Monday, September 9, 2024 at 7:00 AM
No Remco Evenepoel, no Filippo Ganna, no Wout van Aert and also no Joshua Tarling. The numbers one to four of the Olympic time trial in Paris come from Europe, but for various reasons they will not be present at the European time trial championship. This offers opportunities for riders who would normally only be considered outsiders. Who will be Tarling’s successor? WielerFlits looks ahead.
History
Latest edition
photo: Cor Vos
Course
Wednesday 11 September, European Men’s Time Trial Championships: Heusden-Zolder – Hasselt (31.2 km)
The course of the European Time Trial Championships is relatively long this year: 31.2 kilometres. That is longer than in previous years. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, the riders always had to cover more than 45 kilometres, but in the last editions the distance never exceeded thirty kilometres. In Emmen (2023) the route was 28.7 kilometres long, in Fürstenfeldbruck (2022) 24 kilometres, in Trento (2021) 22.4 kilometres, in Plouay (2020) 25.6 kilometres and in Alkmaar (2022) also 22.4 kilometres.
There is not much else to say about the course. The number of elevation meters (only 135) shows that the route is mainly flat. After the start in Heusden-Zolder there is a somewhat more technical passage, but after a few kilometers most of the bends are behind you. It is then mainly straight to Hasselt, in a south-westerly direction. The big engines will be able to use their power here.
Start (first rider): 4:30 p.m.
Finish (last rider): between 5:35 and 5:45 PM
Favorites
We already mentioned it in the introduction: the very best time trialists in Europe (and therefore in the world) will not be at the start of the European Championship against the clock. Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel are also not going for time trial gold in their own country. Van Aert is said to be skipping the time trial altogether and after a heavy fall in the Vuelta a España his season is completely over. The double Olympic champion Evenepoel announced at the end of August that he was feeling the fatigue of a demanding period and that he would therefore fully focus on the World Championship in Zurich.
Filippo Ganna was even more tired after the Games. The Italian struggled through the Deutschland Tour and gave up after one stage in the Renewi Tour. The European Time Trial Championships were also cancelled. Ganna’s teammate Joshua Tarling dropped out of the Vuelta a España after a crash, but that is not the reason he is absent on Wednesday. Great Britain will not travel to Flemish Limburg for the European Championships. Tarling will not get the chance to defend the title he won in Emmen.
Enough about the riders who not are. Because despite the absence of a few big men, a bunch of other patented time trialists are traveling to Flanders. In fact, there are three former winners of the European Time Trial Championships at the start.
Stefan Kueng even won the European time trial title twice, in 2020 and 2021. This year, the Swiss has only managed to win one time trial so far – the national championship against the clock – but we can still count him among the best time trialists in the world. After all, he has already stood on the podium of the World Time Trial Championship twice (2020 and 2022). What also speaks in Küng’s favour is the form he showed in the Vuelta. The heavily built rider of Groupama-FDJ more than held his own in the Spanish mountains and triumphed in the final time trial to Madrid.
The competition for Küng seems to come mainly from his own country. Switzerland can also count on Stefan Bisseggerthe 2022 European time trial champion and number two of Emmen. Bissegger is somewhat inconsistent in his performances, but at the European Championships he is usually there. Especially when the roads are flat, as will be the case on Wednesday. With a third place in the time trial of the Renewi Tour, Bissegger has also shown that he is ready for the title fight in Flanders.
The home crowd in Flanders will have pinned their hopes on Van Aert and Evenepoel in the absence of Victor Campenaerts. Net as Küng, is Fields a two-time winner of the European Time Trial Championships (2017 and 2018), but nowadays he no longer focuses on time trials as much as he did in that period. However, he certainly hasn’t forgotten it. Otherwise you wouldn’t finish fifth in the first time trial of the Tour de France, ahead of riders like Küng and Bissegger. So we should definitely keep Campenaerts in mind.
Can Bissegger beat compatriot Küng? – photo: Cor Vos
The Netherlands will start the time trial with question marks. The two delegates, Thymen Arensman in Yes Noboth suffered setbacks in the run-up to the title fight. Arensman had to give up in the Vuelta due to corona. Can he now reach his best level again? If so, he is a dangerous customer. The INEOS Grenadiers rider delivered some good time trials this year. He was third and fourth in the time trials of the Giro d’Italia and finished sixth in the time trials of the Vuelta a Burgos.
Arensman during the time trial in the Vuelta a Burgos – photo: Cor Vos
While Arensman contracted corona, Daan Refusal hard in the opening stage of the Renewi Tour. He had to leave this stage race on the first day and did not compete afterwards. It remains to be seen how Hoole will perform on Wednesday. In June, the Lidl-Trek rider did book his first professional victory by becoming Dutch time trial champion. Later, he rode the Olympic time trial in Paris. His seventeenth place there was a bit misleading, because the number ten was only nine seconds faster.
The number was Michael Bjerg. The 25-year-old Dane was crowned the best time trialist in the world for three years in a row among the U23s, but things turned out to be a bit more difficult among the pros. Apart from a time trial in the Critérium du Dauphiné 2023, Bjerg has not yet managed to win among the professional cyclists. However, we should not write him off for the European Championships. Last year, he also just missed out on the podium with a fourth place in Emmen.
Bjerg only finished 22nd in the time trial of the Renewi Tour – photo: Cor Vos
Edward Affini has already stood on the podium of the European time trial championship. In 2019, a year after he had won the European time trial title among the U23s, the Italian finished third in Alkmaar behind Kasper Asgreen and winner Remco Evenepoel. With Ganna absent, the Italians will once again be pinning their hopes on him. Although the blue shirts also have Mattia Cattaneothe number three of the final time trial of the Vuelta. Both could possibly surprise, if they have digested the Tour of Spain well.
Also Søren Wærenskjold should be able to score high. The 24-year-old Norwegian has already won three time trials this year: the national championship against the clock, the time trial in the Baloise Belgium Tour and the one in the Tour Poitou-Charentes and Nouvelle Aquitaine. The last victory dates from 23 August, just a few weeks ago. In short: Wærenskjold is ready for the European Championship.
Wærenskjold wins time trials by the dozen – photo: Cor Vos
Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Stefan Kueng
*** Stefan Bissegger, Victor Campenaerts
** Søren Wærenskjold, Mattia Cattaneo, Mikkel Bjerg
* Thymen Arensman, Dan Hoole, Edouard Affini, Max Walscheid
Website organization
Participants list (CyclingFlash)
Weather and TV
It will remain chilly in Flanders on Wednesday: the mercury will rise to a maximum of 15 degrees Celsius. In addition, the chance of precipitation is quite high at around 90%. The sun will show itself regularly, but at times it will also be cloudy. The wind (3 Beaufort) will come from the west.
The European Time Trial Championships can be seen live on Eurosport 1 and Sporza (VRT1). The race can be followed online on HBO Max and Discovery+. View all TV channels and the exact broadcast times in our TV guide Cycling on TV.
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