Belgian team Omega Pharma-QuickStep and German squad Specialized-Lululemon have claimed Sunday the first gold medals on offer in the 2012 UCI World Championships, in the Limburg Province (Netherlands), after clinching victories in the men’s and women’s trade teams time trials.
The fastest in all the checkpoints on the rolling 53.2 kilometre men’s course, Omega Pharma-QuickStep were also the most consistent. One of the few squads to keep their six man squad together from start to finish as the race ducked and dived through the stunning Limberg countryside, the sight of all six riders still working together as they crowned the last challenge, the Cauberg hill, confirmed that the Belgian outfit were truly on a roll.
Second, just three seconds behind were BMC Racing, whilst Orica-GreenEdge ousted out long-standing provisional leaders Liquigas-Cannondale to claim bronze.
Well-known to cycling fans from the Amstel Gold Race, the Cauberg climb – the third categorized ascent of the men’s course, although there were plenty of shorter little rises to contend with – proved just as crucial in the World’s trade team time trial. Whilst local favourites Rabobank, who had run Omega Pharma-Quick Step the closest in the early part of the course, fell apart there and slumped to fifth, BMC’s brief loss of American rider Taylor Phinney as the climb steepened could well have cost them the top spot overall. BMC finally finished with four riders in what was a painfully narrow defeat.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step, on the other hand, were well-drilled and well-balanced in their efforts throughout, with reigning UCI World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin combining perfectly with Belgian Spring Classics star and former Road-Race Champion Tom Boonen, whilst team-mates Sylvain Chavanel, Kristoff Vandewalle, Peter Velits and Niki Terpstra all made equally important contributions. The key to their success? Not losing any of their team-mates proved critical on such a demanding day’s racing, that has ushered in the week-long World Championships event in fine style.
Race Results
(2012) - Men's UCI Team Time Trial World Championships
1 Omega Pharma-Quickstep 1:03:17.17
Tom Boonen (Bel)
Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
Tony Martin (Ger)
Niki Terpstra (Ned)
Kristof Vandewalle (Bel)
Peter Velits (Svk)
2 BMC Racing Team 0:00:03.23
Alessandro Ballan (Ita)
Philippe Gilbert (Bel)
Taylor Phinney (USA)
Marco Pinotti (Ita)
Manuel Quinziato (Ita)
Tejay Van Garderen (USA)
3 Orica GreenEdge 0:00:47.06
Sam Bewley (NZl)
Luke Durbridge (Aus)
Sebastian Langeveld (Ned)
Cameron Meyer (Aus)
Jens Mouris (Ned)
Svein Tuft (Can)
4 Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:04.73
Maciej Bodnar (Pol)
Tiziano Dall’antonia (Ita)
Kristijan Koren (Slo)
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita)
Maciej Paterski (Pol)
Peter Sagan (Svk)
5 Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:08.13
Lars Boom (Ned)
Stef Clement (Ned)
Rick Flens (Ned)
Robert Gesink (Ned)
Wilco Kelderman (Ned)
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa)
6 Movistar Team 0:01:18.57
Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc)
Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa)
José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa)
Vladimir Karpets (Rus)
Vasil Kiryienka (Blr)
Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa)
7 Katusha Team 0:01:18.81
Maxim Belkov (Rus)
Vladimir Gusev (Rus)
Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr)
Denis Menchov (Rus)
Gatis Smukulis (Lat)
Eduard Vorganov (Rus)
8 Radioshack-Nissan 0:01:21.22
Tony Gallopin (Fra)
Andreas Klöden (Ger)
Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
Jesse Sergent (NZl)
Jens Voigt (Ger)
Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa)
9 Sky Procycling 0:01:32.33
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor)
Alex Dowsett (GBr)
Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa)
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col)
Ian Stannard (GBr)
Geraint Thomas (GBr)
10 Garmin – Sharp 0:01:35.13
Jack Bauer (NZl)
Thomas Dekker (Ned)
Martijn Maaskant (Ned)
Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu)
Andrew Talansky (USA)
Johan Van Summeren (Bel)
11 Astana Pro Team 0:01:44.97
Assan Bazayev (Kaz)
Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz)
