Bradley Wiggins came back from the dead to nick the silver medal off Fabian Cancellera in the UCI World Time Trial Championship whilst Tony Martin dominated to win his third rainbow jersey
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The 2013 World Time Trial championship saw Tony Martin power to his third rainbow jersey after a longer than normal course for the race against the watch and the reward of a rainbow jersey.
The race was expected to be a battle between Martin, Wiggins and Cancellera and so it proved whilst another favourite, Taylor Phinney slipped away after his silver last year. It was also a bad day for Britain’s Alex Dowsett.
For Wiggins though, coming straight off a victory in the Tour of Britain, it was a master class in pace management as he came from almost half a minute down on the Swiss machine that is Fabian Cancellera to nick the Silver medal by just two seconds after 57 kilometres.
At the first time check, Cancellera led the race by just .36 of a second with Wiggins down in 6th place at almost 16 seconds. Wiggins though showed that he was pacing his effort well by moving up to fourth at the second time check whilst Martin had opened up a big gap of 13 seconds on Cancellera. Wiggins was at 37 seconds.
The challenge from Wiggins was clear at the third time check as he narrowed the gap to Cancellera to just 12 seconds with 15k to go. Martin meanwhile was in a race of his own pushing the big gears in contrast to Wiggins and Cancellera pedalling at a faster cadence.
Wiggins continued to close the gap on Cancellera and over the last few kilometres they were dead even. On a technical run in which should have suited Cancellera, Wiggins was equal to the task and crossed the line just two seconds up on Cancellera.
Martin meanwhile was 46 seconds faster than Wiggins in a time that would have placed him sixth in the Team Time Trial! Afterwards Wiggins said to Jill Douglas of the BBC “I executed it perfectly and went as fast as possible from A to B and wasn’t really aware of the checks. Rod (Ellingworth) was telling me over the radio but with the crowds and that I couldn’t really hear.â€
Photo: OPQS/Tim De Waele
“The last 20 minutes I was pretty oblivious to everything other than the effort of just trying to get home. I could feel I was still strong in that final 20 minutes and I knew it would be close although Tony was on a different level today.â€
“I didn’t know I was that close to Fabian as I was just focusing on my own effort and I had no idea until I finished. When Tony is like that, he is on another level. He’s had a great season and finished it off with another world title.â€
“I love the sport and everything about it and it really is an honour to be on the podium with those two guys and it’s something to show the kids when I’m older…â€
Tony Martin meanwhile said to Jill, “To win a world championship is always special but to win it like that is even more special. I can’t imagine a better race for me. This gives me a lot of morale for the future because I lost the last time trial in the Vuelta and I didn’t know where my form was. I always had good morale and good feeling so always knew I was able to win but to know it and to do it are two different things.â€
Photo: OPQS/Tim De Waele
“For sure, you need the power but especially on this course you need the best equipment, the best position and aerodynamics and good morale. I didn’t have to really take risks in the last corners. The last five kilometers were like a celebration for me because I knew I had an advantage of about 40 seconds. I didn’t expect the gap to be that big at all. I expected a battle on the cobbles. I was a little bit afraid of it, I know Cancellara is a specialist on the small corners with the cobbles, so I knew I needed some gaps. I think the gap was high enough, and so I didn’t have to go 100 percent and it was good to not take risks.”
“I knew without a puncture or crash I should win. It was just a really nice final for me. I think it was really a perfect ride, from point A to B. I think it was more or less the same as my first worlds victory in Copenhagen. I think I really needed this because when you almost win everything in time trials that you could in the past, you need some pressure so you can go to the limit. This was the right pressure for me going into this race. I could work with it. I think this is really the highlight of the season. To win this highlight is really special, even more special than last year. It gives me a lot of morale also for the next season.”
