Round 7 - Cervelo Test Team unbeaten in World Cup TTT

Open de Suede, Vårgåda   42,5km

Race Writeup

Cervelo Test Team remain unbeaten in World Cup Team Time Trials, dominating the 7th round in Sweden. HTC Columbia were second 1 minute 8.7 seconds behind and Nederland Bloeit were third.

Conditions in Sweden for the 7th round of the World Cup, could not have been trickier for the teams. The rain fell and the wind picked up. On the run out to the turning point after 16.4km, the riders had the benefit of a strong tail wind. This however turned into a strong cross head wind on their return into Vårgåda, before starting the loop that will be the World Cup circuit on Sunday.  

There was plenty of energy around as the seventh round of the 2010 World Cup took place, Vårgåda certainly knows how to put on a bike racing event. Despite the conditions, the locals came out to support the teams and in particular Red Sun, the team of Swedish National Champion Emma Johansson. 

Cervelo Test Team set a blistering speed and they were 47 seconds faster than HTC Columbia at the turn. The early effort from Sarah Duester and Emma Pooley to keep the speed high paid off. The pair did enough to help the team and then pulled off to let the remaining four complete the ride and finish the four necessary riders. 

Nederland Bloeit with World Cup leader Marianne Vos, started quite fast but like other teams found conditions hard.  

It is the only team time trial on the World Cup calendar and one of only a handful available in the season and is targeted by several teams as they plan their year. Cervelo Test Team is as aware of the event as any of their competitors; they have after all, the prestige of having never been beaten in a World Cup team time trial. There have been four such events in the past five years (no TTT in 2007), additionally, Sarah Duester has been a member of the team in each race. This win five years after the first for Cervelo Test Team (and their under their previous name UNIVEGA Pro Cycling and Cervelo Lifeforce Pro Cycling) is a remarkable achievement for the team and for Duester personally.

Realistically, there were only a handful of teams who could hope to win the event. But even throughout the race, it was clear by the time checks that Cervelo Test Team were dominating their “pet event”.

With World cup points on offer for the team and the riders, Cervelo Test Team moved into the number one position in the UCI standings and Marianne Vos maintained her lead in the overall standings.

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Post Race Comments

Sarah Duester (Cervelo Test Team) was part of the winning team in 2006 and every team Time Trial win in a World Cup TTT since. "I am very happy to have won this and to have been a part of this team today. It is a very different team than four years ago or the last two years but they were so strong today," said Duester.

"It is always nice to be on the podium and it is very special to have been on the winning team for the fourth win. It is always such a hard ride and today the conditions made it even harder. We started very fast, possibly a little too fast but we were very strong. I am not really a time trialist but this race is such a big goal for the team.we only had a chance in the last few days to practice together as a full team. Each rider had had their own programme which meant we didn't really get chance to ride together for a long time. We tested the technical sections but the wind made a huge difference. It was hard for the riders especially Emma  [Pooley] because she is so small and the wind moved her around more that the bigger riders," added Duester. 

Emma Pooley (Cervelo Test Team) was not the planned member of the team for the Time Trial and stepped in at the last minute. Not new to Time Trials, Pooley won the Olympic silver medal in Beijing, but the Team Time Trial was definitely a new  event for Pooley, "I am honoured to be a part of this team. No one wanted to sit behind be that was a problem," said Pooley referring to her small stature. 

Egon van Kessel (Sports Director) was very proud of the team, “It is a very special win and a special record. Although I was not involved before this one, they were very successful before I came along. It was a very successful time trial for us, you think with the background of theteam, they can't lose but you never know what will happen on the day,” said van Kessel. 

"I thought we can't lose this. I would feel really bad if we had. When I was a rider myself we always focused on the Team Time Trial. It is an important event for any professional team."

“We trained a few times on the course when the weather was really good. But today it changed to rain and wind. This year’s team was very strong technically and I am very proud of them. We had more than a minute on HTC-Columbia and more than 2 minutes on third place Nederland Bloeit. So actually, we were much stronger. I have worked in men''s racing for many year and today the team rode technically better than any of the men, " added van Kessel.

Asked when he felt the team had the win van Kessel commented, "At the turn, when we had 47 seconds on HTC Columbia then I thought we can do this."

“We did miss Elizabeth Armitstead (GBR) today but Emma Pooley (GBR), who replaced her at the last moment and hadn’t trained as much with these riders did an excellent job. Now we go on to the road race on Sunday. We know the course it is more or less the same as today’s course. It is not really that hard but it will be exciting. Kirsten Wild (NED) is in a good shape so we will go for the victory again, which I expect will come from a group sprint by a select group.”

Judith Arndt (HTC Columbia) was relaxed after the TTT, "It was difficult for us and every team today. It was really nasty. When we looked at the course it was really rainy and we could not really push it hard. 

Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit) strong strongly on the front for her team and she was very happy with their podium, "It was really hard in the rain and the wind. Going down hill was tough. In the first 15km we found it hard to get the rhymth. We worked it out and we are very happy with third." said Vos.

Vos was asked about her form for the World Cup road race, "I feel really good. I have had some rest over the last couple of week and feel very rested. The legs felt really great today and I am looking forward to the race," she added. 

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Results - Top 10 - click here to see full result

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Standings Top 10 - click here to see full result

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Photos   Click on any image to enlarge >>

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