Andriy Grivko (Ukr)
Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz)
Tanel Kangert (Est)
Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)
12 Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:01:48.21
Thomas De Gendt (Bel)
Martijn Keizer (Ned)
Gustav Larsson (Swe)
Marco Marcato (Ita)
Tomasz Marczynski (Pol)
Lieuwe Westra (Ned)
13 Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:48.35
Manuele Boaro (Ita)
Michael Morkov (Den)
Luke Roberts (Aus)
Nicki Sörensen (Den)
David Tanner (Aus)
Matteo Tosatto (Ita)
14 Rusvelo 0:02:14.08
Artur Ershov (Rus)
Sergey Firsanov (Rus)
Valery Kaykov (Rus)
Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus)
Artem Ovechkin (Rus)
Alexander Serov (Rus)
15 Ag2R La Mondiale 0:02:26.14
Maxime Bouet (Fra)
Sylvain Georges (Fra)
Matteo Montaguti (Ita)
Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra)
Christophe Riblon (Fra)
Nicolas Roche (Irl)
16 Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:30.86
Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa)
Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa)
Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa)
Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa)
Romain Sicard (Fra)
Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa)
17 Lotto Belisol Team 0:02:32.98
Lars Ytting Bak (Den)
Gaetan Bille (Bel)
Bart De Clercq (Bel)
Jens Debusschere (Bel)
Adam Hansen (Aus)
Jurgen Roelandts (Bel)
18 Team Argos – Shimano 0:03:01.65
Bert De Backer (Bel)
Patrick Gretsch (Ger)
Roger Kluge (Ger)
Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned)
Matthieu Sprick (Fra)
Albert Timmer (Ned)
19 Itera – Katusha 0:03:09.53
Pavel Kochetkov (Rus)
Dmitriy Kosyakov (Rus)
Maxim Pokidov (Rus)
Alexander Rybakov (Rus)
Andrei Solomennikov (Rus)
Ilnur Zakarin (Rus)
20 Team Optum Presented By Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:03:13.40
Jesse Anthony (USA)
Michael Creed (USA)
Michael Friedman (USA)
Reid Mumford (USA)
Tom Zirbel (USA)
Scott Zwizanski (USA)
21 Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:03:17.71
Julien Fouchard (Fra)
Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa)
Jan Ghyselinck (Bel)
Rein Taaramae (Est)
Tristan Valentin (Fra)
Romain Zingle (Bel)
22 Fdj-Big Mat 0:03:23.22
David Boucher (Fra)
Sandy Casar (Fra)
Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra)
Anthony Roux (Fra)
Jérémy Roy (Fra)
Geoffrey Soupe (Fra)
23 Mtn Qhubeka 0:03:38.22
Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA)
Bradley Potgieter (RSA)
Meran Russan (Eri)
Dennis Van Niekerk (RSA)
Jacobus Venter (RSA)
24 Acqua & Sapone 0:03:54.36
Paolo Ciavatta (Ita)
Massimo Codol (Ita)
Francesco Di Paolo (Ita)
Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro)
Danilo Napolitano (Ita)
Francesco Reda (Ita)
25 Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator 0:03:56.35
Sander Armee (Bel)
Laurens De Vreese (Bel)
Pieter Jacobs (Bel)
Stijn Neirynck (Bel)
Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel)
Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel)
26 Ccc Polsat Polkowice 0:03:58.23
Piotr Gawronski (Pol)
Tomasz Kiendys (Pol)
Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol)
Nikolay Mihaylov (Bul)
Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol)
Mateusz Taciak (Pol)
27 Adria Mobil 0:04:10.35
Kristijan Durasek (Cro)
Kristjan Fajt (Slo)
Matej Gnezda (Slo)
Marko Kump (Slo)
Matej Mugerli (Slo)
Radoslav Rogina (Cro)
28 Lampre – Isd 0:04:18.76
Matteo Bono (Ita)
Davide Cimolai (Ita)
Adriano Malori (Ita)
Alessandro Petacchi (Ita)
Daniele Pietropolli (Ita)
Davide Vigano (Ita)
29 Caja Rural 0:04:32.35
Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa)
Hernani Broco (Por)
Karol Domagalski (Pol)
Fabricio Ferrari (Uru)
Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa)
Alexander Riabkin (Rus)
30 Rabobank Continental Team 0:04:37.01
Jasper Bovenhuis (Ned)
Moreno Hofland (Ned)
Daan Olivier (Ned)
Danny Van Poppel (Ned)
Rick Zabel (Ger)
Ruben Zepuntke (Ger)
31 Team Type 1 – Sanofi 0:05:23.76
Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)
Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra)
Javier Megias Leal (Spa)
Georg Preidler (Aut)
Joey Rosskopf (USA)
Martijn Verschoor (Ned)
32 Saur – Sojasun 0:05:24.54
Cyril Bessy (Fra)
Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra)
Brice Feillu (Fra)
Cyril Lemoine (Fra)
Laurent Mangel (Fra)
Paul Poux (Fra)
