FanPost

5 Riders to look out for in the World Championship Men's Time Trial

Here are 5 riders I think may not necessarily medal but will do well and are a bit overshadowed by the likes of Martin and Cancellara, as well as the other favourites.

 

1. Adriano Malori (Italy)

Team: Lampe - ISD       Age:23

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Malori is a huge time-trialling talent and although only in his second year as a pro, Adriano is the ITT Champion for Italy, not to mention already being a World Champion himself in the discipline in 2008 in the Under-23 category. This will be his first worlds as a pro but has shown he can step it up this year with some good results, such as a top twenty in the Tour, 3rd in Tirreno-Adriacto and a win in the Settimana Coppi e Bartali.  A good chance to 10 and be one of the early front runners.

2011 ITT Palmares:

6th Tour of Oman, Stage 5 (18.5km)

3rd Tirreno - Adriatico, Stage 7 (9.3km)

1st Settimana Coppi e Bartali, Stage 4 (14.3km)

2nd Giro del Trentino, Stage 1 (13.4km)

4th Bayern-Rundfahrt, Stage 4 (26km)

12th Critérium du Dauphiné, Prologue (5.5km)

12th Critérium du Dauphiné, Stage 3 (42.5km)

1st National Championships Italy (28.7km)

16th Tour de France, Stage 20 (42.5km)

 

2. Jesse Sergent (New Zealand)

Team: Team Radioshack       Age: 23

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Coming up through the ranks from the development team Trek-Livestrong, Jesse Sergent can only be having a year best described as a "breakout".  This kid from some small state of Australia has won nearly every time trial he's been in, not too mention overall honours in a few stage races - doesn't that sound familiar? Despite all this success, these Worlds will be his biggest test against a lot stronger opposition than his other races. He has raced and won against some of these riders too at the Eneco Tour so he shouldn't be fazed at all. Being one of the early riders off, he should be the benchmark for the later riders to meet and who knows, if conditions are right he may finish even higher than I expect. Certain top 10 finish in my opnion and I think in the future we will be talking about his duels with Durbirdge like we do Cancellara and Martin.

2011 ITT Palmares:

2nd National Championships New Zealand (40 km)

4th Volta ao Algarve, Stage 5 (17.2 km)

1st Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Prologue (7 km)

7th Eneco Tour of Benelux, Prologue (5.7 km)

1st Eneco Tour of Benelux, Stage 4 (14.7 km)

2nd Österreich-Rundfahrt Stage 7  (30.1 km)

1st Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne, Stage 4 (20.5 km)

 

3. Jonathon Castroviejo (Spain)

Team: Euskatel - Euskadi       Age: 24

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What's this, a Carrot who's not a climber or breakaway specialist and who can time trial and do well at it? Just as well your sitting down! Jonathon has improved on his good year last year, getting himself 2 time-trial victories including a win in the WorldTour event, Tour de Romandie, he also came a respectable 2nd in the Spanish Nationals ITT. He hasn't been riding since August, which could be down to him going to Movistar next year, so his form may be a bit of an unknown but he certainly has the talent and is one who could surprise a few people. Expect even better things from him next year as he joins a well-reknowned outfit in Movistar.

2011 ITT Palmares:

8th Tirreno - Adriatico, Stage 7 (9.3 km)

1st Tour de Romandie, Prologue (2.9 km)

9th Tour de Romandie, Stage 4 (20.1 km)

1st Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid, Stage 1 (7.8 km)

141st Tour de Suisse, Stage 1 (7.3 km)

77th Tour de Suisse, Stage 9 (32.1 km)

2nd National Championships Spain (44.5 km)

28th Eneco Tour of Benelux, Prologue (5.7 km)

86th Eneco Tour of Benelux, Stage 4 (14.7 km)

 

4. Andrew Talansky (United States of America)

Team: Team Garmin - Cervélo       Age: 22

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Whilst his flamboyant and charismatic fellow compatriot (and neo-pro) started the year in a lackadaisical fashion, as well as being plagued by injuries, Talansky's start was just the opposite, mixing it with the regular WorldTour riders in such races as Paris-Nice, Pais Vasco and Romandie. The runner up from last year's Tour de L'Avenir didn't do badly either, placing in the top 10 in each. He's had a long season for a neo-pro, including racing a full Vuelta so it getting a result here will be tough but I wont be surprised if he does well, especially since his team and country have confidence in him. I'll make the bold claim he'll finish higher than Taylor too.

2011 ITT Palmares:

7th Pairs-Nice, Stage 6 (23km)

5th Critérium International, Stage 3 (7km)

5th Vuelta a Pais Vasco, Stage 6 (24km)

155th Tour de Romandie, Prologue (2.9km)

6th Tour de Romandie, Stage 4 (20.1km)

11th Tour of California, Stage 6 (24km)

33rd Tour de Suisse, Stage 1 (7.3km)

16th Vuelta a España, Stage 10 (47km)

 

5. Gustav Larsson (Sweden)

Team: SaxoBank - Sungard       Age: 31

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The "grandad" of this list, Larsson, like many over seems to have slipped under the radar a bit, being in the shadow of Isengard and Baradûr, not to mention being over-looked because of the media interest in fellow Scandinavian and home town favourite, Jacob Fuglsung. His results this year haven't been outstanding but the 2009 runner up hasn't had a bad year either, except in maybe getting on Riis' good side. This year, Gustav has a handful of top 10 places in some strongly contested races as well as defending his Swedish Nat TT jersey Age may not be on his side in comparison to his other competitors but if Larsson is having a good day he can't be discounted and that bronze medal could be his.

2011 ITT Palmares:

19th Volta ao Algarve, Stage 5 (17.2km)

11th Tirreno - Adriatico, Stage 7 (9.3km)

4th Tour de Suisse, Stage 1 (7.3km)

9th Tour de Suisse, Stage 9 (32.1 km)

1st National Championships Sweden (50 km)

2nd Tour of Denmark, Stage 5  (14.2 km)

14th USA Pro Cycling Challenge, Stage 3 (16.1 km)