Catalunya: BMC Win TTT

World Team Time Trial champions BMC second by two seconds in Volta Catalunya TTT

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Catalunya: BMC Win TTT

Team Press Release

Note: After the press release was published, the jury have penalised the whole of the Movistar team and so the result changes (see below)

Original Press Release before the relegation of Movistar

BMC Racing Team fought hard throughout the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage 2 Team Time Trial to clock the second-fastest time in a nail-biting finish, just two seconds short of the stage win.

The eight riders quickly settled into a solid rhythm on the 41.3km course and maintained an impressive display of strength and teamwork to cross the line all together and stop the clock at 48’57”, the first team to finish in under 50 minutes.

As the race continued, it was clear that their time would be hard to beat and in the end, it was only eventual winners Movistar Team that could challenge BMC Racing Team’s early benchmark, with 48’55”.

BMC Racing Team Sports Directors, Jackson Stewart and Yvon Ledanois, alongside Trek-Segafredo, protested the final result as television footage clearly saw Movistar Team rider José Joaquin Rojas push his fellow teammates on multiple occasions, a violation of UCI regulations.

UCI Commisaires penalized Rojas by three minutes, but the results of stage 2 remained with BMC Racing Team in second place. As predicted, the Team Time Trial has reshuffled the General Classification. Ben Hermans sits in sixth place as BMC Racing Team’s best-placed rider, and Brent Bookwalter, Tejay van Garderen, Rohan Dennis and Kilian Frankiny round out the top ten.

Rohan Dennis: “I think the team rode well today. We were really smooth over the whole 41.3km course, and in the end, we were the best team on the day. We didn’t break any rules, and we were the strongest as a whole, so I think we have to take our hats off to ourselves. We have around one minute on most of the other teams now, and that will act as a buffer and puts us in a good spot in terms of the overall General Classification.”

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Tejay van Garderen: “I felt great today, and I think we whole team rode really smooth and we kept our wits about us on such a technical course. I had a lot of fun today. It was a blast out on the course, almost like riding a rollercoaster. When you ride a Team Time Trial with a team as strong, and as technically sound as BMC Racing Team, you can’t help but enjoy it. I second everything Rohan has said as well. We played by the rules, and we were the strongest team today.”

“I am surprised by some of the time gaps at the end of the stage, but it’s definitely a good morale boost going into the rest of the week and especially tomorrow’s stage. I have good memories on La Molina with top five finishes there over the past three years, and I have even won a stage here before, so I am looking forward to going back.”

Sports Director, Jackson Stewart: “We have a lot of experience, a lot of good riders, staff, and equipment to do an effort like this and today we went out there and did exactly what we wanted to do. We had done a recon of the course and had learned how to moderate the effort because it wasn’t an easy course.”

“We did our best, and the guys put in an amazing ride. They were flying around the course, and all came home happy with their performance. Finishing with eight riders really shows the strength and depth of our team. We have pure time trial talent here with Rohan Dennis, Ben Hermans and Tejay van Garderen plus the other guys are good at time trials in their own right. Plus, we have one of our younger riders Kilian Frankiny here, and it was great to see him doing strong pulls and managing to the last the full course. We didn’t know we could finish with eight guys, we hoped we could, and I was impressed with the guys when they crossed the line.”

“I am happy that we were able to take advantage of our strengths today. Tejay and Rohan are now in a good position in terms of the General Classification. I don’t think we expected some of the time gaps to be so big but a team time trial is great in a race like this. It throws time gaps into the mix, and it changes how the climbing stages will be raced which will make things interesting.”

“When we saw that Rojas pushed his teammates forward on multiple occasions, which is a violation of UCI rules, we lodged a complaint with Trek-Segafredo. The outcome is disappointing as we felt we were the strongest on the day and we played by the rules.”

Stage TTT

1 BMC Racing Team
2 Team Sky @44
3 Movistar Team @58
4 Trek – Segafredo @1.13
5 ORICA-Scott @1.22
6 FDJ @1.42

Overall
1. Ben Hermans, BMC Racing Team85:17:18
8. Geraint Thomas, Team Sky 0:44
9. Peter Kennaugh, Team Sky
13. Chris Froome, Team Sky
15. Alejandro Valverde, Movistar Team 0:58
22. Alberto Contador Trek – Segafredo 1.13
23. Bauke Mollema Trek – Segafredo
27. Adam Yates, ORICA-Scott 1.22

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