cycling: Road World Championships 2016: Etixx-Quick Step prevents the BMC hat-trick

Cycling: Tony Martin and Marcel Kittel won the gold medal in the team time trial with their teammates from Etixx-Quick Step. On the 40-kilometre flat route in Doha, the Belgian team edged out last year's winners BMC and Orica-BikeExchange. With that, Etixx-Quick Step turned the tables after they ended up behind BMC in the past two years.

Giant-Alpecin with a strong performance

The German team Stradalli-Bike Aid opened the battle of the six-man teams at 14:20 p.m. However, her provisional best time at the finish of 49:56.26 was not to last for long. Not only the following team was faster, but all other teams were able to master the course faster. The Russian team Katusha was able to set the first target time with 44:33.74, but LottoNL-Jumbo was then a minute faster. Before the Big Five were expected, the second German team reached the goal: Giant-Alpecin lined up in second place behind LottoNL-Jumbo. With this great performance, you placed yourself in a very strong seventh place.

Movistar disappointed, pure excitement right at the front

At that moment, the predicted Big Five were long gone and the first intermediate time was passed. At first it looked like a three-way battle: Etixx-Quick Step, BMC and Sky each separated by only about three seconds. Meanwhile, the Orica-BikeExchange team was more than 16 seconds behind and the Movistar team was a whopping 45 seconds behind. The Spanish team thus said goodbye to the fight for the medals at an early stage. A bitter disappointment, because after all, the chances of winning a medal were reckoned with. At the end of the day, however, it should only be enough for sixth place.

Orica-BikeExchange ignites the turbo

When the second split was passed, two duels emerged from the remaining top four. The Australian team Orica-BikeExchange moved ever closer to Sky. While a few kilometers ago they were ten seconds behind, they were actually two seconds ahead of the British team. However, the new intermediate best time did not last long, because the two contenders for victory crossed this measuring section in an even shorter time. Etixx-Quick Step was able to defend the lead, but was no longer three seconds ahead of BMC, but only seven hundredths. So it was ready for the last kilometers.

BMC has to admit defeat

Team Sky should reach the goal first. With a time of 43:26.67, the previous best time of LottoNL-Jumbo could only be beaten by a few tenths. Orica-BikeExchange, on the other hand, organized the race much better and has improved significantly over the last few kilometers. In the end, the fight for bronze was decided by 17 seconds in favor of the Australian team Orica-BikeExchange. But all eyes were then on the duel for victory: Etixx Quick-Step rushed across the finish line in 42:32.39 and, as expected, set a clear new best time. While most teams with at least five men made it to the last kilometer, BMC already lost two men with two kilometers to go. With the four drivers needed for timekeeping, the red and black sprinted towards the finish line. But this year it wasn't enough. In the end, the winning team from Etixx-Quick Step was even more than eleven seconds behind. Two German drivers were able to wear a gold medal on the first day of the Road World Championships in Doha.

The result of the team time trial at the 2016 World Championships in Doha