view to the World Cup on the track at the end of October.
Wout van Aert (Bel, 27, Jumbo-Visma)
The road race has dangled like a carrot in front of his eyes since Tokyo and the Belgian iron does not hide that he has worked more on his explosive power for the road race in recent weeks than on this discipline. But maybe that’s when he’s the most dangerous?
His level of form is excellent, as he proved many times in the Tour of Great Britain. There he got his time trial bike from the stable again for the team time trial, but for the rest Van Aert has no references against the clock since Tokyo (6th).
He cannot fully utilize his technical baggage due to the few corners, but with his pure strength Van Aert should certainly be able to make a shot at the rainbow.
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Stefan Bissegger (Zwi, 23, EF)
The first Swiss is a newcomer to the traditional favorites list. Stefan Bissegger cannot present nobility letters from the youth series, but has undergone a stormy development this season with time trial wins in Paris-Nice and the Benelux Tour.
The number 4 of the European Championship prefers shorter time trials for the time being, but can flirt with the podium with his striking helmet.
Stefan Küng (Zwi, 27, Groupama-FDJ)
He could also have taken a front row seat with three stars, as Stefan Küng surprised (perhaps also himself a bit) last week by extending his European time trial title in the lion’s den.
He excels at European championships, only last year was an outlier with a 3rd place at World Championships. But the Swiss power man finds a course that fits him perfectly.
Remco Evenepoel (Bel, 21, Deceuninck-Quick Step)
The West-Flemish route was not designed according to Remco Evenepoel, but that was not the case in Trentino, where he finished very well in 3rd place. Moreover, the distance is almost doubled, which only speaks in its favour.
Lightweight Evenepoel misses altimeters on Sunday, but its aerodynamics can’t be matched. For the Flemish connoisseur public, the youngster will undoubtedly be eager to prove once again that he is completely the old one.
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Edoardo Affini (Yes, 25, Jumbo-Visma)
This Italian speed rider has also made a big leap forward. Edoardo Affini is still a little too green behind the ears against the established values, but in the absence of Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin and future teammate Rohan Dennis, he has to keep up the Jumbo-Visma time trial.
Kasper Asgreen (Den, 26, Deceuninck-Quick Step)
The Games and the European Championship, twice 7th, were not quite what Kasper Asgreen had expected, but the flyer feels completely at home in Flanders. Like Wout van Aert, his heart seems to be pounding a little more for next Sunday’s road race and Paris-Roubaix in two weeks, but he should not be flattened once his Danish diesel has warmed up.
Rémi Cavagna (Fra, 26, Deceuninck-Quick Step)
Teammate Rémi Cavagna is perhaps the biggest enigma in the list. In his best days he is able to kick his bike to shreds, but at championships he sometimes collapses under the pressure. After Tokyo (17th) and the European Championship (9th), he is less monitored and just then the TGV of Clermont-Ferrand can strike hard.
Tadej Pogacar (Svn, 22, UAE)
After the Tour and Tokyo (bronze in the road race), the belt came off for a while and it seems to be tightening for the time being. Tadej Pogacar only finished 12th in the European time trial, but a few days later he showed improvement with a 5th place in the road race. A purebred like Pogacar – just engaged – does not need much to shine again, but in Bruges a top 5 seems the highest attainable.
Max Walscheid (Dui, 28, Continue-NextHash)
The tall German (1.99 meters) is trained as a sprinter, but last winter took lessons with teammate Victor Campenaerts. Max Walscheid has stored the Belgian tips in his head and is increasingly sticking his nose to the window. 6th in Poland, 5th in the Benelux Tour and 5th at the European Championship: then you earn a star for the World Cup.
