The world championship time trial is ridden on Sunday in Montreal, 39.2 flat kilometres, identical distance for women and men. Four Belgians are down to ride: Lotte Kopecky, Lotte Claes, Alec Segaert and Rune Herregodts.
Before the start ramp, the places are being handed out. National coach Ludwig Willems feels a medal is not a realistic target for Lotte Kopecky, but that a place between fifth and tenth is: “A place between five and ten is a realistic ambition, and I already know that Lotte will be hugely disappointed if she finishes outside the top ten,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. Serge Pauwels hopes Alec Segaert will finish inside the top eight and explains that “the result of a Worlds time trial often follows a Gaussian curve: after the top three, the gaps between fifth and fifteenth are often small.” Remco Evenepoel, for his part, put the matter in one line: “Me first, Alec fifth and Rune tenth. That would be a nice result.”
I note four entrants and a series of places announced before the start. Firstly: a classification is drawn up after the riders cross the finish line, not in front of a microphone. Secondly: the Gaussian curve does not appear in the rulebook; the finishing order and the times do. Thirdly: an ambition is not a result, and neither is it an infringement. Statements compliant.
Lotte Claes is riding her first Worlds time trial. She won the Belgian time trial championship this season and told Het Laatste Nieuws: “As it is my first time trial at the world championship, I find it hard to estimate where I will finish. A top ten would have me jumping for joy, but I think the top fifteen is a more realistic ambition.” One more estimate, then, before anyone has started.
On Sunday, I will fill in the column in the order in which they cross the line, and not in any other order. What I do not note: the time I spent last night reading a start list knowing that it says nothing about the classification.
It’s true, we checked: Het Laatste Nieuws.
