Doha 2016 UCI road world championships preview: time trials

It’s a late start for the UCI Road World Championships this year, due to the Olympic Games and the heat of 2016’s setting, Doha, Qatar. But this Sunday it all kicks off with the trade team time trials, which introduces four days of chronos, all of them flat.

Every race of Doha 2016 takes in the artificial island of the Pearl. Four of the seven time trials take place solely on the Pearl.

The women’s and men’s team time trials, and the men’s individual time trial–each 40-km in length–will depart from the Lusail Sports Complex, located in the city of Lusail north of Doha.

The Pearl part of the race against the clock will be tricky, with plenty of tight corners.

Men Elite Individual Time Trial. ? Lusail Sports Complex > ? The Pearl – 40 km – October 12 https://t.co/ed8oTQ2zx0 #UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/f9CeJCkmfy

— UCI RWC Doha 2016 (@UCIDoha2016) September 29, 2016

WorldTour teams, with no points offered for the team time trail, were going to boycott the men’s race due to the cost of the event and little reward, but in the end 10 of the 18 WorldTour teams agreed to race, including the holders BMC, along with a Pro Continental squad and four Continental teams.

BMC are the favourites again, but should get pushed by Sky and Etixx-QuickStep. Hugo Houle will be in the AG2R line-up, with hardman Svein Tuft driving for Orica-BikeExchange.

In the women’s race, 2015 Velocio-SRAM folded at the end of last season, so the favourites will be Boels-Dolmans, featuring Canadian Karol-Ann Canuel, gold medal winner last year with Velocio-SRAM. Boels-Dolmans recently won the TTT at Women’s WorldTour event in Vargarda. Another favourite must be Rabobank-Liv. Canadian Joëlle Numainville is in the Cervelo-Bigla outfit–second in Vargarda–and Alison Jackson and Annie Foreman-Mackey will spin for Twenty16-RideBiker.

Monday sees the first individual chronos on the Pearl. The junior women face one 13.7-km lap, while the U23 men have two laps and a bit for 28.9-km. Canada has Erin Attwell of Victoria, B.C. and Laurie Jussaume of Contrecoeur, Que. contesting the junior women’s race, Sean MacKinnon of Hamilton will be Canada’s representative in the U23 race.

Next Tuesday the junior men follow the same route as the U23 fellas. Canada have Silber Pro Cycling recruit Nickolas Zukowsky of Dundas, Ont. and Matthew Staples Oro-Medonte, Ont. in the junior men’s race. Then it’s the elite women. Here Canuel is Canada’s sole representative. She’ll have competition from Dutchwoman Ellen Van Dijk and American Carmen Small. Again, the elite women will roll 28.9-km.

The elite men are slated for Wednesday, with the start in Lusail. Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands must be considered the favourite, with Spanish rider Jonathan Castroviejo, Australian Rohan Dennis and inconsistent Germany Tony Martin in with a shout for gold. Hugo Houle and Ryan Roth will once again represent Canada in the individual chrono. Last year they were 25th and 44th respectively.