Summary
Martin, crouched low under an umbrella awaiting the final results, jumps up in delight at the news he is world champion. His team surround him, whooping and hollering. That’s his fourth world championship, and also adds to the team time trial title that he won on Sunday as part of the Etixx-Quick Step team.
Final standings:
#UCIDoha2016 Final standings of the Men's ITT @UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/Ojv4I5AI7U
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) October 12, 2016
It’s amazing. I can’t believe it. Everybody knows that I haven’t had a good year. But his makes everything OK. The course was made for me. The only thing I was scared for was the heat. But I made a great preparation at home and with the team here. I was really strong in the head, I was not the favourite, I had no pressure. That made my race perfect. I always say that I don’t count the victories, but I am so proud that I get to wear the world champion suit.
In the end, it wasn’t close. Props to Ryan Mullen, who went out early and put in a time to beat the pre-race favourite Rohan Dennis. Thanks for reading. Bye!
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Tony Martin wins the men's individual time trial!
Kiryienka has faded fast, and enters the final km 47 seconds behind Martin. That is that, he claims silver medal with a time of 45:28, 45 seconds behind the German. No shame in finishing second to that time.
Jonathan Castroviejo nabs a bronze medal. Tom Dumoulin finishes in 11th place, he has had a shocker.
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Rohan Dennis finishes in fifth place, a minute and 27 seconds down on Tony Martin, and behind Ryan Mullen.
Tony Martin knocks 1 min 10 secs off the lead!
WHAT. A. RIDE. He comes over the line in 44:42:99. He looks absolutely spent, but that is a gargantuan effort. The only man who can catch him is the defending champion Vasil Kiryienka, but it’s going to be a tough ask.
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Maciej Bodnar becomes our new leader and becomes the first man to go sub 46 minutes, with a time of 45:59:76. Jonathan Castroviejo takes another five seconds off Bodnar.
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Rohan Dennis and Tom Dumoulin are out of contention, the Dutchman riding in about 10th place as he nears the finish.
Five kilometres to go, and Tony Martin is more than a minute faster than Mullen’s time at that points. Whoooooooooosh.
Tony Martin is flying, and is our leader by a distance. Kiryienka goes through the second checkpoint 21 seconds shy of the great German, who is 36 quicker than Mullen at the second checkpoint. Remember, Tony Martin’s strongest part of his race is normally the finish, so this should be some time.
GB’s Alex Dowsett replaces Madsen in fifth, still 49 seconds behind Mullen. As more and more riders finish, it’s becoming clear how strong the Irishman’s time was.
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Toft Madsen has come through the finish line in an impressive fifth with a time of 46:54. Hailing from Denmark, which is also an extraordinarily flat place, that’s a fine rider from the 31-year-old.
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Vasil Kiryienka is just two seconds off Martin going through the first checkpoint. That would put the defending champion second.
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Mullen does hold off both Rohan Dennis (10 secs behind Martin) and Tom Dumoulin (21 secs behind Martin) at the first checkpoint. The Irishman is still second.
A well-timed advertising break reminds the world that whilst we watch these athletes battle it out in 40C heat, there is still very cold beer available to buy from your local shop.
Tony Martin comes through the first checkpoint 7.6 seconds up on Mullen
You would expect him to extend that lead on the big straight leading into Doha.
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Belgium’s Yves Lampaert finishes second, but still 23 seconds adrift of Mullen. There isn’t anybody on the course past the second checkpoint that has him beat at this moment. We’ve got the big guns still to come, but can Mullen hold on for a famous medal?
Steve Cummings finished one minute and 23 seconds behind the Irishman.
#UCIDoha2016 Provisional standings of the Men's ITT @UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/JMPRDk1my2
— CyclingPub (@CyclingPub) October 12, 2016
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All the riders have employed different techniques to keep themselves cool before and during the race. Some run ice packs across their wrists before they set off as they attempt to cool the blood flow, whilst others have actually placed ice packs within their lycra suits. Camelbacks are also permitted in this race, so most riders can be seen sipping on a plastic tube as they make their way round the course.
Tom Dumoulin is out, in his orange jersey, as is the final rider and last year’s winner Vasil Kiryienka, who is wearing the colours of Belarus rather than the rainbow jersey.
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Here comes Rohan Dennis, draped in all-white, to help deflect that sun. Dennis is seen as the favourite here, having suffered misfortune in the Olympic time trial. His handlebar broke, which cost him about 30 seconds, and a place on the podium. He finished fifth, just 8sec off the bronze medal.
Tony Martin is next out of the gate. He’s altered his riding position, reverting back to a stance he had earlier in his career, which is less aerodynamic but more comfortable and is said to give him a greater power output.
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Here come the top five, the big guns, the grand fromages. Nobody has yet come within Ryan Mullen’s time of 46:04. The wind has dropped slightly, so maybe the early riders benefitted from a slight tailwind. Jonathan Castroviejo, the newly-crowned European champion, leaves the ramp.
