Top ten things not to do before a time-trial:
dropping your chain or messing up your gears
just before setting off surely feature in
that list.
That’s exactly what happened to Juan Antonio
Flecha as the clock ticked down for Vacansoleil
to start stage 2.
One team that did come well prepared and well
drilled, however, were BMC and surprise gold
jersey wearer Brent Bookwalter.
“Yeah we’ve been training hard, but the
team in general has also been working hard
trying to dot all the i’s and cross all
the t’s and search for every advantage we
can get, so the team and the sponsors and
the management have done a really good job
assembling the equipment.
Knowing you have the best thing, whether it
translates to one second or 10 seconds, or
10 watts or no watts, if you know have the
best and you’re in the best that goes a
long way.”
Team Sky - famous for their marginal gains
policy - were perhaps looking to sow confusion:
British road champion Ian Stannard masquerading
as German Christian Knees, who isn’t even
in Qatar!
At least Bernie Eisel - 6” off the overall
lead in fourth place - would be easy to pick
out -- he wasn’t wearing a borrowed skinsuit.
Even the most gladiatorial performance in
this 14k test against the clock would be unlikely
to propel Fabian Cancellara 37” up the standings
after he was caught out by the wind in stage
1.
The Swiss time-trial monster dragged Radioshack
around the short course in a provisional best
time, but Gregory Rast was dropped, slipping
from 3rd to 59th overall.
Omega-Pharma Quickstep were looking to claw
back some of the nine seconds deficit between
Mark Cavendish and the race lead... the Belgian
outfit rode a disciplined time-trial and for
a short while they held the best time on the
out-and-back loop, bettering Radioshack by
a second.
But everything Cavendish has done, his former
wingman Eisel has done a little better so
far in Qatar: the black and blue train of
Sky rolling in next with a time five seconds
faster.
So, it just remained to be seen if Bookwalter
would finish the day as he started it: in
gold.
The answer an emphatic yes, as they bettered
Sky’s time by another five seconds.
A quick calculation for the timekeepers confirmed
the facts: BMC hogging the podium again: the
team has five riders in the top five, with
Sky filling out the remaining top ten.
Bookwalter’s 6” clear at the top of the
standings - the next man down is Taylor Phinney.
“Yeah, I think it was all for one, one for
all today.
Taylor was, you know, he’s a young guy but
he’s got a ton of experience, and he’s
already a really good leader.
He was rallying the troops before the race
today.
You know, he’s got a lot of experience in
high pressure situations like this, like a
team time trial.
Yeah, he really led us well today, not just
with his pulls, but with his good leadership
and his good TTing ability.”
Bookwalter continuing to enjoy the limelight,
but we already know the wind in Qatar can
play havoc with the best laid plans.
Phil Sheehan GCN in Doha
