Nicolas Roche and his Tinkoff-Saxo team mates snake their way through the green countryside in Spain at the World Championships this afternoon (Photo: Sirotti)
Nicolas Roche has only just missed out on claiming a medal at the World Road Championships in Spain on the opening day of a week of competition in Ponferrada.
The Irish rider was part of the Tinkoff-Saxo team that lined out in the 57.1km team time trial this afternoon.
They finished 5th, but were just nine seconds off the bronze medal in what was a very tight race at the top of the leader board despite the event taking longer than one hour.
The BMC Racing Team were well ahead of even the closest other squads in the field, taking the gold medal in a time of 1hr 3mins 29.85secs.
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Winners of the team time trial in Belfast when the Giro d’Italia started there with a team test back in May, Orica-GreenEDGE were next home.
They took the silver medal a significant 31.84secs down on the winners. That time gap was large on the day, with the same gap covering teams that placed 2nd through to 7th.
BMC on their way to a very convincing win in the team time trial in Spain on the first day of what promises to be a fantastic week of competition (Photo: Sirotti)
After the Australian-domiciled squad, Omega Pharma-Quickstep were next; taking the bronze medal a further four seconds adrift.
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Then came Team Sky in 4th place, only two seconds off the podium, followed by Roche’s Tinkoff-Saxo.
They were nine seconds behind Team Sky and only 11 seconds off the bronze medal-winning time of the defending champions Omega Pharma-Quickstep.
The World Road Championships continues until next Sunday. With the team time trial now completed, the remainder of the events involve national squads, rather than trade teams, competing against each.
Ryan Mullen is the first rider into action who will wear the green of Ireland. He rides the U23 time trial tomorrow, Monday, and is a realistic hope of a medal, even gold.
We’ll have a feature-length extended interview with Mullen this evening. The young An Post-Chainreaction man has been talking to Shane Stokes about his season so far, his continued development as a rider and, of course, about his chances at these Worlds.
The podium on the day, with BMC on top followed by Orica-GreenEDGE and Omega Pharma-Quickstep (Photo: Sirotti)
Sept 21st-28th: World Road Champs
Ponferrada, Spain
Sunday, Sept 21st TTT (57.1km)
1 BMC Racing Team 1:03:29.85
2 Orica-GreenEdge @31.84
3 Omega Pharma-QuickStep Cycling @35.22
4 Team Sky @37.29
5 Tinkoff-Saxo @46.59
6 Movistar Team @51.37
7 Trek Factory Racing @1:01.47
8 Team Giant-Shimano @1:26.60
9 Cannondale @1:28.56
10 Garmin-Sharp @1:44.80
11 FDJ.fr @2:05.08
12 Astana Pro Team @2:12.38
13 Team Katusha @2:14.35
14 Belkin Pro Cycling Team @2:28.16
15 Lampre-Merida @2:30.08
16 Rusvelo @2:44.81
17 Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise @2:45.29
18 CCC Polsat Polkowice @3:36.90
19 Team Europcar @3:52.06
20 Ag2r-La Mondiale @4:05.91
21 Wanty-Group Gobert @4:07.49
22 Lotto Belisol @4:12.00
23 Caja Rural-Seguros RGA @4:29.70
24 Kolss Cycling Team @4:57.99
25 MG Kvis-Wilier @5:36.95
26 Rabobank Development Team @6:01.11
27 Adria Mobil @6:12.23
28 BDC Marcpol @6:51.56
29 Team Ecuador @8:08.46
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