2009 Giro d'Italia Team Time Trial: An Over Calculation

Yesterday’s team time trial was actually one of the most interesting experiences that I’ve ever had as a professional rider and something that I think I really learnt a lot from as an athlete.

The general consensus in the team was that we forgot to race on instinct and tried to calculate everything from the start to the finish in too much detail, not letting the nature of the race take its course. If you look at our team on paper, we were the clear favourites, with many of the World’s best time triallers in our line up. But as can happen, especially in team time trials, this doesn't always translate to a victory.

We meticulously planned how the race was going to be ridden through every kilometre - to the point of who would pull off where and how. Such attention to detail backfired on us and we didn't run with the feelings or the collective years of experience that we have between us as riders. In short, we didn't let ourselves race as we know we can. We didn't trust ourselves.

Although we didn’t get the victory, hindsight has given us knowledge. I know I certainly gained a lot as an individual and at the post-TTT debrief, as a team we learned a lot from our experience; things that we can work on for the future and most importantly, for the Tour de France where there is a 40km team time trial this year.

The Giro continues and now we will try to focus on other parts of the race.

Julz

The whole team here at Roadcycling.com wishes you great success in the 2009 Giro Julz! Burn rubber!

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