The Tour is over. Damn was it nervous, with months of not really expecting it to go all the way to Paris, it was an exciting race and in a change of events we're this year getting the World Championships right after.
The Route
The route is very simple actually. It's completely different from the road race circuit that tackles two main climbs and a small ride. Here, we'll have the chance to see the powerful riders in their terrain, the route is 31.8 kilometers long and has 167 meters of climbing which is quite low. The roads are mostly flat although with little tilts both up and down, the intermediate is in the little town of Borgo Tossignano at 14.9Km just before the halfway mark, and the roads are all quite wide and good quality, with little exposure to the wind unless it comes from the east. The finish is inside the Autodromo Internazionale Dino e Enzo Ferrari where the road race will also have it's closing kilometers.
The Weather
Very strong southwestern wind for tomorrow. The wind is coming right through the valley and is a pure headwind until the intermediate, and then mostly a tailwind back into Imola.
The Favourites
Getting the World Championships is always a tricky deal because there's just no filter on the riders that will be at the start, all of the biggest time-trialists (well, 95% of them as some are targeting the road race) are here and with big ambitions, no room for mistakes, no room for misplanning, this is the day where the best time-trialists in the world come here, have their best equipment, have the best planning possible for one single chance at glory.
Defending his title Rohan Dennis has had two completely different aproaches to his title. Last year he came into the race with over two months of not racing and he won dominantly, he may have a tougher challenge this year though and his main rival may very well be his teammate Filippo Ganna who comes from a title in the Italian NC's and also a very strong win in the final stage of Tirreno Adriatico. It was a short time-trial that worked in his favour, however his evolution and specially change into Ineos has stepped up his game in performances and he finds himself as the main favourite, taking into account aswell that he is the home rider (alongside Edoardo Affini who would in theory be a big name to consider but hasn't shown the form recently). The only other ITT World Champion on the start line is Tom Dumoulin who is coming from a strong finish at the Tour including a second place in the final time-trial, it's not the most suiting route for him but he will always be an important rider to consider.
The competition should come from the Tour, Tour legs are a real thing and there's some riders coming in very sharp from the race such as Wout van Aert who will be licking his lips as he's got a chance to take both titles this weekend and will like the challenge that the headwind will pose, Stefan Kung who appeared on great form and then abandoned early on in order to prepare properly for tomorrow, French national champion Remi Cavagna who is another big wildcard who can sneak onto the podium, coming in great form from the Tour where after a solo day in the breakaway he still managed to sneak with the GC riders in the final time-trial, and perhaps Kasper Asgreen should be another big name to consider if he finds himself in a good day.
As for riders coming in from Tirreno, besides Dennis and Ganna we have Victor Campenaerts who finished second on that decisive day for these specialists. He's a set time-trialist, prefers prologues but I reckon tomorrow is perfect for him in that the starting headwind should really be to the liking of his incredibly aero position. There will be a clear difference between the power set in the first half of the time-trial where everyone will go balls deep, because the way back to Imola will be incredibly fast due to the tailwind and it's much harder to make differences. Geraint Thomas was also there where his rise of form was evident, There are more outsiders but the list is very well set here.
Prediction Time
⭐ Kung, Cavagna, Dumoulin, Asgreem
This was a really hard choice honestly. I just can't say there's A main favourite, any of those 4 riders has a clear scenario in my mind on how they can win. But I'm going with gut, I've kept up with Ganna ever since he turned a pro in 2017 and I always defended that rainbow was just a matter of time, and after seeing his track acomplishments and the form he showed in Tirreno, he's my man for tomorrow!
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