Alone against time
Time trial is one of the three major disciplines in road cycling, alongside stage races and one-day classics. Normally, time trials, whether individual or by teams, are integrated into stage races, making the ITT World Championship a rarity as it is one of the few occasions when a race against the clock is not part of a multi-day competition. Only national and continental championships provide similar opportunities for the top specialists, but undoubtedly, the World Championship is the most important of them all, as the winner of the event will wear the rainbow jersey in all time trial stages for the next 365 days.
In this article, we will review the routes and favorites for both the men's and women's individual time trial events.
Women's Race: Route and Favorites
The elite women's event covers a mostly flat route of 36 kilometers with few turns, making it a race that will delight the top specialists. The final ramp up to Stirling Castle (0.8 km at 5.4%, with 400 meters on cobbles) should not be decisive in a race of this length.
Marlen Reusser (1000), Demi Vollering (1200), Riejanne Markus (800), Chloe Dygert (600), Juliette Labous (1000), Grace Brown (800), Anna Henderson (600), Emma Norsgaard (800), Vittoria Guazzini (400), Anna Kiesenhofer (200), and Audrey Cordon-Ragot (400) are some of the top favorites.
Men's Race: Route and Favorites
The men's race extends the route of the women's event to 48.9 km, but it's also mostly flat and also includes the ascent to Stirling Castle just before the finish.
Filippo Ganna (800), Wout Van Aert (1200), Remco Evenepoel (1200), Stefan Küng (800), Rohan Dennis (400), Tadej Pogačar (1200), Tobias Foss (400), Geraint Thomas (800), and Kasper Asgreen (600) are the main favorites from a list where everyone is a specialist.
Photo: © Tour de Pologne / Szymon Gruchalski