The Tour of the Basque Country opened with a time trial. He won Primois Roglic e Remco Evenepoel he finished fourth, but by falling. This can happen when you don't know the routes too well and you want to dare. And it's precisely to be able to dare that some time ago he and Mattia Cattaneo they went to reconnoitre the final time trial of the next Tour de France.
The time trial in question is the Monaco-Nice: 34 kilometers, 728 meters of elevation gain, and the Col d'EzeA time trial that could decide the Grand Boucle. A stage like this absolutely needs to be tested. The Italian of the Soudal-Quick Step he explains to us how it went and what kind of time trial it will be.
Mattia, exactly, what time will it be?
A very tough time trial. A time trial in which the top five, I imagine will be the same as the general classification, so those with more legs.
Tell us a little about these 34 kilometers…
The start is fairly simple, then comes the Le Turbie climb: 8 kilometers. We descend a bit and take the Col d'Eze from the opposite side we're used to doing during the Paris-Nice. It's about a kilometer and a half at 15 percent. And there... It feels more like a hill climb than a time trial. Then the descent, quite fast and with a final push.
You mentioned descents: will they count?
The first part of the Col d'Eze is easy, but the second is incredibly fast. Aside from two wide bends, it's not so difficult that you can make a difference. At most I think you can lose or gain 2"-3" in the second half. It's the climb that will have the biggest impact. I think the overall ranking will be decided on the Col d'Eze, and from there, very little will change.
So it's a time trial fraction to be done on a time trial bike?
I would do all my time trials with a time trial bike, but in this case, weight certainly matters. And a lot, too. In total, there are 12 kilometers of climbing. But I'm staying faithful to the time trial bike. The speeds won't be low, and aerodynamics play an important role.
So let's imagine the setup that Mattia Cattaneo would choose...
So, time trial bike as mentioned, remove the rear lenticular wheel: I would fit two wheels with an 80 mm profile. A lot will depend on the wind, but this way I'd save some weight. We'd also have the 64mm set, which has a better weight-to-aerodynamics ratio. That would save up to 300 grams compared to a lenticular.
And what ratios would you use?
Seeing it like this and after having done this ride, I would say a double chainring 62-44 with the 11-30 behind, But I'm saying this now. We'll have to see how my legs feel after three weeks of racing. In short, it's not a one-off time trial, but one inserted at the end of a major Giro, and as I said, it's tough. You'll have to push hard on the climbs. The speed differences could be significant, especially on the more pedal-friendly sections.
If you have to push so hard, why don't you think about an 11-34 so you can work better with the 62 chainring when climbing?
Granted, you could opt for any combination, but I'm not a huge fan of the 11-34 cassette; the jumps are too big. I also use mid-range gears a lot, precisely to have smaller gaps between one cog and the next. Nowadays, if the climbs aren't too steep, I don't even use the 40 chainring but stay with the 54. And in fact, in those jumps of the higher sprockets, a 25 would be useful to me (while the Shimano cassettes do 24-27, ed.).
Mattia, how long could this time trial last?
For me around 40-45′, But honestly, that's a rough estimate. I don't know how fast we'll actually be on the climb. When Remco and I went, we were coming from Paris-Nice, and our legs were a bit tired, so we didn't push it hard.
And could the rain have an impact?
If anything, the wind is stronger. As I said, the descent is fast and the roads are wide. any rain shouldn't have that much of an impact.
