World Cycling Championships 2018 Innsbruck, Austria: Favourites TTT – men

Team Sunweb is title defender. In 2017, the squad with Tom Dumoulin, Michael Matthews, Wilco Kelderman, Søren Kragh Andersen, Sam Oomen and Lennard Kämna bested BMC by 8 seconds. Sunweb thus succeeded Quick-Step, who were also World Champion in 2012 and 2013. BMC took the title in 2014 and 2015.

In Innsbruck Sunweb races with the same squad except for Kämna. The talented young German is replaced by the more experienced Chad Haga. BMC appears without Silvan Dillier and Daniel Oss, who ride for other teams this season, while Miles Scotson is not part of the line-up either. The other four – Rohan Dennis, Tejay van Garderen, Stefan Küng – are supported by Patrick Bevin, Damiano Caruso and Greg Van Avermaet.

This year’s route is hilly – as it was in Bergen, 2017 -, yet not as irregular. The Norway course was hardly ever even and at times the route climbed steeply up. The toughest stretch was 1.4 kilometres at and averaging 7.2%, while the last 400 metres were sloping at 9.1%. The toughest climb in Innsbruck is 4.6 kilometres with an average gradient of 5.7%. Still hard, certainly on a time trial bike, so it’s important to stay together on this demanding section. Unlike in last year’s route this is the only climb of the day. Another difference with the Bergen course is the distance: 62.1 kilometres in Innsbruck, 42.5 kilometres in Bergen.

The UCI WorldTour of 2018 feautured three team time trials. BMC was fastest in the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Suisse, while Team Sky powered to victory in the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Suisse course was a bit like the course in Innsbruck, the other two were played out on the flat.

Favourites World Championships TTT

*** BMC Racing Team, Team Sunweb, Team Sky
** Quick-Step Floors, LottoNL-Jumbo, Mitchelton-Scott
* Movistar, Katusha-Alpecin, BORA-hansgrohe