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Etixx-QuickStep, Boels-Dolmans win world team time trial championships in Doha

Another gold for Canadian Canuel, Tuft earns fourth TTT medal

October 9, 2016
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The first day of competition at the 2016 Doha Road World Championships in Qatar yielded two champion squads at the team time trials. Canadian Karol-Ann Canuel took her second consecutive gold medal in the discipline with her Boels-Dolmans squad after winning with Velocio-SRAM last year in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Boels-Dolmans was runner-up in 2015.

In the men’s race, the great battle between BMC and Etix-QuickStep went Etixx’s way this year. Tony Martin led a crack squad of Marcel Kittel, Bob Jungels, Yves Lampaert, Niki Terpstra and Julien Vermote to victory.


Only eight women’s teams were in contention over the 40-km course that started in Lusail before making its way down to the Pearl. There were plenty of corners to challenge the cohesiveness of the units.


Team Twenty16-RideBiker with Canadians Alison Jackson and Annie Foreman-Mackey rolled first. Each team had six riders and time was taken on the fourth rider. It looked like Boels-Dolmans was setting the best times on the course, with 31:50.06 after 26.4-km. Canyon-SRAM was tops after the first check but lost time on its way to the second.

Twenty16 finished with 51:28, with their fourth rider struggling in the final half-kilometre. RaboLiv got into trouble when it got down to four and then had one of the quartet crash. BePink smashed Twenty16’s time, which then fell to Cervelo-Bigla before Boels-Dolmans stopped the clock at 48:51.


Canyon-SRAM’s runner-up spot gave a silver to Canadian Joëlle Numainville. Canyon also came second to Boels-Dolmans at the WorldTour Crescent Women World Cup Vargarda TTT in August.

Immediately the men’s teams began their journeys. There were 10 WorldTour squads, one Pro Continental team and six Continental outfits, including Cycling Academy Team featuring Canadian Guillaume Boivin. Stradelli-BikeAid was the first to launch 12-minutes after what was scheduled.

LottoNL-Soudal was the early teams to set the best time at the first intermediate check with 15:24 as the wind started to pick up out of the northeast.


Sky, bronze medalists in 2013, eclipsed LottoNL with 15:17. Svein Tuft’s Orica-BikeExchange, twice runners-up and once bronze medalists, weren’t having a decent ride, 10-seconds down on Sky at the first check.

Etixx, two-time champions, were faster than Sky at Check 1, while Boivin and colleagues finished the course in 46:57. Orica caught Sky by Check 2, where Etixx was still setting the high marks. Katusha pushed Cycling Academy Team off the hot seat with 44:33.

What about reigning champ BMC? Those fellows tied Etixx with the fastest time at the second check with 27:56. It was nail-biting in the Pearl section? Who would be the first team to win three world titles, Etixx or BMC? Both came into the Pearl with four riders.

Rolling the course in 43:09 Orica usurped Sky at the top of the leader board with three outfits to finish. Movistar couldn’t bump the Australians, but Etixx did with 43:32. The short wait must have seemed excruciating, but it was worth it, as Etixx prevailed.

Tuft now has two bronze and two silver in the TTT.

2016 Doha UCI Road World Championships Women’s Team Time Trial
Gold: Boels-Dolmans 48:51
Silver: Canyon-SRAM +0:48
Bronze: Cervelo-Bigla +1:57

2016 Doha UCI Road World Championships Men’s Team Time Trial
Gold: Etixx-QuickStep 42:32
Silver: BMC +0:12
Bronze: Orica-BikeExchange +0:37