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Great Britain’s Alex Dowsett is out on the course, as is Steve Cummings, who enjoyed the biggest win of his career earlier this year in the Tour of Britain, but seems to be struggling here. He’s way off the pace.
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Van Emden faded badly in that final section, finishing with a time of 46:28, 23 seconds from Mullen. Van Emden is second for the time being.
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I wonder what Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara is up to? He’s not in Doha of course, having elected to miss these world championships. At 35, you don’t need to be getting too hot and bothered. He’ll end his career at the Japan Cup on October 23.
Just so that we all know …
First checkpoint: 20km
Second checkpoint: 25km
Third checkpoint: 30km
Fourth checkpoint: 35km
Having previously nipped three seconds under Mullen’s time at the second checkpoint, Jos Van Emden is nine seconds adrift of the Irishman at the 32km mark, that’s eight km to go.
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Ireland's Ryan Mullen finishes in 46.04.74!
Wow, that’s a great time. There’s obviously some big guns still to come, but it’s hard to predict how each of them will handle this heat. As it is, he’s 1 minute and 13 seconds faster than the nearest finisher, Ukraine’s Andriy Grivko.
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Marcin Bialoblocki, who I tipped earlier as a bit of a dark horse here, is well off the pace, a good 30 seconds behind Ryan Mullen at the second checkpoint.
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There may not be any fans to speak of, but the roads in Doha are immaculate, and cost a considerable sum to lay down, being a special composite to avoid melting in the blistering midday sun. Such is the quality of the roads, riders here are able to ride at 20-30 pounds per square inch more than normal in their tyres, which does improve efficiency.
The first of the riders, Soufiane Haddi of Morocco, flies over the finish line in a time of 52:22. For now, he’s our leader. A good time today would represent nearer the 45-minute mark.
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Ireland’s Ryan Mullan is going great guns in the Qatari heat, he has set the best time at the two first intermediate checks! Nobody is within 55 seconds of the man born in … er … Birkenhead, England. If he can sustain this speed, he’s got a real chance of making an impression at the top of the leaderboard.
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Sultan Mohammed Asiri, who is a real Sultan hailing from Saudi Arabia, leaves the ramp. I think he’s riding a regular racing bike, so not expecting a podium finish here. He finished fifth in the Tour of Egypt this year.
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There is a 7mph north-easterly wind, which may slightly help the riders along their long 15km straight into central Doha. Spain’s Imanol Erviti Ollo flies past the Lusail Sports Complex, in which 0.0 people can be seen doing sport. To be fair, there is a velodrome in there, perhaps it’s cooler in there.
Jos VanEmden is the next man to leave the ramp, to the sweet sounds of The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So.
We’re underway, with a number of riders already out onto the course, including the USA’s Alexey Vermeulen. The riders race for their nations in the individual time trial, remember, not for the the teams as is the case in the other time trials.
Marcin Bialoblocki, who lives and races in the UK but chooses to race for Poland, has just left the starting ramp. He’s a bit of a dark horse here, having smashed Alex Dowsett’s 10-mile record (17:20) with a 16:35, and also beat the 25-mile record with 44.04, which is basically 60km an hour. Remarkable speed, but he could be outdone by the heat.
It’s currently 39C in Qatar, barely the kind of temperatures that you’d like to take a light stroll in, nevermind a gruelling time trial race. These are the kind of conditions that might suit Rohan Dennis, who performed well in the sweltering conditions of the Tour Down Under in January.
If you’re under any illusions as to how hot it is, Rabo-Liv’s Anouska Koster came off, and struggled to get back on her bike in the women’s team time trial on Monday, which isn’t particularly pretty viewing.
Usually don't see things like these happen very often. Less concentrated because she was suffering from the heat? #UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/NhRnPdajzF
— CyclingHub (@CyclingHubTV) October 9, 2016
Looks like she had a heat stroke. Hope she's doing fine #heat #UCIDoha2016 pic.twitter.com/9Mqegxx2KY
— CyclingHub (@CyclingHubTV) October 9, 2016
Preamble
It’s hot. It’s flat. Welcome to Doha and men’s individual time trial. Rohan Dennis, Tony Martin and Tom Dumoulin are expected to be among the frontrunners here, hoping to claim the title that Vasil Kiryienka claimed last year in Richmond, Virginia, USA. If that was a more classic course, this is a new challenge. Flat as a pancake, the 40km course will favour the most powerful riders and sprinters, who may have to battle crosswinds in the middle part of the course.
Riders will depart from the Lusail Sports Complex at 90 second intervals, navigate a series of technical turns and roundabouts before hitting a long straight and entering downtown Doha. The Pearl, an artificial island built to the east of the city centre that is believed to have cost £15bn to construct, will host the final part of the course, where there are another set of technical turns.
Here are the start times (BST)
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