Former champion Cancellera said of his ride “the course was long straight lines that do not really suit me but I accepted the battle against the clock and not the one against Bradley or Tony. I am definitely happy but also disappointed to lose the silver medal by only two seconds but that is how sport is.â€
“I go home though with a medal and that is what is so so nice after winning it four times and Olympic gold.â€
Alex Dowsett meanwhile could not hide the disappointment of not being in the mix for the medal hunt. “When I started I thought I was going okay and once I settled in I was giving it everything but the watts and power were way down.â€
“So I am super disappointed. That wasn’t me out there today. I gave it everything but it wasn’t to be. It was a course that should have suited me and I know I am capable of more.â€
Result
1 MARTIN Tony Germany 1:05:36
2 WIGGINS Bradley Great Britain @ 00:46
3 CANCELLARA Fabian Switzerland @ 00:48
4 KIRYIENKA Vasil Belarus @ 1:26
5 PHINNEY Taylor United States @ 2:08
6 QUAADE Rasmus Denmark @ 2:36
7 PINOTTI Marco Italy @ 2:41
8 MALORI Adriano Italy @ 2:51
9 LARSSON Gustav Erik Sweden @ 2:58
10 SIUTSOU Kanstantsin Belarus @ 2:59
11 BARTA Jan Czech Republic @ 3:07
12 DENNIS Rohan Australia @ 3:09
13 ROCHE Nicolas Ireland @ 3:13
14 CASTROVIEJO Jonathan Spain
15 OLIVEIRA Nelson @ 3:14
16 VANDEWALLE Kristof Belgium @ 3:17
17 PORTE Richie Australia @ 3:22
18 GUSEV Vladimir Russia @ 3:28
19 GRUZDEV Dmitriy Kazakhstan @ 3:35
20 GRABSCH Bert Germany @ 3:41
21 SERGENT Jesse New Zealand @ 3:45
22 CHAVANEL Sylvain France @ 3:48
23 SARAMOTINS Aleksejs Latvia @ 3:56
24 KWIATKOWSKI Michal Poland
25 TERPSTRA Niki Netherlands @ @ 4:00
26 OYARZUN Carlos Chile @ 4:06
27 WESTRA Lieuwe Netherlands
28 BODNAR Maciej Poland @ 4:18
29 ROY Jérémy France @ 4:27
30 ZOIDL Riccardo Austria @ 4:39
31 TVETCOV Serghei @ 4:47
32 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas Lithuania @ 4:49
33 JUNGELS Bob Luxembourg @ 4:58
34 MIHAYLOV Nikolay Bulgaria @ 4:59
35 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon Spain @ 5:04
36 LUDVIGSSON Tobias Sweden @ 5:07
37 BRANDLE Matthias Austria @ 5:11
38 GRETSCH Patrick Germany @ 5:14
39 MACHADO Tiago Portugal @ 5:28
40 ZAKARIN Ilnur Russia @ 5:34
41 DOWSETT Alex Great Britain @ 5:46
42 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt South Africa @ 5:52
43 RASMUSSEN Alex Denmark @ 5:56
44 TAMOURIDIS Ioannis Greece @ 5:59
45 VASYLYUK Andriy Ukraine @ 6:04
46 TALANSKY Andrew United States
47 JURCO Matej Slovakia @ 6:14
48 LUTSENKO Aleksey Kazakhstan @ 6:18
49 DE GENDT Thomas Belgium @ 6:25
50 KOREN Kristjan Slovenia
51 HOLLENSTEIN Reto Switzerland
52 CHTIOUI Rafaa Tunisia @ 6:30
53 JõEääR Gert Estonia @ 6:48
54 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel Eritrea
55 THOMSON Jay Robert South Africa @ 6:52
56 BEWLEY Sam New Zealand @ 6:59
57 LOK CHEUNG King Hong Kong China @ 7:01
58 MESSINEO Leandro Carlos Argentina @ 7:22
59 BAGDONAS Gediminas Lithuania @ 7:37
60 CHOE Hyeong Min Korea @ 7:44
61 KONONENKO Mykhaylo Ukraine @ 7:46
62 HALMURATOV Muradjan Uzbekistan @ 7:51
63 GYUROV Spas Bulgaria @
64 PÖKÄLÄ Samuel Finland @ 8:10
65 ASADOV Elchin Azerbaijan @ 8:21
66 NECHITA Andrei Romania @ 8:30
67 INFANTINO ABREU Rafael Colombia @ 9:14
68 ALBOS CAVALIERE David Andorra @ 9:39
69 RUSSOM ALEM Meron Eritrea @ 9:41
70 RAGONESSI Jose Ecuador @ 9:43
71 NAVARRETE Segundo Ecuador @ 9:51
72 ZHUPA Eugert Albania @ 9:54
73 KANG Jiyong Korea 10:59
74 MARTINS Uri Mexico 11:44
75 ALBOURDAINY Ahmed Qatar 12:11
76 MIñO Gustavo Paraguay 15:12
77 JASER Nazir Syria 15:14
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